History of the Narrow Gauge Railway in Białowieża Forest
From 1915 to 1918, Białowieża Forest was under German military administration. In order to process the timber obtained, sawmills, a wood wool factory, a carpentry shop, and a wood dry distillation factory were built. Horses were no longer sufficient for transporting timber from the forest, so in 1916, the construction of a forestry railway began. Russian and French prisoners of war, as well as local people, were engaged in the work. Alongside the permanent tracks, a fairly dense network of portable tracks was laid, which were relocated to areas of intensive timber harvesting as needed.
From 1924 to 1929, the forestry railways were managed by the English company
