Merchant's Railway

The railway ran two miles from many working quarries at the north of Tophill, along the edge of Verne Hill, to a pier at Castletown, from where the Portland stone was shipped.

The Merchant's Railway was created to transfer stone from the Tophill quarries to Castletown's waterfront.

[1] Yeates Incline was built as an addition to the main line to serve Withies Croft, Independent, and Inmosthay Quarries.

[8] The route was included in the BBC TV series Railway Walks presented by Julia Bradbury, where it was used as a continuation of the Rodwell Trail.

[9][10] The walk was included in the book accompanying the series and a picture of Bradbury standing on the incline was used for the cover.

Verne Hill, showing two levels where the Merchant's Railway transported stone along to Castletown
Priory Corner was the location where stone was transported so it could be transferred onto the Merchant's Railway.
The remaining Freeman's Incline section of the railway, leading from the Verne down to Castletown
A Yeates Incline bridge, with the remaining track bed of the railway