The Selke Valley Railway (Selketalbahn), Gernrode-Harzgerode Railway (Gernroder-Harzgeroder Eisenbahn) and the Anhalt Harz Railway (Anhaltische Harzbahn) were different names for the metre gauge railway in the Lower Harz, Germany, originally owned by the Gernrode-Harzgerode Railway Company (Gernrode-Harzgeroder Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, GHE). It is now only known as the Selke Valley Railway. This has included the Quedlinburg–Gernrode line since 2006. It continues through Alexisbad to Hasselfelde and includes the Alexisbad–Harzgerode branch and the Stiege–Eisfelder Talmühle connecting line. All of them are now owned by the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways (Harzer Schmalspurbahnen). The line follows the Selke river between Mägdesprung and Albrechtshaus. History Opening and early years The Gernrode–Mägdesprung railway was opened by the Gernrode-Harzgerode Railway Company (Gernrode-Harzgeroder Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, GHE) after a construction period of 316 days on 7 August 1887. The Selke Valley Railway is the oldest narrow gauge railway in the Harz Mountains. Because of the terrain conditions and for cost reasons, Localbahn-Bau und Betriebs-Gesellschaft Wilhelm Hostmann & Co. from Hanover was awarded the contract to build the 1000 mm gauge railway. Services were initially hauled by three powerful steam locomotives called Gernerode, Harzgerode and Selke. The line was extended in stages to Hasselfelde by 1892. After the opening of the Stiege–Eisfelder Talmühle railway by the Nordhausen-Wernigerode Railway Company (Nordhausen-Wernigeroder Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, NWE) on 15 July 1905, a connection existed to the Harz Railway (Harzquerbahn). Because of the increased demand for both passenger and freight traffic, three more steam locomotives had been put into service by the turn of the century, the Güntersberge, the Alexisbad and the Hasselfelde. Developments after the Second World War In the spring of 1946, the Eisfelder Talmühle–Hasselfelde and Herzogschacht–Lindenberg sections of the Selke Valley Railway were dismantled and almost all the rolling stock and track material was sent as reparations to the former Soviet Union. The operational management between Efelder Talmühle and Hasselfelde was transferred to the NWE from 15 April 1946. Because of its importance for the transport of fluorite, reconstruction began in the autumn of 1946 between Gernrode and Lindenberg (now Straßberg), which dragged on because of lack of material until 1950. The Lindenberg–Stiege section was not initially rebuilt. The GHE was nationalised in 1946 and it was absorbed by Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) on 1 April 1949. In 1983, the reconstruction of the Straßberg–Stiege section was approved, especially to ensure the supply of lignite from Nordhausen to the new cogeneration plant of Silberhütte. Scheduled passenger services