Talk:North Cornwall Railway

Illegal
Can someone help with the issue of purchasing the Bodmin & Wadebridge "illegally"? The usual terminology is "without parliamentary authority" which is not quite as high-profile. If we are going to say "illegally" we ought to say in what way it was illegal. Was there a specific prohibition on it? Or was it just a general Companies Act rule about buying another company's shares? Was it a prohibition specific to the railway industry, or would it have applied equally if it had been grocery companies involved? Sorry to be asking questions but I can't lay my hands on a copy of Roche's book. 80.6.20.72 11:40, 8 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes, this terminology makes me nervous too. The modern day expression is ultra vires. I'll incorporate some words to address that. The article seems imbalanced at present, with a block of history and then a huge amount of detail about certain stations, and the Betjeman quite under Wadebridge station. The weight restriction limitation is right, but the wikilink is to Axle Load which I don't think was the issue -- the cited reference doesn't support the claim. Afterbrunel (talk) 20:52, 24 May 2014 (UTC)
 * An Act of Parliament for a railway usually gave permission for one or more of three things: to incorporate (set up) the company; to raise money (typically 75% by share issue and 25% by bank loan); and to compulsorily purchase land and property over or through which the railway was to run. The first railway amalgamation to be sanctioned by Act of Parliament was that (4 & 5 Will IV cap. xxv) which created the North Union Railway out of the Wigan Branch Railway and the Wigan and Preston Junction Railway. Some railways were built without parliamentary authority, and this usually occurred if the railway company already existed; had sufficient funds to build the line; and also owned all the land over which the line was to pass. -- Red rose64 (talk) 21:54, 24 May 2014 (UTC)