Friends of East Broad Top picks up pace

Part two of a two-part update on the East Broad Top Railroad

ROBERTSDALE, Pa. – Building on the 2020 rebirth of the historic narrow gauge East Broad Top Railroad, the Friends of the East Broad Top nonprofit auxiliary group is beefing up volunteer work, raising unprecedented amounts of cash, and penciling more projects onto its to-do list. This is an update on the East Broad Top Railroad.

In the process, it’s also adding members at a time when many railroad historical groups are struggling to stay afloat and relevant in a digital-oriented world where a culture of non-joiners has become the new normal.

The nonprofit EBT Foundation was formed in 2020 to buy the majority of the property and give the railroad a clear mission forward, unleashing pent-up enthusiasm for the much-loved short line with a worldwide following. Soon after that, one Friends member even flew from England just to pitch in with hands-on restoration at a volunteer work session.

During last weekend’s annual fall reunion, Andy Van Scyoc, FEBT president, and Dave Bulman, campaign chairman, reported that while the 2023 fund-raising goal was $180,000, donors actually gave $270,725 in 974 individual gifts, or 150% of the target. The 2024 goal is $220,000, to be allocated as follows:

• $70,000 to continue the work of organizing, preserving, and making publicly available the railroad’s archives. They comprise 5,000 linear feet of maps, blueprints, minute books, deeds, correspondence, and other railroad and mining records stretching back 150 years. The archives work — which will extend for decades to come — is jointly funded by the Friends and the Foundation [see “East Broad Top hires archivist,” News Wire, June 21, 2021].
• $50,000 to begin rebuilding the EBT station at Saltillo, Pa. (8 miles south of the road’s headquarters town of Rockhill Furnace, Pa.), which was razed in 2004 after it was deemed to be too far gone to rescue. Exterior work will be carried out by a contractor, while Friends volunteers will handle most interior work. Before demolition, the Friends salvaged many furnishings, such as the arched ticket window, which will be reinstalled in the recreated station. At one meeting during the reunion, architect John Bowie, who has been donating much of his time to support this project, detailed plans for how the work will unfold. The Friends also previously committed to rebuilding an enclosed water tank, also at Saltillo, which was destroyed by arson.
• $50,000 to pay for a new steel tender tank for engine No. 15, a 1914 Baldwin locomotive, the next in line to be returned to service. Acid content in coal left in the bunkers of tenders for all six EBT locomotives has caused deterioration. A new tank was fabricated for No. 16, which was returned to operation in February [see “East Broad Top No. 16 Debut,” Trains.com, Feb. 23, 2023]. “Multiple operating steam engines were long a hallmark of the EBT,” said Van Scyoc, explaining why it’s important to get more than one engine running.

• $40,000 for the purchase ties and other track materials to continue the joint Foundation-Friends project for reopening the main line to Saltillo. Brush and tree clearing is already completed for the first few miles.

• And, $10,000 for a new project, to launch architectural design work aimed at rebuilding a two-stall enginehouse at Robertsdale, the historic center of activity for EBT’s sister coaling-mining company. This project was suggested by FEBT newsletter editor Doug Davenport.

Membership rises

Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, the Friends group once reached a peak of about 850 members — still a respectable number for a 33-mile coal-hauler-turned-seasonal-tourist-carrier. After the railroad ended operations in 2011, FEBT continued to work on projects in an effort to check the ravages of time and weather, but with no trains running, membership dropped into the 700s. That all reversed with the 2020 formation of the Foundation, and during the reunion, the group announced that it had signed up its 2,000th member.

Museum work

Much of the Friends’ volunteer labor has gone into preserving and restoring the railroad’s historic circa-1900 machine shop complex at Rockhill Furnace, led for many years by EBT author and historian Lee Rainey and currently directed by Charlie Wootton. But the group also maintains the former EBT station in Robertsdale and operates a museum in an adjacent former railroad-owned building. During the reunion, FEBT announced that the exhibit hall would be named for the late Hank Inman, a previous Friends president who kept the organization going during some lean times.

The museum is open to the public every Saturday that the railroad is operating, often staffed by docents Pete and Jane Clarke.

FEBT also offers guided walking tours of the coal-mine ruins that line both sides of the track and rides over a cleared 1½-mile stretch of EBT main line. Until a few weeks ago, these rides were conducted aboard an original EBT handcar, which was strenuous for some visitors because of the line’s 2% grade. Within the last few weeks, the Friends took delivery of two railbikes, which are easier for visitors to pedal and less bouncy than the handcar.

For part one of the update, see “EBT No. 16 rolls onto newly reopened track,” News Wire, Oct. 10, 2023.