The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-09-18 00:00:00

YORK. NEWCASTLE, AND BERWICK RAILWAY,

There is no company whose proceedings have raised of
late so much stir in the world as this company, of which
Mr. George Hudson was lately the presiding spirit. We
therefore select its history for the next place in our series.
The nucleus of the lines now incorporated under the title
of the York, Newcastle, and Berwick Railway, was the
Newcastle and Darlington, for which an act was passed
in 1842, with a share capital and borrowing powers
amounting in all to £886,000. It had been previously
brought forward in conjunction with the Great North of
England in 1835 ; but was laid on the shelf owing to the
depression in trade which followed that year. In the
three years following 1842 the company had procured
additional acts, authorising the purchase of the Durham
and Sunderland Railway, the Wearmouth Dock, and the
Pontop and South Shields Railway, and to raise the capi-
tal required. In the beginning of July. under the powers
of these acts, it had a total capital and borrow ng power
of £2,705,066.
At this period one of the most extensive transactions
was resolved upon ever attempted in the railway world—
viz., the purchase of the Great North of England Rail-
way ; and on the 21st of the month an act was obtained
for the purpose, and authorising the raising of an addi-
tional four mi:lions sterling. The wlio!e capital, by this
and other acts. was now raised to £7,064,000. The terms
upon which this purchase was effected were considered at
the time extravagant, a premium of £l5O being agreed to
be paid upon each £lOO share. The transaction is thus
described in a note to Mr. Scrivenor's Railways of the
United Kingdom :

"The most remarkable transactions in which the York and
Newcastle Company has been engaged, is the agreement for
the lease and purchase of the Great North of England Railway,
which was authorised by an act passed in July, 1846. Under
the authority of that act, the purchase is to be made at a pre-
mium of 150 per cent., about .e 230 being payable for each .4'loo
share.

7,1 i is stated that previous to the purchase, the full guaran-
teed dividend is allowed upon the 4'40 shares, though only .4,5
has been paid up, interest at the rate of 4 per cent. on the
opaid capital being deducted. Thus 10 per cent. is allowed on
the .W 5 I:aid, and 6 per cent. (the difference between 10 and 4)
on the .e 35 unpaid. In other words, an annual interest of
£2 12s. is paid on £5, being at the rate of 52 per cent. It is
stated in the returns of the Company, that the remaining calls
on these shares are never to be made, the amount due upon
them being of course deducted for the purchase money in 1850.
The purchase money l'eing .elOO, there will then remain a sum
of .£65 due to the shareholders. The transaction would, there-
fore, be as foNows. The sum of .e 5 only having be.m advanced
on the share, an interest of £2 12s. will be payable upon it
annually up to the year 1850, when a bonus of .i'6s will be added.
In other words, an original shareholder, to whom a number of
these new shares have been allotted, will receive upon the
money so advanced an interest of 52 per ce..t. up to the year
1850, when he will, in addition, obtain a bonus of 1,200 per
cent.

" It is curious to trace the effect of these transactions on the
price of the shares.
"In July, 1845, the shares of the Great North of England
Company were at 37 discount. In January, 1844, at 14 dis-
count. In July, 1844, they were at par. In January, 1845,
they had risen to .t'3B premium. and in July, 1845, when the
arrangements had been made, they rose tot 144 premium."
The whole concern now includes the following lines :
Length of Lines now open for Traffic.
Miles. Chains.
Newcastle and Darlington Junction 23 201
Durham Branch
Durham Junction
Newcastle and Berwick 6l 72
North Shields and Tynemouth
Pontop and South Shields
Brandling Junction
Great North of England
Richmond Branch
Boroughbridge 6 54
Durham and Sunderland
Bedale Branch 5 40
Hartlepool Dock and Railway 26 9
Monkwearinouth Extension 0 52
Railway through Newcastle & High Level Bridge 1 5

270 13

Lines in course of Construction
Washington Branch
Kelso Branch
Ainwick Branch
Warkworth Branch

6 1
5 1
2 60-
4 75

34 37

There are other deviations and works proje ted, which
will make the entire length of railway, when completed,
330 miles. The following was the position of the capital
account, as given by the directors, on the 14th November,
1848:

Total amount expended on works £5,375,483
Estimate for the completion of works in
progress.

1,869,228

Gross amount to be raised £7,244,711
Or, to leave a margin for contingencies,
say £7,300,000.
It is stated that the capital wanting can be raised by
calling up what remains on the extension shares, and by
exercising the company's borrowing powers to the extent
of £1,550,000, including the existing mortgage debt of
£722.073. The directors anticipate that when the whole
line is in operation the receipts will not be less than
£1,040,000 per annum, or at the rate of £20,000 per week;
which, after deducting for working expenses, interest on
loans, rent and interest to Great North of England Com-
pany, and Hartlepool Dock and Railway Company,
£561,030, will leave a clear annual profit of £478,970,
equal to a £7 per cent. dividend upon the share capital of
£5,750,000, and allowing £76,470 per annum. The traffic
at present produced is at the rate of about £720,000 per
annum, or £13,846 per week. The directors consider,
however, that this amount, in a period of great commer-
cial depression, warrants their expectation of the amount
= necessary. Great reliance is placed on the coal traffic.
The quantity exported from the counties of Northumber-
land and Durham has increased within the last four years
45} per cent.; and the Auckland Valley line, which they
propose to construct immediately, is expected to increase
further this branch of revenue. The formation of the
Tyne Docks and the completion of the Sunderland Docks,
with the improvement of the general traffic by the facili-
ties afforded by the bridges across the Tyne and the
Tweed, are relied upon for the fulfilment of the expecta-
tions of the directors.