 Another American engineer, Benjamin Smith Lyman, was invited to plan the establishment and operations of a new coal mine.Capron suggested the construction of rails from Horonai to the port of Muroran, as part of a plan to ship the coal from there; meanwhile, Lyman's plan involved the construction of rails instead to Horomuibuto (today Ebetsu), and intended to use a system of river boats on the Ishikari River for shipping the coal to Otaru, where they could be transferred to a larger ship.The government decided Lyman's plan was cheaper, and in March 1878, they invited yet another American engineer, to begin land surveys in preparation for construction.