The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-23 00:00:00

DRAY TON JUNCTION.

The adjourned half-yearly meeting was held at
Stafford on Saturday ; the Earl of Lichfield in the
chair.

The report stated that the working plans and
sections had been completed, and the works could
be commenced immediately after the possession of
the necessary lands being obtained. The arrange-
ments with the land-owners were in a forward state,
a considerable number having already been agreed
with. The Wrexham, Mold, and Connah's-quay
Railway Company, with whom this company were
in close alliance, had nearly completed their line to
Wrexham, and were proceeding with the extension
to Whitchurch. An arrangement had been entered
into between this company and the Mold and Den-
bigh, the Shrewsbury and Potteries Junction, the
Wrexham, Mold, and Connah's-quay, and other
companies, for a mutual exchange of running
powers, which were expected to increase the traffic
on those railways and render them of greater service
to the public. Parlioment had conferred upon this
company powers for the construction of a line from
Prees to Betisfield, with the addition of running
powers to Oswestry, in exchange for the Cambrian
Company acquiring running powers to Market
Drayton ; thus the Drayton Junction Company
-would have access to the mineral district of Wrex-
ham and the Dee, and to Oswestry, Shrewsbury,
Market Drayton, Whitchurch, and Stafford.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the
report, stated that it was the intention of the direc-
tor t° commence the works between Drayton and
Stafford immediately, and there was every prospect
of their being finished simultaneously with the com-
pletion of the line from Wrexham to Whitchurch.
The report was unanimously adopted.

MID-lIANTS.
The directors iu their report congratulate the pro-
prietors on the opening
of the railway from Alton to
Winchester on the 2d inst. The traffic on this por-
tion of the company's undertaking, so far as it could
at present be ascertained, fully answered the
expec-
tations which had been formed of it, and the direc-
tors liad no reason to doubt that it would be remune-
rative. The requireinents of the London and South-
-IVestern Railway Company, withreference to station
accommodation, had been reasonable, new tank en-
gines had been provided so as to work conveniently
the gradients on the railway, and the carriages on
the line and the train service were for the present
satisfactory. So soon as the Medstead passing place
'as completed an acceleration of the trains and a
better communication with the Portsmouth, Salis-
bury, uisryeti. r and Weymouth lines at Bishopstoke,.was. p.ro-
ne financial difficulties of the period 11111,-

ing which the line had been under construction had
increased the cost of the line, and this cause, toge-
ther with the necessity for a further expenditure in
stations and arrangements for the development of
the goods traffic, and the probable necessity of
doubling the Alton and Winchester Railway, would
render it necessary to apply to Parliament for an in-
crease in the capital of the company. The arrange-
ment
with the London and South-Western Railway
Company for working, when constructed, the autho-
rised line from Ropley to Meonstoke, was on terms
precisely similar to those for working the Alton and
Winchester line, with the exception that the pro-
portion of gross earnings to be received by the pro-
prietors in this portion of the company's undertak-
ing was 55 per cent. instead of 571 per cent. The
earnings on the Winchester line were in no way pledged
to the construction of, or the payment of, any divi-
dend upon the shares of the Ropley and Meonstoke
line. The capital account of the Alton lines showed
that £195,919 had been expended, leaving a balance
of £1,140 at the bankers.