Wemyss Private Railway

Randolph Wemyss was possessed of an exceptionally dynamic business mind and developed the mineral extraction; as he did so it emerged that huge quantities of winnable coal lay under the lands of the estate.

Several other small harbours were developed, but this too failed to resolve the problem, and in any case numerous new pits had been opened remote from the existing railway.

Matters progressed and on 17 October 1879 a Certificate for the construction of the railway was issued by the Board of Trade; an act of Parliament was not required because no compulsory land acquisition was needed and there were no objections to the scheme; nor was a new joint stock company to be established.

In 1882 the Duncan pit started operation, near West Wemyss station, and a short branch was built to serve it, opening in 1882.

Wemyss needed to extend the Buckhaven line to Leven Harbour, and strong opposition might be expected from the North British Railway, who would lose mileage by it.

Wemyss forged an agreement with them, finalised on 21 April 1883,[6] by agreeing to the Burntisland carriage rates applying to coal traffic from outside the immediate area to Methil and Leven.

The line was inspected by Major General Hutchinson on 3 March 1887 and opened to passenger traffic on 5 May 1887, operating as an extension of the Wemyss and Buckhaven line; passenger trains ran between Thornton, Buckhaven and Methil; only mineral traffic continued to Leven Harbour, but the new, well-equipped Methil Dock opened on 5 May 1887 also.

[note 2] In eight months of 1887 Methil shipped 220,000 tons, rising to 409,000 in the full year 1888; Burntisland throughput fell substantially in the same period.

[2] Shortly after October 1887 a lease was agreed between Wemyss and the Fife Coal Company for the exploitation of a pit at Wellsgreen; this too would need a railway connection.

Nonetheless Wemyss did not wish to be a long term operator of harbour facilities, particularly because he foresaw that considerable development would be needed in later years to keep abreast of the expansion of trade.

Naturally Wemyss was a dominant shareholder and a driving force; his later correspondence with the NBR often put forward his views personally as well as on behalf of the WCC.

The new railway was over a mile long, with a zigzag to gain height and gradients of 1 in 69 against loaded trains to reach the high level line.

The NBR argued that the licence to build new colliery connections was personal to Wemyss (not the WCC) and did not allow him to carry the minerals of others on the line.

It was six miles in length, and single track, starting in the west at Duncan siding, linking Lochhead and Hugo pits, with a new east-facing connection to Michael.

Running north-south this had become dormant when more direct routes for Muiredge coal had been built, and the NBR had agreed that it might be severed to allow the new line to pass through west to east.

The line continued east through Starkey's Wood, turning tightly to the south-west and crossing over the Methil extension railway, to terminate at Denbeath pit on the shore.

The location of the new pit was remote, and Wemyss established a free workers' passenger train service, erecting platforms at Earlseat and at Cowley Road, Methil, and at Denbeath.

[2] In 1895 Methil harbour had shipped 727,564 tons, overtaking Burntisland, and abstracting some business from smaller ports which could not accept the larger vessels coming into use.

At the same time, Wemyss, possibly suspecting tactical play, submitted a modified version of his own scheme, while stating that he had no wish to proceed with it if the NBR would itself improve Methil.

The trams ran into the Kirkcaldy system and were integrated with it, but there were four high-capacity cars reserved for the times of shift changes The original alignment passed through the centre of Coaltown, but following a serious accident there, the line was diverted round the northern margin of the community.

Attempts to rectify this problem dragged on, and the onset of World War I in 1914 overtook events, as the export coal trade collapsed during hostilities.

Industrial unrest, government controls of home sale prices, and other social factors made the profitability of the pits greatly reduced.

In 1926 worker dissatisfaction with wages and hours led to the General Strike; in fact the Fife miners struck on 1 May 1926, just before the nationwide stoppage.

The strike ceased in November but irreparable damage had been done to some underground machinery by water ingress, and the Earlseat colliery never reopened productively.

Some of the pits were closed in this period, partly to meet the quota, and although the railway branches continued in use to move colliery waste, some closures took place.

[2] World War II started in 1939, and once again the pattern of coal output changed; export was almost completely stopped by London power stations required a considerable supply form the Fife coalfields.

When the extension railway from Buckhaven to Methil and Leven was made, it was operated by the Wemyss Estate, and a four-wheel saddle tank locomotive was procured in 1884 from Barclays & Co of kilmarnock; it was named Lady Lilian.

The Bowman company also operated pug engines for their own purposes, with some running on the Wemyss Estate line; a four-wheel saddle tank was obtained form Andrew Barclay in 1870, and a second was ordered in 1879.

When the Wemyss Coal Company was formed, the first locomotive it obtained was a powerful six-wheel saddle tank, intended for the steeply graded zigzag to the Michael colliery.

Increasing loadings and the ageing of the original locomotive fleet led to the purchase of a powerful six wheel side tank engine with the extraordinary tractive effort of 22,403 lb.