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Cottrell

March 27 / 58

There cert^ly app^rs t h^v bⁿ some little misund^g ab^t the loop r^lwy bet^wn the Canal and the GWR – I understood that if this line were made it was t be made _^^{at my expense} & kept in repair also, at my own expense, but not worked at my expense

I only undertook to provide the way leaving you to send as many trucks of ore along it as you pleas’d & at what times & seasons you found most conven^t

I had prepar’d to day ^{have sketchd out} sev^l diff^t schemes plans for putt^g the ore upon the GWR, but as they w^d scarcely be intellig^ble w^thout a map, I will confine myself today to describing one _^^{of ym} w^ch app^rs to me very feasible. Premising only that the others are v^y much at y^r service

The inclined plane to be made as far to the left as possible. At the bottom of the incline, the ore can to be placed in carts and carted carried along a good road w^ch at present exists, _{runs on a} level & parallel to the canal for some distance, then crosses the Canal & the river and goes to the village of to Lacock.

The carts w^d take the ore through the village, & a little way on the Melksham road – to a point I will call A, the distance carted being 1 mile & a half. But if the traffic increases I w^d make a new road, to A, avoiding Lacock village & saving ¼ mile.

From A I could make a good branch railway to join the GWR it w^d be made entirely on my own land, & such that the locomotives of the G^t Westⁿ c^d run upon it, up to the point A, to meet the carts – Length of the branch raily ¾ mile –

This plan has several advantages – It requires nobody’s consent but our own – and it w^d save the great expence & diffic^y of building a new raily bridge over the river Avon & travelling under the Melksham turnpike road – ^{It also saves all boating}.

I have only lately ascertained that at some iron mines in Somersetsh. the ore is carted four miles to the nearest sta railway station, which is not found inconven^t in practice.

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Cottrell

March 27, 1858

There certainly appears to have been some little misunderstanding about the loop railway between the Canal and the Great Western Railway – I understood that if this line were made it was to be made at my expense and kept in repair also, at my own expense, but not worked at my expense. I only undertook to provide the way leaving you to send as many trucks of ore along it as you pleased and at what times and seasons you found most convenient.

I had prepared to day have sketched out several different schemes plans for putting the ore upon the Great Western Railway, but as they would scarcely be intelligible without a map, I will confine myself today to describing one of them which appears to me very feasible. Premising only that the others are very much at your service The inclined plane to be made as far to the left as possible. At the bottom of the incline, the ore can to be placed in carts and carted carried along a good road which at present exists, runs on a level and parallel to the canal for some distance, then crosses the Canal and the river and goes to the village of to Lacock. The carts would take the ore through the village, and a little way on the Melksham road – to a point I will call A, the distance carted being one mile and a half. But if the traffic increases I would make a new road, to A, avoiding Lacock village and saving one-quarter mile.

From A I could make a good branch railway to join the Great Western Railway it would be made entirely on my own land, and such that the locomotives of the Great Western could run upon it, up to the point A, to meet the carts – Length of the branch railway three-quarters of a mile –

This plan has several advantages – It requires nobody’s consent but our own – and it would save the great expence and difficulty of building a new railway bridge over the river Avon and travelling under the Melksham turnpike road – It also saves all boating.

I have only lately ascertained that at some iron mines in Somersetshire the ore is carted four miles to the nearest station railway station, which is not found inconvenient in practice.