tramways had been laid. In 1870 it was decided that a more permanent railway connection was required, and the Great Western Railway (Additional Powers) Act of 1871, and an LSWR Act of 19 July 1875 authorised the construction of a railway miles (2.5km) long between the Admiralty Breakwater and the Weymouth and Portland Railway. The line was to be known as The Admiralty Line. The line was built at the expense of the Admiralty and the railway companies operated it for them. Although it was used principally by horse-drawn goods traffic the Board of Trade insisted on it being fully interlocked to passenger standards. As a private railway there was no general announcement of opening of the line, but the Southern Times reported that "a Great Western passed over the line on Wednesday [19 July 1876]. A few alterations must be made in laying the metals before the railway can be declared open." From 1881 bunkering of merchant ships took place from the breakwater and coal was conveyed down the new railway to reach it. The Easton and Church Hope Railway Early attempts In 1866 another line was proposed on the Isle of Portland: the Easton and Church Hope Railway. It was to be on the south-east side of the island; it was intended as another line to bring quarried stone down to the water’s edge where a new jetty would be constructed. The short line obtained the Royal Assent on 25 July 1867, with share capital of £25,000. It was to run from Sheepcroft, immediately north of Easton, to the top of the cliff above Church Hope Cove, where there was to be an inclined plane down to the foreshore. The line was to be made in a zigzag pattern and was to be broad gauge, with a 1 in 8 cable worked incline. After the 1867 incorporation, the company did not achieve very much until 1870, when representatives of commoners met. They had rights on some of the land to be crossed by the line and were due compensation. The sum of £850 was agreed. At the end of 1872 the Parliamentary powers expired; 1,320 yards (1,200m) of railway had been built, but not put into operation, and £20,250 had been expended. As the years passed with no sign of any progress towards completion, shareholders' meetings began to be ignored by the proprietors. In 1884 a new Board