opened, connecting the GJR route into Wolverhampton LNWR station directly from the south-east for the first time. This enabled a Walsall to Wolverhampton passenger service. It was discontinued from 1964 but reinstated from 2000 with an hourly dmu service, but closed to passengers once again from 2008. Control of the company Leasing the company In 1849 with the main line only just completed, John Robinson McClean, the engineer to the SSR company, together with supporting business people, approached the SSR with an offer to lease the railway. The LNWR and MR were substantial shareholders and were opposed to the arrangement, fearing that the line would ally itself with competitors, but the majority of the shareholders considered that the offer was advantageous to them, and the idea was approved. The necessary powers were included in the SSR Leasing Act of 1850 The issued capital of the SSR was calculated as £669,375 and the rent charge was to be 2% of this in the first year, amounting to £13,387 10s., doubling after the first year and increasing to 5% after 14 years. The lease between McClean and the company became effective from 1 July 1850. No individual had ever been authorised by Parliament to lease a railway before, so this was a considerable precedent. After an initial period, McClean contracted train operation to the LNWR in 1852. Relations with the Midland Railway In 1853 James Allport became General Manager of the Midland Railway, and from that time relations between that company and the SSR became strained. Through running at Wichnor Junction was discontinued at Allport's insistence, and exchange sidings had to be built there for handing over goods wagons. A "Wichnor" passenger station also had to be built, just inside SSR territory, for the exchange of engines on through passenger trains. SSR passengers heading for Derby had to change at Burton. Whatever Allport's objective was, this pushed the SSR closer to the LNWR. LNWR control Towards the end of the 1850s the LNWR interests worked hard to make McClean's lease unworkable; the LNWR clearly wanted to acquire the line. In 1858 McClean and the company agreed to discontinue the lease arrangement, and this was formally agreed on 21 January 1858. Negotiations to agree the financial implications of the disengagement were extremely protracted, and McClean's lease terminated on 1 February 1860. He was compensated for the loss of profit for the residue of