 A horse-hauled narrow-gauge railway was opened in the Hesper Valley in 1857, serving the mines in the Velbert area.The line was later connected to the Pörtingsiepen colliery in Essen-Fischlaken and as a result the line from Kupferdreh to Hesperbrück was converted to standard gauge in 1877.A remaining narrow gauge section to Hefel was closed in 1918.