and New Almerie Close was a gentleman's residence near the junction of the present-day Bridge Street and Weavers Court. This was very close to the main line of the Arbroath and Forfar line, and the significance of Almericloss is simply that a connection between the two lines there was contemplated. However at this stage the Dundee and Arbroath line was to follow closely the sea front into Arbroath from the west, and reaching Almericloss was impracticable. The D&AR surveyed an alternative entry to Arbroath, described as the high level line, but the extra cost of this deterred actual implementation of the route, and although the authorising Acts for both companies referred to branches to Almericloss, there was no definite agreement to build them. Construction and opening Grainger and Miller designed the railway as a single line with passing places every 600 yards (550 metres) or so; this was their custom at the time, based on horse-drawn waggonways with no fixed timetable. The track was to consist of rails on stone blocks, and the track gauge was to be 5 ft 6in (1,384 mm). At this stage the directors realised there was no body of experience regarding locomotives, and Grainger was commissioned to tour the manufacturers and users of locomotives to determine the appropriate specification. Cash flow soon became a serious problem; the Company found that many subscribers failed to respond to calls and the company had to take a loan of £15,000 from the British Linen Bank. Contractors too had a problem; small concerns found it difficult to pay workers currently even though they would be paid later. The owner of Guthrie Castle made considerable objections to the railway, claiming that it would diminish his amenity. After much negotiation he was allocated £1,400 by the A&FR to build a railway bridge over his entrance gateway in an ornate style. It was "convincingly disguised as a castellated entry to the castle's main drive, [consisting] of a perpendicular Gothic archway flanked by octagonal towers with castellated tops and lancet windows." The expenditure on land acquisition, construction and rolling stock all exceeded the estimates, and as the construction neared completion, successive increases were tabled, ending at £103,904. Two quarries were gearing up in anticipation of the advantage of rail connection: at Letham and Leysmill, within about 5 miles (8 km) of Forfar. In October 1838 some mineral traffic from the quarries to Forfar