Because the municipality of Edewecht in the then Grand Duchy of Oldenburg was not connected to the rail network during the construction of the railways until the beginning of the twentieth century, the municipal council tried to establish its own connection to the main line Oldenburg-Leer in Zwischenahn. On January 8, 1910, the Oldenburg State Ministry approved the construction.
Construction and operation were transferred from the municipality to the Grand Ducal Oldenburg State Railroad. The construction costs were estimated at 429,000 marks. The Grand Duchy gave a grant of 130,000 marks, the remainder had to be financed by the community itself. On December 15, 1912, operations were opened on the standard-gauge, single-track line seven kilometers in length. It was primarily intended to transport peat, which was then also used as fuel for locomotives, and to transport cattle.
After the end of the First World War, the route of the small railway from Edewecht was extended by five kilometers to the Südedewechter Moor in 1919 and 1920. In addition to the peat works located there, the main drivers behind the extension were the state settlement office, which wanted to open up the moorland on the coastal canal for settlement activities (today's villages of Süddorf and Husbäke). The official inauguration of the railway line took place on October 20, 1920, and regular operations began on November 1. One month later, a track for freight trains was laid across the coastal canal to the loading point of the “Vehnemoor” peat plant. At first the trains drove over a bascule bridge, which was replaced in 1926 by the high bridge that still exists today as the canal was widened. Not far from what was then the Edewechterdamm train station, an approximately 3 km long field railway also led to the “Langenmoor” moorland (remaining route: today's route “Zur Kleinbahn” in Süddorf). After the establishment of the Deutsche Reichsbahn, it took over the management, which was transferred to the Deutsche Bundesbahn in 1949. In 1977 the municipality took over the management of its railway itself. The track network has meanwhile been expanded to include a plant connection in South Edewecht and a branch line to a Querensteder brickworks, which, however, were soon dismantled due to a lack of capacity.
During the Second World War, the railway line was deliberately attacked by bombers. B. 1943.