project for connecting Paddington and Portsmouth by a railway, running through the same district... Thus the London and South Western have secured for themselves another preserve, and when the Meon Valley Line is finished, there will be a connection between Portsmouth and Salisbury. "There are not enough people along the route to pay for grease for the engines", a man was heard pointedly to observe, but we may see plenty of heavy goods trains run along this light railway, as it is called." Maggs is quite explicit: When the GWR proposed a line from Basingstoke to Portsmouth, the House of Lords Committee decided that a light railway, or railways, for Basingstoke-Alton-Fareham would be adequate as Portsmouth was already well-served by main lines. The result was that the LSWR constructed the Basingstoke & Alton Light Railway and the Alton to Fareham line. Authorisation Coincidentally in 1896 the Light Railways Act was passed. This was designed to stimulate local transport development by enabling the authorisation of railway schemes without the expense of getting a Parliamentary Bill. The LSWR Board saw that their proposed line between Basingstoke and Alton was well suited for construction as a light railway, and on 31 December 1896 an application to the Light Railway Commissioners was lodged. The cost would be £66,714. In an indication of the traffic volumes expected, there was to be a burrowing junction at Basingstoke, so that arriving trains could enter the up (north) side of the LSWR station. At Alton the railway would make a junction with the Mid-Hants Line some distance west of Alton, entering Alton over that line. (The junction was later named Butts Junction.) The authorisation process was not swift, and it was on 9 December 1897 that the Light Railway Order was issued. The sum of £51,000 could be raised for the construction. Land for a double track was purchased, but earthworks were made for a single line only. It was the first English railway authorised under the Light Railways Act. Although the Light Railway Order had been passed, taking into account submissions from public bodies, some local authorities nevertheless made a number of objections at this stage. The objectors were very persistent, and after an appeal hearing on 28 June 1899, the railway company was directed to provide gates at five level crossings, incurring additional staff costs, and to alter the planned location of the Cliddesden station. Major