Editing Lymington branch line (section)

==History==
===First attempt===
The [[Southampton and Dorchester Railway]] opened its main line in 1847; from [[Southampton]] it ran to [[Brockenhurst]], but then took a northerly path through [[Ringwood, Hampshire|Ringwood]] and [[Wimborne Minster|Wimborne]]; the present-day main line from Brockenhurst to [[Poole]] was not ready as a through route until 1888. In 1846, during construction, the [[Southampton and Dorchester Railway]] proposed a branch line from Brockenhurst to Lymington, and it obtained parliamentary powers by an act of Parliament, the [[Southampton and Dorchester Railway (Lymington and Eling Branches) Act 1847]] ([[10 & 11 Vict.]] c. xcvi), of 2 July 1847. A salt works at Lymington had promised 250,000 tons of salt annually as a revenue earning goods flow. However the scarcity of investment money following the collapse of the [[Railway Mania]] meant that it proved impossible to raise funds for any construction, and the scheme did not proceed.<ref name = williams1-64>R A Williams, ''The London and South Western Railway: volume 1: The Formative Years'', David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1968, {{ISBN|0-7153-4188-X}}, pages 64 and 65</ref><ref name = carter190>Ernest F Carter, ''An Historical Geography of the Railways of the British Isles'', Cassell, London, 1959, page 190</ref>

===Lymington Railway Company===
[[File:Brockenhurst gates.jpg|thumb|Lymington Road level crossing at Brockenhurst station]]
Nine years later, an independent Lymington Railway Company was promoted to build a similar line, and it was incorporated by the '''{{visible anchor|Lymington Railway Act 1856}}''' ([[19 & 20 Vict.]] c. lxxi) of 7 July 1856, with share capital of £21,000. The company was authorised to purchase Lymington Town Quay and the Town Bridge, and to build a jetty. The line was to be built as far as the present-day Lymington Town station.<ref name = paye4>Peter Paye, ''The Lymington Branch'', Oakwood Press, Tarrant Hinton, 1979, page 4</ref><ref name = williams1-98>Williams, volume 1, page 98</ref><ref name = grant346>Donald J Grant, ''Directory of the Railway Companies of Great Britain'', Matador, Kibworth Beauchamp, 2017, {{ISBN|978-1-78589-353-7}}, page 346</ref><ref name = carter273>Carter, page 273</ref><ref name = riley>R C Riley, ''The Lymington Railway and Isle of Wight Ferry'', in the Railway Magazine, February 1956, pages 75 to 82</ref>

The line was four miles in length and it was constructed quickly, and on 8 May 1858 a celebratory train service was run for local people, probably free of charge.<ref group = note>It would have been illegal to operate a public commercial passenger service at this stage, although this was not infrequently done by local companies.</ref> It was well patronised. The [[Board of Trade]] inspecting officer, [[William Yolland|Colonel Yolland]], made an inspection on 11 May 1858 and was satisfied. However the London and South Western Railway was to work the line, and it required some track improvements before it would start operations: the sleepers had been installed at a pitch of {{convert|43|in|mm}} and the LSWR, who would be responsible for day to day track maintenance, insisted on the standard {{convert|36|in|mm}}.<ref name = maggs19>Colin G Maggs, ''The Branch Lines of Hampshire'', Amberley Books, Stroud, 2010, {{ISBN|978-1-84868-343-3}}, page 19</ref> After this work was done, the line opened to passenger traffic on 12 July 1858; goods traffic probably started on 23 July 1858.<ref name = williams1-98/><ref name = williams2-148>R A Williams, ''The London and South Western Railway, Volume 2: Growth and Consolidation'', David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1973, {{ISBN|0 7153 5940 1}}, pages 148 to 152</ref><ref name = white162>H P White, ''A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: volume II: Southern England'', Phoenix House, London, 1961, page 162</ref><ref name = riley/><ref name = paye5>Paye, page 5</ref>

The LSWR declined to operate ferries to Isle of Wight; they had a non-competitive agreement with the [[London Brighton and South Coast Railway]], but the [[Solent Sea Steam Packet Company]] made four return trips from Lymington to Yarmouth every weekday, as well as other daily transits. A coach operated from Yarmouth to [[Freshwater, Isle of Wight|Freshwater]]. A shareholders' meeting on 12 August 1858 was told by the company chairman, Alfred Mew, that the company "was more promising of success than had ever been counted on"; another director stated that the LSWR's chairman, vice-chairman and two of the directors had come down to see what the Lymington Company was doing.<ref name = williams1-98/><ref name = williams2-148/>

A further act of Parliament, the [[Lymington Railway Act 1859]] ([[22 & 23 Vict.]] c. xv), was secured on 21 July 1859 authorising £11,800 of additional capital, and acquisition of the river ferry crossing the [[Lymington River]] at [[Boldre]], about three miles (5km) from the terminus (and not immediately adjacent to the railway).<ref name = williams1-98/><ref name = carter273/>

The company's financial performance was not so rosy as forecast; in February 1861 the shareholders' meeting was told that net profit for the half year was £375.<ref group = note>Equal to 2.2% annual on the share capital, but there were probably heavy interest payments due.</ref> In 1859 the [[Portsmouth Direct line]] had opened, substantially shortening the distance from London to [[Portsmouth]], and therefore to the Isle of Wight. This removed some of the advantage the Lymington route had enjoyed up to that point.<ref name = riley/> In fact Lymington was in decline throughout the early life of the line, the salt industry in particular suffering because of competition from cheaper extractive action in Cheshire. [[Shirley Holms Halt railway station|Shirley Holms station]] was opened on 10 October 1860, but local people found [[Sway railway station|Sway station]], about {{convert|2|mi|km}} away on the new main line to be more convenient after opening in 1888.<ref name = williams2-148/>

===Absorbed by the LSWR===
The line had been worked by the LSWR company from the outset, and it agreed to purchase the Lymington Railway Company's line; this was done under the terms of the 6 August 1860 act of Parliament{{which|date=September 2024}} and took effect on 21 March 1879. The local company had paid a dividend of 3.5% in 1877. An urgent task for the LSWR after the takeover was the renewal of many of the underbridges on the line.<ref name = riley/><ref name = paye8>Paye, pages 8 and 9</ref>

[[File:Lymington pier.jpg|thumb|Lymington Pier railway station with paddle steamer waiting]]
The berth at Lymington was cramped and often congested with commercial traffic and the footway from there to the station was lengthy. Moreover at low tide the steamers could not come alongside and passengers had to be taken out to the ferries in tenders. The [[Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport Railway]] was granted its authorising act of Parliament, the [[Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport Railway Act 1880]] ([[43 & 44 Vict.]] c. clxxxvi), in 1880, and this encouraged the LSWR to plan improvements to the Lymington side of the Solent. Authorisation was obtained on 22 August 1881 to extend the line for 34 chains (690m), crossing the estuary to a new Pier station, where ships could berth at any state of the tide. The extension and Pier station opened on 1 May 1884; four trains from London connected daily with steamers, and a cargo steamer operated daily in connection.<ref name = williams2-148/>

After 1 July 1884 the LSWR acquired the Solent Sea Steam Packet Company's paddleships Mayflower and Solent as well as several cargo boats, for £2,750.<ref name = williams2-148/>

The fortunes of the branch line and the ferry services had been limited for many years, in part because of the LSWR's preference for its own Isle of Wight services via Portsmouth. Now that Lymington was completely in the LSWR's hands, the line's use flourished.<ref name = white162/>

===The 20th century===
[[File:Lymington-extension.jpg|thumb|Lymington and the railway extension to Lymington Pier]]

Independent promoters developed a scheme to tunnel to the Isle of Wight. They floated a company named the South Western and Isle of Wight Junction Railway, incorporated by an act of Parliament, the [[South Western and Isle of Wight Junction Railway Act 1901]] ([[1 Edw. 7]]. c. xcix) of 26 July 1901. It had authorised share capital of £600,000 to build a {{frac|2|1|2}} mile (4km) Solent tunnel, and {{frac|7|3|4}} miles (12km) of railway linking the Lymington branch and the Freshwater, Yarmouth & Newport Railway between Freshwater and Yarmouth. The tunnel would be operated by electric traction. Running powers were sought over the LSWR to Brockenhurst and over the FY&NR and the Isle of Wight Central Railway. The scheme required the co-operation and more particularly the financial support of the LSWR, but negotiations for a working agreement were conducted fruitlessly for several years. Some aspects of the scheme were abstractive from LSWR revenue and were obviously unwelcome. In 1921 the scheme was allowed to fade away.<ref name = faulkner82>J N Faulkner and R A Williams, ''The London & South Western Railway in the 20th Century'', David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1988, {{ISBN|0-7153-8927-0}}, page 82</ref>

The LSWR proceeded with some modernisation of its maritime fleet on the Lymington route, and on 1 May 1902 a new saloon paddler Solent was handed over. The old Mayflower of 1866 was sold in June 1905 for only £50. A cargo boat Carrier was purchased on 6 February 1906; she was a 36-ton twin-screw vessel of wide beam. She provided a large deck for motor cars, which were increasingly using the Lymington route as the easiest crossing to the Isle of Wight.<ref name = faulkner159>Faulkner and Williams, pages 159 and 160</ref>

In 1938 the Pier at Lymington was reconstructed and made suitable for car ferry operation; the slipway was extended at the cost of the Admiralty in 1942.<ref name = riley/><ref name = middleton82>Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith, ''Southampton to Bournemouth'',  Middleton Press 1997 {{ISBN|0-906520-42-8}}, caption to image 82</ref>

An engineering company named Wellworth had a factory alongside the line, and a halt to serve it, named [[Ampress Works Halt railway station|Ampress Works Halt]] was opened on 1 October 1956; trains ceased to call there after May 1977 when the factory closed.<ref name = maggs19/><ref name = boocock>Colin Boocock, ''Seventy Years of the South Western'', Pen and Sword Transport, 2022, {{ISBN|978-1-5267-8088-1}}, page 171</ref>

In Southern Railway days boat trains up to ten coaches in length were run from Waterloo to Lymington Pier,<ref name = maggs21>Maggs, page 21</ref> but the oridinary service was generally operated by M7 tank locomotives operating pull and push trains.<ref name = paye12>Paye, page 12</ref> After 1964 the traction was usually ex-LMS 2-6-2T or BR standard 2-6-4T locomotives.<ref name = paye12/>

In 1967, the Brockenhurst to Lymington Pier branch line was the last steam-hauled branch on the [[British Railways]] system. The last passenger train ran on Sunday 2 April 1967 behind [[LMS Ivatt Class 2 2-6-2T 41312|LMS Ivatt Class 2 2-6-2T tank engine 41312]], whistling the rhythm of [[Yellow Submarine (song)|Yellow Submarine]] all the way to Lymington Town station. Ordinarily the last train of the day terminated at Lymington Town and berthed there overnight. On the final run the locomotive ran round its train at Lymington Town and the train returned empty to Brockenhurst. This was the last ever run-round of the coaches by a steam engine on a UK branch line in regular service. Locomotive 41312 is now preserved on the [[Watercress Line]]. A three-car diesel electric multiple unit operated the branch passenger service for some time after the end of steam working.<ref name = paye11>Paye, pages 11 and 12</ref>

A new car ferry terminal was opened on the south side of the Pier station in January 1976.<ref name = paye12>Paye, page 12</ref>

===Electrification and infrastructure changes===
[[File:1498 at Lymington Pier.JPG|thumb|right|Restored [[British Rail Class 421|3Cig unit]] no. 1498 "Farringford" at [[Lymington Pier railway station|Lymington Pier]] on 26 May 2005. This unit was repainted in 1960s-era British Railways green livery and was withdrawn on 22 May 2010.]]
[[File:Lymington20090717S329 159008.jpg|thumb|right|South West Trains 159008 replacing the heritage units on the Lymington branch line on 17 July 2009]]

The Lymington branch from Brockenhurst to Lymington was electrified on 2 January 1967. Power was supplied at 750V DC on the third rail system.<ref name = gillham118>J C Gillham, ''The Age of the Electric Train'', Ian Allan Limited, Shepperton, 1988, {{ISBN|0-7110-1392-6}}, page 118</ref> An independent single branch line alongside the down main line between Brockenhurst and Lymington junction was provided when a new signal centre was opened at Brockenhurst from June 1978. The first train to use new alignment ran on 20 October 1978, after the derailment of a tamping machine prevented planned operation on the previous day.<ref name = paye12/><ref name = middleton69>Mitchell and Smith, captions to images 69 and 70</ref>

===Locations===
* Brockenhurst; Southampton and Dorchester main line station; opened 1 June 1847;
* ''Lymington Junction'';
* Ampress Works; opened 1 October 1956; last trains called 6 October 1989; <ref name = croughton39>Godfrey Croughton, R W Kidner and Alan Young, ''Private and Untimetabled Railway Stations'', Oakwood Press, Tisbury, 1982, {{ISBN|0-85361-281-1}}, page 39</ref>
* Shirley Holms; opened 10 October 1860; closed 6 March 1888; sometimes spelt Shirley Holmes;<ref name = croughton125>Croughton, page 125</ref>
* Lymington Town; opened 12 July 1858; temporary station; extended about 200 yards to permanent station 19 September 1860; renamed Lymington Town1 May 1884; still open;
* Lymington Pier; opened 1 May 1884; closed 5 October 1992; reopened 22 November 1992; closed 8 January 1996; reopened 18 February 1996; still open.<ref name = quick>M E Quick, ''Railway Passenger Stations in England, Wales and Scotland: A Chronology'', version 5.04, September 2022, Railway and Canal Historical Society, electronic download</ref>