 An order for of spike iron, to be supplied at the rate of weekly, had been obtained from the Railway Commissioners.The company soon found themselves with an overdraft of about A₤60,000 and had decided on closing the works when Sandford took them on lease in 1885.He added mill after mill, with powerful shears, furnaces, boilers and rollers, so that now the mills were fully equipped for the work they had to do.