The Shott at the harbour ran inland and as a very hard igneous rock the cost and effort of cutting the canal through it was not worthwhile. The canal never therefore entered the harbour directly and after tolls were imposed upon the coal carts a railway was built along the Shott to the old harbour quay. John Warner, brother of Patrick Warner of Ardeer supervised the construction. As developed by James Brindley and practiced elsewhere later, puddled clay was used to seal the canal; it brought in with difficulty by cart and took four months to build and cost the Stevenston Coal Company £4857/4s. The transport of coal along it cost 3d per ton and the transfer from barge to cart to boat cost a further 8d per ton. The canal had four branches within what is now the Ardeer Park, one running up as far as the site of Ardeer House on a circuitous route to avoid the stone quarry. The eastern end of the canal was branched, with one spur running to a pit in Hill Side Field and the other running to the Bogpit just below the small Broom Estate. The Earl of Eglinton obtained the right in 1805 to establish a toll gate and levy charges which at first came to £30 a year, however in 1811 they were increased tenfold and Robert Cunninghame decided to build his own waggonway to avoid this toll. The waggonway had at first wood rails attached to stone sleepers, the permanent way being built along the rocks of the foreshore, however the Earl of Eglinton disputed the ownership of the land. Local householders also complained that the waggonway restricted their access to the seashore as the high wall so characteristic of the harbour environs was built to protect the line from the sea. By 1812 the track had reached as far as the Saracen's Head Inn and as the Earl failed to pursue the legal case the waggonway was completed and was in active use with the Stevenston Coal Company owning fifty horses used for hauling the waggons as well as towing the barges. Another source states that the railway was built with cast-iron fish-bellied rails from the start after Robert Cunninghame visited the Kilmarnock and Troon Railway. The line had reached the coal quay by 1827 following an agreement with the Earl. This waggonway continued in use until 1852 when the export of coal from Saltcoats ceased and the line was lifted for scrap.