02 September 1843 Maryport & Carlisle Railway - Cumberland and Westmorland Newspaper Transcriptions

02 September 1843 Maryport & Carlisle Railway

MARYPORT AND   CARLISLE   RAILWAY

Half-Yearly general meeting of the proprietors of the Maryport and Carlisle Railway held at Aspatria, the 23d day of August 1843
                   F.L.B. Dykes, Esq, in the chair.
The advertisement of the half-yearly meeting having been read,
Resolved - That the common seal of the company be affixed to the share list;
That the reports and accounts now submitted to this meeting be approved and adopted;
That the following directors retiring by rotation, be unanimously re-elected, viz: - Sir Wilfred Lawson, Bert., Chas. Rev Joseph Harris, and Nicholas Ross, Esqs;
That the transactions and resolutions of the directors be approved of and confirmed;
That the thanks of this meeting are due and hereby voted to the chairman and directors, for the ability and attention with which they have conducted the affairs of the company.

                    Report of the Directors.

Since the last general meeting the directors have to congratulate the shareholders on the opening of the line from Wigton to Carlisle - a great event in that part of Cumberland, and conferring a proportionate benefit upon the district through which it passes, in promoting so much the convenience of the public. No idea, can of course, be formed of the traffic upon it during the short period that it has been opened - since the 10th May last. It must, no doubt, eventually be very considerable, at present it is much checked by the want of accommodation in stations, &c., and the fitting of proper chachinery; but these arrangements are proceeding as rapidly as possible, and the directors trust the station, lime and coal cells, and other conveniences will be soon ready. A small additional accommodation lately effected has already produced a considerable accession of goods, traffic. A daily accommodation by mail has been established between Wigton and Keswick, - and by that, and other modes of conveyance, a considerable number of lake tourists pass over the line, and are no doubt, likely to prove a good source of revenue in the season. In connexion with coaches, at the Carlisle end they are booked through over the line, to Edinburgh and other places. The directors are thus still more stimulated to carrying through the remaining portion of the line between Aspatria and Wigton, so as to give full effect to the whole, and an entire development of the traffic. An act having been obtained this session for a continuation of the powers of the company, which would otherwise expire in July, 1844, and sanctioning also, an advantageous diversion of this part of the line, the works upon it, for which a very reasonable contract has been made with MESSRS. BLACKSTOCK, and MR. McKAY, are in active progress, and will no doubt be carried forward by the contractors in a spirited manner, - these and other similar matters will be explained to the shareholders by the company's engineer. The directors are most anxious and will use every exertion to force the line through, seeing that the same expense of maintenance of staff and plant they incur now, will thus be sufficient for a traffic so much extended, when a passage is opened to the east of the county, for the minerals and goods from the mines, and ports of the west. The traffic for the half-year ending 30th June, amounts to 3675 pounds 10s. 5d., being an increase of above 1000 pounds on the average of the previous five half-years; - the smallness of this in comparison with what it might have been, is attributable to the want of coal drops in the harbour of Maryport, also to the want of wagons. The directors having lately been prevented doing so by other engagements, are now taking effectual measures for remedying those deficiencies. As was previously stated, a similar cause equally in progress of removal, has also as yet stood in the way of the addition to the revenue to be expected from the eleven miles lately opened - with that, however, made by the seven weeks they were opened previous to 30 June, the passenger traffic for this half-year amounts to half of the whole sum obtained during the former five half-years. The maintenance of way, &c. amounts to 1588 pounds 6s. 5d, which would doubtless have been adequate to a much larger amount of traffic had the line been open throughout, as the directors trust will soon be the case. A dividend out to have been declared, but the directors trust the shareholders will agree with them, in thinking it wiser policy to sacrifice that for a short period, and strain every nerve in carrying out the final consummation of the undertaking- an adequate reward may then be reaped. The directors have purchased the ground at Carlisle, for the extension of the line to Crown-street, where they purpose building their station, this will take the line quite into the town, and prove a matter of the greatest convenience to the public. One of the most decided advantages attending this line is, that it leads direct to the capital of the county, and to it, therefore, everything at all within reach will necessarily converge. Having now nearly finished twenty miles of the whole distance, the directors still feel justified in maintaining that the whole line will be put into operation at a much cheaper rate than almost any other.
There is every reason also now to expect that it will at no distant period be carried on to Whitehaven, independently of such an advantage in itself to our line, this would infallibly be decisive of the direction which the western railway communicates with Scotland would take, so large a portion of it being then made, and the remainder so easy of execution. The Maryport and Carlisle Railway posses amply within itself the elements of it's own prosperity; but it would still be a matter of the highest gratification to it's promoters to see it then form an integral part of so noble an undertaking, and derive corresponding advantage from such an event.

                                                    ENGINEERS REPORT - TO THE DIRECTORS.

Gentlemen, Some report of the present state and prospective completion of the works of this undertaking may be expected, as proceeding immediately from your engineer, for the information of the shareholders.
Your own knowledge derived from inspecting the line, and your constant attention to its speedy execution render this, in some measure, as addressed to yourselves a work of supererogation.
Agreeably to your instructions the station house and works of station at Wigton were set out, and are now being speedily completed.
The iron bridge over the Abbey Holme highway is finished, and the road approach by the station yard to the rails, will very shortly be available to passengers and goods traffic.
The next most urgent and important work on the line between Carlisle and Wigton, is the completion of the embankment, making the extension of the station to Crown street, Carlisle, and the erection of the permanent works of station at this point (which is within a quarter of a mile of the Court Houses.)
Though the traffic at Carlisle may have hitherto been subject to some inconvenience from the want of suitable station accommodations, I beg leave to submit that such inconvenience is most amply compensated, by your having now secured a site so much more valuable and convenient to alter considerably the line from Aspatria to Wigton as first set out. This has been done always within the deviation limit allowed by parliament, after carefully re-surveying the ground and taking the necessary levels over the whole line.
The entire line is now se out upon the ground, and the contractors are at work with two out of the three heavy cuttings contained in their contract. They have removed from the largest (the Aspatria cutting) about 40,000 cubic yards, and will commence the other and only remaining heavy cutting in a few days.
By the deviation at Heathfield, an ordinary turnpike road bridge is substituted for a very long oblique railway bridge, and there is now no large bridge on the remaining work. Several of the bridges may be set out and built immediately.
After harvest the woks will be prosecuted without delay, at every convenient point of the line, and from the known resources and energies of the contractors, it may be hoped, the weather permitting, that they will complete the work within the time assigned by their contract.
The new line as set out is still the shortest of any of the proposed lines, and has the saving advantage of a large reduction of cutting and embankment. I have the honor to be, gentlemen, your most obedient servant.

WILLIAM MITCHELL