Although the Mansfield & Pinxton Railway was originally envisaged as an extension of the Cromford Canal, the canal company took little interest in the railway, and repeatedly declined to give discounted rates. Most of the traffic in later years was coal from pits alongside the lower part of the line to the industrial and domestic hearths of Mansfield. The quantity of stone conveyed was less than expected, mainly because of the expense of carrying it forward by canal. Nevertheless, one of Britain's most famous landmarks, the Palace of Westminster (the Houses of Parliament) was rebuilt during the mid-1830s using limestone transported over the Pinxton line. Mansfield dispatched its renowned moulding sand to local ironworks via the railway and received wagons of metal for its foundries. Bricks, lime, timber, slate and assorted agricultural produce made up the remaining traffic. Nevertheless coal outweighed the traffic volumes seven to one.