Whilst this volume was passing through the press a successful effort was made in carrying through Parliament a Bill for extending a line of railway through part of Montgomeryshire, commencing by a junction with the Shrewsbury and Chester Section of the Great Western Railway. The Bill was introduced into the House of Commons in the early part of the present Session of Parliament (1855), and passed through the various stages of that branch of the Legislature without opposition. In the House of Lords a slight but unsuccessful opposition was raised, and the Bill received the Royal assent on the 25th of June. Thus has been secured to the county of Montgomery, which is rapidly growing in population and importance, the advantage of railway communication direct from the metropolis, and from the busy seats of manufacturing industry in the north. The manufacturing and agricultural wealth and enterprise of Montgomeryshire, its rich mineral resources, and the benefits which will accrue to it by throwing open to its use the affluent coal-fields of Shropshire and Denbighshire, were strong claims entitling Montgomeryshire to the boon she sought. The further objects contemplated by the promoters of this line, in connecting it, at no far distant period, with the magnificent national harbour at Milford Haven, and thus opening a grand route from that capacious landing-place from the north of Ireland to Manchester, Yorkshire, and the Midland Counties, were doubtless among the considerations of Parliament in granting their sanction to this railway. The line will commence by a junction with the Shrewsbury and Chester section of the Great Western Railway, at its Oswestry terminus, and then proceed by Llanymynech, Llandrinio, Llandisilio, and Buttington, to Welshpool; thence, crossing the river Severn, near Miltrewydd, will pass between Montgomery and Berriew, and on to Newtown, on the south side of the river, where it will unite with the Newtown and Llanidloes line. The capital authorized to be raised by the “Oswestry and Newtown Railway Company” is £250,000. Mr. Benjamin Piercy is appointed resident engineer of the line; and Mr. Peter Barlow consulting engineer. The contractors for the making of the entire line are Messrs. M’Cormick and Thornton, whose previous railway contracts give the best assurance that the present line will be constructed in an efficient manner. * * * * *