On 2 July 1844 "Det Sjællandske Jernbaneselskab" (The Railway Company of Zealand) was established with Hjorth and Schram among the board of directors. Amidst considerable resistance from landowners, trouble with unstable labour and excessive expenditures, the economic resources necessary to complete the line were provided, and the Copenhagen-Roskilde line was opened, as the first in Denmark, on 26 June 1847. English engineer William Radford led construction. Sharp Brothers and Company, in Manchester, England built the initial batch of locomotives, the first of which was named 'Odin'.