The first of these was the Wemyss and Buckhaven Railway, opened in 1881 from Thornton to Buckhaven, later extended by the Leven Extension Railway to connect Methil and Leven harbours, in 1884. Randolph Wemyss sold the Wemyss and Buckhaven Railway to the NBR, but the development of further pits not served by the existing railways prompted him to construct a network of mineral lines that became known as the Wemyss Estate Railway, or alternatively Wemyss Private Railway.
