Selke Valley Railway

Selke Valley Railway Selketalbahn Quedlinburg–Hasselfelde
The Selke Valley Railway is shown in dark blue on the HSB network.
Route number:	333
Line number:	9703, 9704
Track gauge:	1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in)
Standard gauge from Magdeburg Quedlinburg(Start of metre gauge) Standard gauge to Blankenburg Standard gauge to Thale Quedlinburg-Quarmbeck Bad Suderode Standard gauge to Frose Gernrode Osterteich Sternhaus-Haferfeld Sternhaus-Ramberg Mägdesprung Drahtzug Alexisbad Harzgerode Silberhütte Straßberg-Glasebach Straßberg Güntersberge Friedrichshöhe Albrechtshaus Hasselfelde Stiege Birkenmoor Harz Railway to Wernigerode Eisfelder Talmühle Harz Railway to Nordhausen

The Selke Valley Railway (German: Selketalbahn) is the 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in) (metre gauge) railway in the lower Harz mountains that originally belonged to the Gernrode-Harzgerode Railway Company (GHE). The Selke Valley Railway main line connects the towns Quedlinburg and Hasselfelde, passing through Gernrode, Alexisbad and Stiege. There are also two branch lines: one connects Alexisbad with Harzgerode, the other connects Stiege with Eisfelder Talmühle, on the Harz Railway.

Between Mägdesprung and Albrechtshaus, the track passes through the valley of the river Selke, hence the name was given to the track.

In Spring 1946, all but a small section of the Selke Valley Railway was dismantled and the resources were recycled and carried off to the Soviet Union. Because of its importance for the transport of fluorospar, the part between Gernrode and Lindenberg (present-day Straßberg) was rebuilt starting in Fall 1946. Because of scarcity of materials, the reconstruction took until 1950. In 1946, the GHE was expropriated and was taken over by the Deutsche Reichsbahn of the GDR in 1949. The section Lindenberg (present-day Straßberg) - Stiege was not rebuilt until 1983.

On February 1, 1993, the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways (Harzer Schmalspurbahnen GmbH or HSB), which had already acquired the Harz Railway and the Brocken Railway, took over the Selke Valley Railway from the DR.

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Wikipedia