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. 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. An engineering company named Wellworth had a factory alongside the line, and a halt to serve it, named Ampress Works Halt was opened on 1 October 1956; trains ceased to call there after May 1977 when the factory closed. In Southern Railway days boat trains up to ten coaches in length were run from Waterloo to Lymington Pier, but the oridinary service was generally operated by M7 tank locomotives operating pull and push trains. After 1964 the traction was usually ex-LMS 2-6-2T or BR standard 2-6-4T locomotives. 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 tank engine 41312, whistling the rhythm of 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. A new car ferry terminal was opened on the south side of the Pier station in January 1976. Electrification and infrastructure changes The Lymington branch from Brockenhurst to Lymington was electrified on 2 January 1967. Power was supplied at 750V DC on the third rail syatem. 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. Locations Brockenhurst; Southampton and Dorchester main line station; opened 1 June 1847; Lymington Junction; Ampress Works; opened 1 October 1956; last