the l&swr opened the fullerton to hurstbourne line under its own operation on 1 july 1885 with three passenger trains a day operated by a locomotive and a single carriage shuttling between fullerton and whitchurch (the dn&sr had its own station at the latter village). by the 1890s the service had increased to 5 trains a day but the line remained lightly used. an attempt to reduce costs was made by introducing railmotors on the line in 1910. the line did serve a useful role as a diversionary route between eastleigh and southampton for special trains or during engineering works on the main line. queen victoria, attracted by the scenery surrounding the line, had the royal train sent down the line on several occasions when travelling between windsor castle and osbourne house. it is rumoured that she preferred this route on the way to and from osborne house because it did not involve passing through any tunnels.