Vidzeme gained a new pulse that day: on 15 August 1903, the Stukmaņi, or Pļaviņas–Valka, narrow-gauge railway was officially opened. The line ran for about 210 kilometres through Vecgulbene and Alūksne, on 750 mm track, and served both timber and agricultural freight as well as passengers. One detail catches the whole era neatly: the direct train left Stukmaņi at 5:48 and reached Valka at 19:24.

The line was built by the Vidzeme Access Roads Company and connected more remote parts of Vidzeme with larger railway junctions and markets. Of that once-long route, the Gulbene–Alūksne “Bānītis” remains as a heritage railway, keeping a visible link to this age of infrastructure.