the rails. There were second-hand double-headed rails formerly in use on the London and South Western Railway. They had been inverted on the LSWR line, using the second running table. The rails were badly galled by the chairs and there were splits and bulges in the head. They had been cropped to , and the head wear was not matched, so that the joints were uneven. The fishplate bolts were not long enough in many cases. Approval to open the line to passenger traffic was refused; the company tried to appeal against this, but failed; subsequent inspection visits took place on 31 July, 28 August and 26 September 1872, without success. Creditors demanded payment, and one unfortunate contractor went into bankruptcy, having accepted the company's shares in payment: those shares were now worthless. In December 1872 it was calculated that the Company had expended £77,490 and had nothing to show for it; and the line was now estimated to require £90,548 to complete. Against this background the IoW(NJ)R had obtained a further Act of Parliament in July 1872, authorising additional capital as well as certain deviations and extensions. Somehow work proceeded and in July 1874 Colonel Rich of the Board of Trade visited the Sandown to Horringford line; the bad rails seem to have been changed but Rich again refused sanction to open the line due to other faults. Further attention was given and in January 1875 Colonel Rich inspected the line from Sandown to Shide and found it satisfactory, The company opened its line on 1 February 1875; in public announcements the company referred to the Shide station as "Newport". The company started running passenger trains on to Pan Lane at Newport, from 11 August 1875, but this was without permission from the Board of Trade: in effect illegally; Colonel Hutchinson visited for the necessary inspection on 6 October 1875, and on the company promising to rectify a number of issues, the running to Pan Lane continued. (The company sometimes used Pan Mill as the station name at first.) There were nine trains each way on weekdays. Ryde and Newport Railway The operation of the Isle of Wight Railway enhanced the importance of Ryde as the port of entry to the island, and it soon became more important than Cowes, particularly for passengers. 300,000 people travelled between Newport and Ryde annually, and the road coaches were not convenient. The