d out by Messrs. Davies and Savin, "at a cost below that of
any railway yet brought into operation." True, there were one or two
inevitable set-backs. One of the engines which had arrived by road, and
been set on the rails at Newtown, refused properly to perform its duty;
but, fortunately, a Mr. Howell, of Hawarden, who knew all about the
intricate interior of these new-fangled monsters, happened to be staying
at Llanidloes, and he was called in to diagnose and advise, with
effective result.

A more serious problem was the revision of the terms of the lease of the
line to Messrs. Davies and Savin, which a committee of shareholders were
busily engaged in attempting to carry forward. Complications of another
sort led Mr. Piercy to tender his resignation, which, being somewhat
peremptorily refused, he withdrew. Still further anxiety and
considerable expense was involved in the prosecution of Parliamentary
application for power to extend the line from the originally designed
terminus at Newtown to the Shropshire Union Canal; for, though it was
only a matter of some quarter of a mile, it was strenuously opposed in
both Houses. Such were the distractions which beset railway building in
those days; but enthusiasm and determination still triumphed, and the
work proceeded along the line with sufficient rapidity to admit its being
opened for mineral traffic on April 30th, 1859. At the very last moment
trouble was experienced in obtaining the necessary certificate of the
Board of Trade for passenger traffic, but that precious document came to
hand on August 9th, and, with more fortunate outcome than on a previous
occasion, Mrs. Owen, of Glansevern, was invited to perform the pleasing
duty of declaring the line open.

The day fixed was Wednesday, August 31st, and a local newspaper gives us
some account of the proceedings:--"Preparations were made on an extensive
scale, and the day was ushered in by cannon firing, bell-ringing, and the
hearty congratulations of the people of the town, with their country
friends, who flocked in to take part in the proceedings. The houses were
elegantly decorated with flags and banners, flowers and evergreens, and a
variety of mottoes, more or less appropriate. Amongst others we noticed,
on the Old Market Hall (which, by the way, it was a charity to hide from
the gaze of strangers), a profusion of flags, with a large banner in the
centre, 'Hail, Star of Brunswick.' The Red Lion exhibited a lo