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In March 1858 a deputation
from the Stokes Bay Co, attended a meeting with the LSWR board to arrange a working agreement for the line.After discussions the final agreement provided for:-
1. The Stokes Bay Co. to
construct the railway and the pier the proposed cost of £40,000 to include double track, sidings and a covered station.
2.The LSWR to work the line
paying £1,600 per annum subject to a suitable ferry service being provided to the Isle of Wight.
3.The ferry company to
agree that the ferry fare would not exceed one twelfth of the London to Gosport rail fare.
4.The LSWR to guarantee
that the fare charged between London and Gosport would be exactly the same as the London to Portsmouth fare.
The agreement was ratified
and in fact the negotiated rent was increased to £1,800 per annum by this time, 1858, the time span allowed by the 1856 Act was running short and as a lot of the work had yet to be completed a new Act
wasapplied for and became law on 28th June 1858.
After
the departure of Smith and Knight work on the line came to a halt andagain the construction of the line was put out to tender, two new tenders were received; one from Mr. Catlin for £34,000 and the other
from Messrs. Lucas for £28,600, the latter tender was accepted but the directors of the Railway and Pier Co. could not agree terms with the tenderers and so the tender was withdrawn. it was at this time
the name of Thomas Brassey and his agent Ogilv appears on the scene. They agreed. in March 1859 to construct the railway and pier under the original terms which were accepted by Smith and Knight. In
April their tender was submitted and by November they had submitted a bill for £475 for the works carried out to date. The details of this construction are rather thin on the ground but one assumes that
with a length of line a little over a mile and a half long with no major civil engineering works on it and only two water crossings the building of the line was no great problem to Brassey. Why such a
well known railway contractor as Thomas Brassey should be interested in the Stokes Bay Railway is a little baffling. Brassey at this time had already built several sections of the LSWR and had just
completed the Portsmouth direct line. As is well known he constructed the original Gosport line so maybe he considered that this was an ideal way to finish off that particular job as on the original
plans for the Gosport line the railway was to run down to a pier in Portsmouth Harbour and then the passengers could walk directly onto a ferry to the Isle of Wight the pier proposal for the Gosport main
line was not to be because of military objections so maybe the idea of a pier and a ferry connection at Stokes Bay in Brassey's mind, finished off the job from those years before whatever the reason
by end of 1860 he had presented bills to the value of £11,363 he indicated that he would be prepared to accept payment in paid up shares of company. As it was obvious that this particular company
was never going to pay a dividend, the reasons for Brassey's actions can only be the subject of speculation.
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