Editing Lymington branch line (section)

===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>