The Sodor and Mainland Railway was a standard gauge railway opened in 1853. It ran from the harbour at Kirk Ronan to Ballahoo via Rolf's Castle and Crovan's Gate, but it never actually reached the mainland due to a series of misfortunes. A plan to make a tunnel to the mainland failed when excavations through the Ballahoo Ridge collapsed, and a scheme to build a bridge across the Walney Channel was stopped by the Admiralty.