Editing Lymington branch line (section)

===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/>