Ottley 764. Scarce. We have not been able to trace a copy in auction records. A handsomely produced prospectus, including two large folding hand-coloured maps, for a grandiose railway engineering project to connect all the major railway termini in London. As Parsons explains in his opening statement, ‘The great desideratum of a connecting link to unite the termini of the various metropolitan railways, and at the same time afford them access to the heart of London, has long been admitted, and a line that would effect this, and at the same time give a like accommodation to the principal suburbs, would be of still greater importance’. In this scarce pamphlet, Parsons outlines the railway and its likely route, and provides a rough estimate of the costs. The intention was for an entirely new terminus at Great Scotland Yard, partially built on an embankment, and with a main ornamental frontage some 800 feet in length. The project was by all accounts favourably regarded (Robert Stephenson was supposedly keen to tender his services), but was never realised, due in part to the onset of the Crimean War. After the end of hostilities, less costly alternatives had been put forward, and Parsons’ great vision was quietly forgotten.