ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – After being out of service for eight months, East Broad Top Railroad narrow-gauge 2-8-2 Mikado engine No. 16 (Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1916) will resume hauling tourist passengers tomorrow (Friday, Aug. 30).
The engine will pull regularly scheduled EBT trains on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through Oct. 27, plus additional special runs and, in December, Christmas trains. Among the highlights will be visits from conferees at the 44th National Narrow Gauge Convention in September and the Friends of the East Broad Top annual reunion on Oct. 4-6.
On Wednesday, Aug. 28, three busloads from the National Railway Historical Society’s annual convention, held in Harrisburg, Pa., visited the property and saw No. 16 on its shakedown run. Restored to operation in February 2023 after being idled for 67 years, the engine ran for 150 days that season, carrying what EBT spokesman Jonathan Smith calls “a record-breaking 35,000 passengers.”
It was down for its annual boiler inspection last winter when cracks were discovered in two spokes of a main driving wheel. The EBT Foundation announced that a diesel locomotive would pull regularly scheduled tourist trains through August. [See “East Broad Top No. 16 out of service . . ., ” Trains News Wire, April 11, 2024.] Pinch-hitting in the interim were General Electric center-cab switcher M-7 and, on selected dates, EBT’s 1927 gas-electric car, the M-1, built in kit form by the J.G. Brill Co. and assembled in the EBT shops here.
Meanwhile, the driver repair was handled in-house, overseen by Dave Domitrovich, master mechanic, and Linn Moedinger, retired president and chief mechanical officer of the Strasburg Rail Road and an EBT Foundation board member.
No. 16 is the first of the railroad’s six BLW Mikados to return to service since the Foundation in 2020 bought most of the railroad’s 33-mile-long main line, historic circa-1910 machine shops, eight-stall roundhouse, rolling stock, and station and office building. During the tourist years 1960-2011, EBT at various times ran engines No. 12, 14, 15, and 17. The next one to be reactivated is planned to be No. 15 (BLW, 1914).
Chartered in 1872, EBT hauled iron ore, timber and, primarily in later years, coal to an interchange with the standard-gauge Pennsylvania Railroad main line at Mount Union, Pa. When it shut down in 1956, scrap dealer Nick Kovalchick bought it and in 1960 reopened a 4½-mile segment for seasonal steam tourist runs.
Named a National Historic Landmark in 1964, the line continued carrying tourists until closing for a second time at the end of the 2011 season.
After it appeared for more than eight years on various “most endangered” lists, owner Joe Kovalchick, son of Nick, agreed to sell it to the newly formed nonprofit EBT Foundation Inc., and to accept a seat on the group’s board. The Foundation reopened regularly scheduled passenger service in 2021 and reactivated No. 16 in 2023 [See “East Broad Top steam returns . . . ,” News Wire, Feb. 20, 2023.
Tim Evans asks:
How do they “repair” cracks in driver spokes?
Drilling a transverse hole and force-fitting a pin is the customary method.
Given the accomplishments to date, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Rockhill Furnace shops unveil Mikado #18, a new-build 2-8-2, built in the 21st century.
Considering the original Mikado #18 exists, albeit in rough shape, that would surprise me. I think we’re more likely to see a replica of #11, the 2-6-2 that preceded and inspired the Mikados that followed. Even that sounds like a “far in the future” idea, though–first rebuild enough railroad to need it!
What an amazing organization. They are certainly a model for any historic railroad. They seem very worthy of our donations, as the money given always finds its way to important projects. The current rehabilitation and extension of the line south of the main yard is a terrific example. It looks as though Saltillo is within realistic reach if donations continue.