On 15 June 1896 the NWE was formed by the Vereinigten Eisenbahnbau- und Betriebs-Gesellschaft in Berlin, who also ran its operations.
On 1 April 1908, the NWE took over operations from the Vereinigten Eisenbahnbau- und Betriebsgesellschaft.
At Nordhausen and Wernigerode stations there were junctions with the standard gauge trains of the Prussian state railways, later the Deutsche Reichsbahn.
The NWE was expropriated by a 'people's decision' and went into the Saxony-Anhalt state railways in 1948.
Only on paper were the two Reichsbahn engines 99 5631 and 5632 given the designation NWE Nos.