The hiss of steam. The smell of coal smoke. The blaring of the horn. All are in the air again. The East Broad Top Railroad (EBT) is back on track.
In February, “Number 16” emerged from the repair shop after 67 years in mothballs, ready to resurrect the sights and sounds of narrow-gauge steam railroading. It’s one of six steam locomotives in the roundhouse of the Pennsylvania-based line, the only original narrow-gauge railroad now operating east of the Rocky Mountains.
EBT no longer delivers iron, coal, and limestone as it did, beginning in the 1870s until changing economic conditions forced the line’s closure in 1956. Four years later, a merciful scrap dealer named Nick Kovalchick reopened the steam line to the public and kept it chugging until 2011. Now, the East Broad Top Foundation, a group that includes seasoned railroad executives who purchased the line in 2020, aims to entertain a growing number of visitors, educate them about the heyday of steam, and provide a sustainable jump-start to Central Pennsylvania’s economy.
Ten years after the scrap dealer sold EBT to the foundation, the nonprofit renewed trips for the public down its 9-mile, round-trip tracks, with the hopes of restoring all 33 miles as the public’s interest in “heritage railroading” grows.
“You roll through 9 miles of rolling hills, farms, forests. … You’re going to see, really, just the heart of Pennsylvania. It’s rather beautiful, especially in the fall, with the crops growing and the colors changing,” said Jonathan Smith, director of sales and marketing for the railroad.
The narrow-gauge tracks that EBT runs on are, to rail enthusiasts, just as beautiful as the scenery that visitors pass through. East Broad Top is the oldest operating narrow-gauge railroad in the country, said Smith, who grew up in Colorado near the famed Durango & Silverton line and became smitten with the look and lore of locomotives.
With rails only 3 feet apart instead of the standard four-foot, 8.5 inches used by most of the industry, narrow-gauge cost less to build, and because of its smaller size “you could have sharper curves, which could get you through more difficult terrain for less money,” said Linn Moedinger, a member of EBT’s board of directors. “But that’s pretty much where the economic advantages ended, and which is the reason the narrow-gauge finally failed.”
The Era of Iron Horses
Founded during America’s Industrial Revolution, the original East Broad Top’s purpose was to act as a “conveyor belt” to transport raw materials “from where they’re pulled out of the ground to the industry that it would support, and then eventually, that final product out to market,” explained Smith. “The largest of those industries was the iron industry. So the East Broad Top was originally created to bring all of the necessary materials to the iron furnace, which was then used to create the raw iron, which was sent out to market. Iron was the plastic of its time.”Coal became the most important mineral later in the railroad’s life as furnace owners switched from using charcoal in blast furnaces to coke, a derivative of coal. But after an 82-year run, East Broad Top succumbed to changing times, shutting the roundhouse doors on its iron horses in 1956. After which, it was purchased by Kovalchick.
What happened? America’s reliance on coal diminished significantly as major industries switched to natural gas or gasoline, or diesel fuel for trains, said Smith. As well, individual consumers dropped coal and switched to oil to heat their homes, said Moedinger.
A Railroad Twice Reborn
Just when EBT appeared down and out for good, residents of Orbisonia, the borough across the river from EBT’s operations in Rockhill Furnace, witnessed what Smith called “a miracle.” It was 1960, and townsfolk were celebrating their bicentennial. They approached Kovalchick and asked if a piece of railroad memorabilia could be displayed during the festivities. The scrap dealer’s response far exceeded their expectations. “We’ll reopen. We’ll fix up some track and fire an engine up and pull people, give some rides,” said Smith, paraphrasing Kovalchick’s generosity.EBT was reborn. It no longer hauled iron or coal but remained steam-powered and open to the public. In 1964, it was declared a National Historic Landmark. Nick Kovalchick’s son, Joe, kept the railroad running for another 47 years before it once again shut down.
The foundation, its current owner, reintroduced public rides in 2021 and 2022, temporarily using diesel. But with Number 16 repaired and running, the line made a switch back to steam this year and is now fully committed to providing visitors with an all-steam experience.
Guests are given three seating options to enjoy their ride, which stops at a picnic grove that is expected to become the site of weddings, art shows, and concerts. Seating options include Enclosed Coach, featuring large viewing windows and padded seats; Open Air, with unobstructed views from bench-style seats facing outward; and Caboose. Guests also have the option of purchasing tickets for a stop at the Rockhill Trolley Museum, where they can enjoy a ride in an electric street car.
They also get to see the historic, belt-driven machine shop that helped keep the steam trains running. “I don’t think there’s as extensive a shop complex anywhere in this country of that nature,” said Moedinger, who called the shop “jaw-dropping.”
Working behind the scenes at EBT is a hearty group of about 1,800 volunteers who’ve done everything from replacing windows in aging buildings to painting to making repairs to the passenger cars, a labor of love that’s gone on for decades. Separately, the five remaining steam locomotives are being restored in stages and will take turns hauling passengers as they become fully functional. Most of that work is being done in-house.
The railroad is coordinating its marketing with other area destinations such as Raystown Lake, which attracted more than 1.5 million visitors in 2021, and the William E. Swigart Jr. Antique Automobile Museum, the oldest car museum in America, which houses a collection of 150 vehicles. Smith thinks EBT could attract as many as 100,000 guests within 10 years.
“The railroads built most of the communities they serve,” said Smith. “I’ve been fortunate to work for a few railroads in my life, and I’ve never seen a railroad as ingrained in the community as this one.”
