Classic Pennsylvania narrow gauge railroad to be revived
ONE of the oldest narrow gauge railways in the USA is to be revived after nine years of dormancy following its sale.
The East Broad Top Railroad (EBT) in Pennsylvania, one of the nation’s oldest and best preserved narrow gauge railroads, is particularly important because it is a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
It has lain mothballed since December 2011 after the last passenger train ran in preservation, but a few dedicated volunteers continued with some restoration projects and looked after it.
Now it has been bought by a nonprofit organisation under the banner of the EBT Foundation Inc, which is backed by a group of prominent railway figures whose aim is to fully restore and resurrect the line and workshops to their former glory.
The line’s history dates back to 1856 when it received a charter from the Pennsylvania legislature, but the civil war of 1861-65 put paid to its building. After numerous delays, construction begun in 1872 at Mount Union, Pennsylvania, reaching Rockhill Furnace in 1873. A year later it reached Robertsdale on Broad Top Mountain and to reduce costs, 3ft gauge was chosen. The line was built to carry coal from the mines at Broad Top Mountain to Rockhill Furnace, though it was also used for passengers, in particular the workers.
Time capsule
Several branches were built, with one to Saltillo, and when a fire brick plant opened in 1900 in Mount Union, coal and locally quarried rock used for the bricks was transported by the EBT. The brickwork company continued to use the line until it closed.
In 1903 the new EBT president Robert Siebert completely modernised the railway from the track upwards, including locomotives. It is this ‘upgraded’ line that we have today, locked in a time capsule and deserving of preservation.
Rockhill Furnace station was built in 1906 and a canopy added in 1909. New Baldwin 2-8-2s started to arrive in 1911, 10 steel hoppers were ordered but over 200 were built in the Rockhill shops’ complex.
In the 1920s, the railway built a crane for transferring timber from the narrow gauge wagons to standard gauge. When the timber business ceased, it was used to lift standard gauge wagons off their bogies and onto narrow gauge ones, negating the expense of transhipment.
A new coal cleaning plant opened in Mount Union served by dual gauge track. The last branch was built in the 1940s to a quarry on Jack’s Mountain.
Coal and the shipment of rock kept the railway open into the 1950s when most other narrow gauge lines had closed.
The transfer of mail transport to road in 1953 stopped the passenger trains, although miners’ trains survived for another year. In desperate need of modernisation and with the reduction of coal traffic it became uneconomic, so in 1955 the railway filed for abandonment. The final main line train hauled by No. 17 ran on April 6, 1956 and the last shunt on April 13.
Afterwards, the story of the EBT becomes similar to Barry Island and Woodham Brothers scrapyard whereby the railway, its assets and the Rockhill Iron and Coal Company were bought by the Kovalchick Salvage Company, which had made a living from scrapping railways. However, here almost nothing was scrapped and the Kovalchicks became its salvation.
Revival
The local planning committee wanted to celebrate the Bicentenary of the furnaces at Orbisonia and Rockhill in the 1960s, so asked Nick Kovalchick to display an EBT locomotive for the event. He went one better and offered to run trains, reopening a section of the line for tourism. This venture proved a success and in 1971 abandonment was rescinded.
It ran as a preserved railway until 2011 when it was mothballed in its original timewarp.
On February 14, the announcement
was made that EBT had been successfully purchased for an undisclosed sum by the EBT Foundation Inc. Negotiations were led by Brad Esposito, a 20-year veteran of the Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad and EBT enthusiasts David Brightbill, Lawrence Biemiller and Stephen Lane.
The purchase includes approximately 27 miles of remaining track, seven original Baldwin steam locomotive (six 3ft and one standard gauge), several historic carriages, countless wagons, the works, roundhouse and station. This comprises one of the most complete early 20th century industrial facilities in the US. The workshops are overhead shaft and belt driven similar to the Dinorwic workshops at Llanberis which house the Welsh National Slate Museum – unusual for the US.
Backers of the new organisation include three rail industry and preservation heavyweights – Wick Moorman, former chairman and CEO of Norfolk Southern and former CEO of Amtrak; Henry Posner III, former Conrail manager who is chairman of the Iowa Interstate Railroad and the Railroad Development Corporation of Pittsburgh; and Bennett Levin, a retired mechanical and electrical engineer, who owns the Juniata Terminal Company which runs two Pennsylvania Railroad E8 diesels and three private carriages.
Brad Esposito will become the general manager and says the EBT Foundation has a three-part mission, committed firstly to preserving and operating the East Broad Top as a steam railroad; secondly, to educating visitors about the role of railroads in local and national history; and thirdly, promoting tourism and economic growth.
The new organisation will immediately begin work on several fronts, he said. Before operations can resume, the railroad will need to overhaul track and equipment, including locomotives and passenger carriages. A firesuppression (sprinkler) system will be installed in the historic machine shops and roundhouse, and several structural stabilisation (foundations) projects will be undertaken in the railroad’s Rockhill Furnace complex.
New lease of life
Joseph Kovalchick, whose father Nick purchased the EBT, said:“this is the best possible outcome for the railroad which has been in my family for two generations. It is with a combination of pride and relief that we pass the torch in its second reincarnation.”
Now given a new lease of life with many friends, there is much work ahead in seeing the EBT rise from the ashes and become a success as a major player in America’s railway preservation.
The new organisation will offer several EBT events this year. On June 6 there will be an open house with speeder rides and tours, the nearby Rockhill Trolly (tram) Museum which now runs on one of the old branches after electrification will be operating. July 22-25 is the 60th anniversary of the EBT reopening as a tourist railway and on October 9-11, the friends of EBT reunion will take place. It is hoped regular steam operation will commence in 2021.
The railroad’s new website can be found at eastbroadtop.com