Hello all,
Fascinating thread, some of the claims from RH (Hodgson not Hall!!) remind me so much of the "Brexit Bus" and the huge financial benefits to be gained from leaving the EU....another interesting source also referred to in A J Mullay is the MA Dissertation by John J Elliot entitled "The Border Railways- their growth and decline", University of Edinburgh 1969, specifically 'the exaggerated belief in the development momentum created by railways'.
Meanwhile hope all my fellow anoraks are preparing for a very merry Christmas, all the best from New Zealand.