There were 248 railway bills that session, and a Board of Trade Commission, the Railway Board, informally referred to as "the Five Kings", was appointed to determine the relative merits of these schemes and numerous other potentially penetrating routes. At this period it was considered that only one route in any area was supportable, and therefore the Railway Board would choose which. The Five Kings found in favour of certain GWR routes and also the Southampton and Dorchester Railway, and against the LSWR's Central Route. This report was published on 31 December 1844, not mentioning the break of gauge. Shortly afterwards, however the Railway Board recommended that the S&DR line should be leased not to the GWR, but to the LSWR. At a stroke, the fortunes of the GWR and LSWR were reversed, and Castleman had got what he originally wanted.