in the Autumn of 1828. Conception of the Leicester and Swannington Railway George Stephenson agreed to become involved in making a railway line from Swannington to Leicester; the first formal meeting to project the line was held at the Bell Inn in Leicester on 12 February 1829. At a further meeting on 24 June 1829, Robert Stephenson stated that a sixteen-mile line could be built for £75,540. Subscriptions amounting to £58,250 were raised at this meeting. The remainder of the £90,000 necessary for the construction of was raised through Stephenson's financial contacts in Liverpool. The act of incorporation for the line obtained royal assent on 29 May 1830. Authorised share capital was £90,000. The act prescribed that the company might carry goods, that is, operate as a carrier and not merely as a provider of the route for independent carriers. George Stephenson was consulted about the track gauge to be selected for the line, as compared to that of the Canterbury and Whitstable line, and is quoted as saying: Williams stresses the magnitude of the undertaking: When completed it was the first locomotive railway in the Midland counties, and only the second south of Manchester, after the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway. A second act was obtained for the company on 10 June 1833 giving authority to increase the share capital by £10,000. There was a third act of 30 June 1837, authorising a £40,000 increase in share capital, making a total of £140,000. Construction The engineer for the railway was Robert Stephenson, with the assistance of Thomas Miles, while George Stephenson raised part of the capital for the line from businesspeople in Liverpool. The line was to run from West Bridge, in Leicester, at a location alongside the navigable River Soar; the intention was to be able to continue the transit of coal by water. The line was to run to the north end of Swannington village, together with three colliery branches, to Whitwick, Ibstock and Bagworth. In addition there was to be a branch in Leicester to the North Bridge, although that was never made. The colliery branches, and the land acquisition for them, were authorised by the L&SR Act, but the actual construction of them would be the financial responsibility of the colliery owners. There was to be one tunnel, at Glenfield, just over a mile in length. Nine underbridges and one overbridge would be needed, and sixteen