entirely forgot that he had been informed of the line's route by Mr Woods, the H&GDR company engineer. The LBSCR endorsed changes to the route on 1 April 1862 and Woods was dismissed. There was continuing concern over the slow progress of construction, and on 11 May 1863 it was reported that the land for six miles of the route between Cranleigh and Guildford had not yet been purchased. On 29 July 1862 the two companies had formally agreed that the LBSCR would absorb the H&GDR company. The uncompleted railway was sold to the LBSCR for £123,000. This was authorised by the LBSCR Additional Powers Act of 29 July 1864. On 2 May 1865 Frederick Bannister, now the engineer to the line, reported that the line would be ready for opening on 1 June 1865. The Board of Trade Inspecting Officer, Colonel Yolland visited, probably in May 1865, and refused consent to open. Subsequent visits in July and August 1865 had the same outcome. The principal difficulty was the working arrangement at Guildford, and after prolonged negotiations, Yolland was satisfied, and the line opened for traffic on 2 October 1865. The line was single throughout, worked on the staff and ticket system. Baynards was the only crossing point at first, although passing loops were provided later at Bramley in 1876 and Cranleigh in 1880. The line was 15 miles 48 chains in length. On 24 October 1865 the directors agreed on a LSWR proposal to enlarge part of Guildford station. Although Yolland had sanctioned the opening of the line, he had refused the opening of Rudgwick station intermediately, because it was on a 1 in 80 gradient; he required the gradient to be eased to no steeper than 1 in 130 for safety reasons; this was done, not without some difficulty, and Rudgwick station opened in November 1864. Disappointing traffic The southwards connecting spur at Stammerham (known as Itchingfield South Fork) was intended to allow trains to run between Guildford and Shoreham directly, but in fact very little such traffic presented itself, and the LBSCR closed the section on 1 August 1867. In fact the entire railway business was disappointing, and major through flows from the Midlands to the South Coast did not develop. The activity of the railway settled into ordinary rural transport requirements, coal and cattle feed inward, and agricultural produce and some limited local mineral production out.