In the course of industrialization, more and more main lines were built in the late 19th century. The Upper Palatinate Forest, even then a structurally weak region, had a connection from Schwandorf via Cham, Furth im Wald and Taus (Domažlice) to Pilsen from 1861 and via Wiesau and Waldsassen to Eger (Cheb) from 1864, but the eastern Upper Palatinate was For a long time, the forest was not accessible by rail, so that communities and influential personalities such as Gustav von Schlör repeatedly demanded a railway line in the direction of Vohenstrauß.
After the joint-stock company of the Bavarian Eastern Railways opened its north-south route in the Naab Valley in 1863/64, the stretch of land to the east up to the Bohemian border also had to be developed. On October 16, 1886, the first local railway section of the Royal Bavarian State Railways was opened from Neustadt an der Waldnaab via Floß to the district headquarters in Vohenstrauß. On August 16, 1900, the line reached the border town of Waidhaus, from where it headed south and reached its terminus in Eslarn on October 1, 1908. Hence the popular name Eslarner Bockl (little steam train). At around 50 km, the route was the longest local railway in the Upper Palatinate. Due to the location in the middle of the Upper Palatinate Forest, there were often operational disruptions in winter. Around 1930 there were considerations to extend the railway line via Schönsee to Waldmünchen, but this did not come to fruition.