with the EUR had been intended throughout, and the act authorising it was passed on 8 June 1847 and formally completed on 20 October of that year. Ipswich docks: Griffin Wharf and the Wet Dock Ipswich had an important dock system; already before the railways it was important in serving the hinterland, and it was natural that the EUR wished to connect the docks. A line was completed from Halifax Junction running alongside the River Orwell to Griffin Wharf by mid-1846. In October 1847 the line was extended north alongside the New Cut to serve additional factory premises and wharves. Considerable volumes of imported (coastwise) coal were brought in through this line. Ipswich Wet Dock was on the north-east side of the New Cut, and a railway connection to it was created by building eastwards from the area of the I&BR through station. This was completed in 1848, but it needed to cross the public road on the level near Stoke Bridge, and the Corporation of Ipswich objected to the use of steam traction crossing the road there; for many years horses were the only haulage on the dock lines. Ipswich Lower Goods Yard was constructed by the ECR on this line in 1860, and could be used by steam locomotives. Harwich Branch Harwich was an important port for ferries to the Netherlands and North Germany, and in 1836 a line was surveyed from Colchester to Harwich, but the scheme was not pursued. In 1841 the railway speculator John Attwood presented a bill to parliament in 1844, but his scheme failed. It was the EUR which succeeded in getting a Parliamentary Act on 22 July 1847, authorising share capital of £200,000. Work started near Manningtree in October 1848. In the meantime the EUR was having difficulty funding its Norwich extension, and it considered using the £200,000 on that line rather than the Harwich branch. John Bagshaw, the MP for Harwich, objected violently, and took out an injunction to stop the EUR using the money for this purpose, but for the time being construction work was in abeyance. Work resumed in January 1853, and on 29 July 1854 the first train ran. The Board of Trade inspection was undertaken on 4 August, and the line opened fully on 15 August 1854. By this time the ECR had taken over operation of the EUR, so that the branch was operated by the