The Sodor & Mainland Railway town of Ballahoo via Rolf's Castle and Crovan's Gate, but never actually reached the mainland due to lack of money and misfortunes. The plan to extend to the Mainland via Vicarstown failed when the tunnel under construction through the Balahoo Ridge collapsed and plans to build a bridge across the Walney Channel was halted by the Admiralty (who ironically in World War I became the driving force behind the unification of Sodor's railways and completion of the same link to the mainland that they hindered the S&M in building). The S&M did, at one time plan to build a western
The Sodor & Mainland Railway The Sodor & Mainland Railway The Sodor & Mainland Railway (1853–1914) was a fictional railway that existed on the Island of Sodor in The Railway Series books written by the Rev. W. Awdry. In the books it is known as the S&M and was built when railway-mania was still in force, opening in 1853. The initial aim of the railway was to link Sodor with the British Mainland, though despite its close proximity, there is no direct connection with the Isle of Man's own transport network. The Sodor & Mainland Railway ran from the docks at Kirk Ronan to the