INDIANA, Pa. — “The East Broad Top is sleeping,” Joe Kovalchick says.
Indeed, it’s been five years since the legendary narrow gauge railroad has operated for the public. The famed narrow-gauge coal hauler’s modern-day owner, Kovalchick, says he’s trying to find someone, some group or agency to buy the 33-mile railroad.
“I want to keep it together,” he says. “It’s important to maintain that.”
He says he’s had offers to buy the locomotives, but he doesn’t want to sell them piecemeal. He said he had feelers out but so far, no offers.
There have been a handful of private runs since the railroad’s popular 9-mile round-trips behind steam ended in 2011. Gas-electric car M-1 and one of the road’s center-cab diesels have made runs for the annual Friends of the East Broad Top October gathering, and more recently, several EBT motor cars have made shorter trips.
However, during the EBT’s hibernation, the Friends’ organizations has kept up its work. Lee Rainey, the organization’s president, says volunteers continue to preserve and stabilize buildings with monthly work weekends year-round and a full week of work in May. Kovalchick has partnered the Friends for this work.
“Major stabilization work was begun and is about half done on the freight house. Built in 1884, the freight house was in very precarious condition,” Rainey says. In addition, Rainey says work on the foundry and the south end of the locomotive shop is complete. Another crew has been stabilizing the lumber shed, and much new window sash has been fabricated for installation in the blacksmith shop, roundhouse and other buildings. Work continues on the restoration of 1882 combine No. 14.
The East Broad Top Preservation Association, formed in 2010, operated the railroad for two years and was trying to raise about $8 million to buy it. But, as of late 2017, it has succeeded only in purchasing the standard gauge former Conrail connection in Mount Union, Pa., and about four miles of the East Broad Top south to Aughwick, Pa. At present the standard gauge trackage is used for railcar storage. The association was able to secure a state grant to re-purpose part of the Mount Union interchange yard into a linear park and install new ties into a portion of the EBT yard. Attempts to reach the association were unsuccessful.
Any attempt to re-open the railroad faces several major obstacles. Any one of the road’s six steam locomotives would have to undergo a lengthy and expensive overhaul to meet federal regulations, and the track, which was getting rough when the line shut down in 2012, would require an unknown number of ties, amount of ballast and surfacing before it could handle regular trains. In addition, since it has been shut down for several years, a strong publicity and marketing effort would be necessary to bring in new riders.
FEBT listed at goodsearch.com.
It has been years since i drove the valley along the EBT tracks, but even back then there were places where the adjacent property owners had shoved the track aside or otherwise disposed of it for their own benefit. Any restoration effort would have to require that the missing segments be replaced before operations could begin again.
If only I won the powerball when it was very high.
This is a tough one. Everyone agrees the EBT is the defining example of Eastern narrow gauge, and it is unquestionably a national treasure. The concept of it becoming a US National Historical Park was always a good one, but Steamtown – and the fact that Steamtown NHP is in the same state – makes that solution far more complicated. It could still be done, but it would take time and political as well as economic capital.
At this late date no Knight in Shining Armor is going to ride over the hill to rescue the EBT. To get it into any kind of operating shape for serious revenue production will cost money, and someone will have to write the checks. It is still possible that a buyer could be found, but the price Mr. Kovalchick asks would have to be based on the reality of the rebuild costs and the long uphill road to marketing this almost forgotten railroad as well as what he and his family need to have out of a sale.
And even then, excursion train riders are a fickle lot. Once they leave it takes money to get them back, or to expose potential new riders to the opportunity. After many hard years building up and running what has finally become a profitable tourist railroad business, I can only guarantee that there are no guarantees. There is only the work and more work and even more work that you have to do to try to make it work.
I think the Kovalchick family has clearly shown that they sincerely desire the EBT continue on somehow. Otherwise none of us would be having this conversation. The rails would have been lifted, the equipment carted off for scrap, and the winds would not be whistling around the edges of the locomotive shop and the Orbisonia depot: they would just be blowing the fall leaves unhindered down the valley.
Steve Hites, President & Director
St. Kitts Scenic Railway Ltd.
Strasburg Railroad corporate structure.
As some of you may remember a study was done in the early 1990s by the NPS with numerous options as to how the EBT could be brought back to full life. Nothing happened at that time. We may need the Commonwealth of PA to get involved and buy the railroad similar to how the states of CO and NM own and operate the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic RR. The Friends of the C&TSRR have a minimum of six work sessions each summer to maintain equipment and structures along the right of way. How about you local state reps and Friends of the EBT, are you all up to the challenge to bring the EBT back to life and help the economy of Huntingdon County and the local communities.
I doubt if the Commonwealth of PA is in any position or even has the desire to purchase the EBT The last news I heard was that PA was still trying to find revenue to cover the latest budget that was passed (late again as in past years). On another forum it was suggested that Mr. Kovalchick has an inflated view of the worth of the EBT far beyond it;s commercial value for land, buildings and equipment.
Why not donate it to one or both groups?
Two points: No. 15 still has several years on its Form 4. It would need comparatively minor work to run. And Larry Salone’s Preservation Association ran the tourist operation for three seasons.
Would TRAINS magazine like to own a railroad?
Roger Cole makes a good point about the Kovalchick family’s commitment to historical preservation. Hopefully, the one short line operator widely known for “demarketing” and then abandoning/scrapping small railroads, won’t enter this picture.
I have done location scouting on the EBT property several times in the past 12 years. The steady decline of the property clearly was evident. The EBT situation is one of the most complicated and compelling historical preservation challenges to surface in at least 20 years, and perhaps longer. I would image, with no fault to the current owners, that the financial challenges are complicated and daunting. Ensuring the survival of this gorgeous and historically significant property sounds like a challenge for the entire railfan community, as well as well-funded foundations. Deep-pocketed railroad enthusiasts like Jerry Joe Jacobson indeed are rare. An innovative solution, something far beyond a Go-Fund-Me page, is required.
Most likely because Mr. Kovalchick doesn’t want/can’t afford to give it away. The Kovalchick family has long been in the for-profit salvage business. If they had wanted, they could have scrapped it when they bought it back in the 50s. It is to their credit that most of it still exists today.