In the face of these difficulties, the initial results of the Waverley Route were disappointing; this led to heated discussions at NBR board meetings. A lobby developed, featuring in particular shareholders from Glasgow, which called for the line to be abandoned or sold to the Midland Railway. The campaign was led by Archibald Orr-Ewing, an NBR director who described the line as "the most serious burden on the North British". By 1872, expenditure on the Border Union Railway had reached £847,000, £199,000 more than the capital hitherto raised, and a further £300,000 was required. In addition, no shipping company was prepared to start a service to Ireland from Silloth, even though the port had assumed greater importance for the NBR as a result of the difficulties at Carlisle. As a result, although it had not been the NBR's intention to own ships, it became necessary to acquire the paddle steamers Ariel in 1862, followed by Queen and Silloth in 1864, in order to operate a passenger and goods service between Silloth and Liverpool, Dublin and Belfast. The financial picture changed with the decision of the Midland Railway to construct the Settle-Carlisle Line. Intent on establishing an Anglo-Scottish main line to rival the East Coast and West Coast lines, the Midland's ambitions had been stymied by the L&NWR, upon which the Midland depended for access to Carlisle via the Ingleton branch. The L&NWR's insistence on operating the service between Ingleton and as a rural branch line led the Midland in 1866 to apply for Parliamentary authorisation to construct its own line to Carlisle. However, in the wake of the Overend Gurney crisis and an offer by the L&NWR to grant running powers between Ingleton and Carlisle on reasonable conditions, the Midland began to have second thoughts, and requested the abandonment of its proposed scheme in 1869. Both the NBR and the Glasgow and South Western Railway petitioned against the abandonment on the basis that it would leave them dependent on the L&NWR's monopoly at Carlisle; they also resented the fact that they had been used by the Midland as a means to negotiate terms with the L&NWR. The House of Commons Committee hearing the case for the bill took the same view, and the Midland was obliged to proceed with construction of the Settle-Carlisle line. A through service between and Edinburgh began on 1 May 1876 after new rails had been