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Among the attractions of the Selke Valley is the Selke Valley Railway or Selketalbahn. This is a metre gauge railway that passes through Quedlinburg, Gernrode, Alexisbad and Harzgerode, with branch lines from Alexisbad to Stiege to Hasselfelde, and from Stiege to the Eisfelde Talmühle, much of this track being relaid in 2006 to link to the Harz Narrow Gauge Railway. The railway itself has become a delicatessen for railway aficionados as it travels through the most dramatic parts of the central Harz using small steam engines of which only 17 were built, and the route traverses the steepest grade in the Harz railway system of 4%. At Stieg station there is a unique terminal loop known as a balloon loop which allows heavier trains destined for Silberhütte to turn without reversing.