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1870 Oct; William Sinclair Smith Bisset info added with reference
==Background==
*Early 1870's; [[Franklin Prestage]] was Agent for the [[Eastern Bengal Railway]] (EBR). In its original contract of EBR with the Secretary of State for India, this [[Guaranteed Railways|Guaranteed Railway]] company was to open up a rail-line to [[Darjeeling]]. However the [[Government of India]] took a decision to stop expansion of rail-lines by Guaranteed companies in new areas and instead decided to construct and manage rail-lines as [[:Category:State Railways|State Railways]].
*1870 Oct; [[William Sinclair Smith Bisset]], Asst Consulting Engineer, [[Public Works Department]], Railway Branch, Bengal posted to the 'Darjiling Railway Survey'- it is presumed this was in connection with [[Franklin Prestage|Prestage's]] proposals <ref>[https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=b2NPAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en_GB&pg=GBS.PA442 Google Books " India List and India Office List, 1905" page 442 ] Retrieved on 19 Feb 2018</ref>.
*c.1874 [[Northern Bengal State Railway]](NBR) was formed as a State Railway for construction of rail-lines from the northern bank of Ganges river at [[Sara]] and built a metre gauge([[Rail_gauge_#Metre_Gauge|MG]]) line to [[Siliguri]]. NBR had no plans to take the rail-line to Darjeeling as the mountain railway was considered a formidable sphere. Where EBR and NBR failed as corporate organisations, Prestage succeeded as an individual entrepreneur.
*1878; [[Franklin Prestage |Prestage]] submitted a detailed scheme to the Government of Bengal, which was sanctioned by the Lieutenant Governor, Sir Ashely Eden. Despite the fact that the Viceroy Lord Lytton himself was also a share holder, the [[Public Works Department]] of the Indian Government felt that Bengal had exceeded its powers in terms of the concessions granted, and insisted on cancellation of the contract.*1879; '''Darjeeling Steam Tramway Company''' was formed by [[Franklin Prestage |Prestage]] and a new Contract was drawn up under revised terms which forced Prestage to settle for a 2ft/610mm narrow gauge([[Rail_gauge#Narrow_Gauge|NG]]) line.
*1881; '''[[Darjeeling-Himalayan_Railway]] Co.''' ( DHR) became the new title of the company and remained effective until the line was taken over by the Indian Government in 1948.
