scheme fared equally badly and was almost immediately abandoned. The end of the Railway Mania resulted in the cessation of railway scheme promotion for some time, and it was not until 1852 that further railways were proposed, but these too failed to gain support. In 1858 three viable schemes were developed and their Bills were deposited in Parliament; they were The Isle of Wight Railway (Eastern Section); to run from Ryde to Upper Bonchurch, with branches to Brading and Shanklin, and a tramway to Ryde Pier; electric telegraphs were also included; The Isle of Wight Railway; to run from Cowes to Ryde via Newport, with branches to Ventnor and Ryde Pier; The Cowes and Newport Railway. Of these, only the Cowes and Newport Railway was passed, on 8 August 1859, the other two being rejected in the Lords' Committee. A viable scheme The promoters of the Eastern Section railway reconsidered the route they had proposed, and determined to improve on it by taking the line through Wroxall and ending it in Ventnor. They submitted a fresh Bill for the 1860 session; the line was now to be named the Isle of Wight (Eastern Section) Railway. The Cowes and Newport Railway also submitted a Bill, seeking to extend their railway and rename it The Isle of Wight Railway; the extensions were to be to Ryde and Ventnor, with a long line connecting the other two and forming a triangle. However this Bill failed standing orders and was rejected. A number of objections to the IoW(ES)R Bill were heard, but none was effective and the Bill secured the Royal Assent on 23 July 1860. The railway authorised was from Melville Street (at the south end of the later tunnel at Ryde) to Ventnor, with branches to Brading and Sandown Bay; the authorised share capital was £125,000. Melville Street was the nearest the railway could get to the pier without expensive tunnelling and a station was planned there. A street-running tramway was to reach the pier from there. (The Sandown Bay line and the extension north from St Johns Road to Melville Street were not built. The "branch to Brading" was a short line to a wharf on the river.) The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and the London and South Western Railway were authorised to raise £20,000 each and to subscribe that sum to the IoW(ES)R. Captain Mark Huish, formerly the