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Friends of the East Broad Top Annual Reunion - Lots of pics

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#8

With chores all done for the day I got out the digital camera and dumped the photos. Here is a relatively small sample of pictures I took on our Friday visit to Robertsdale, and Rockhill Furnace, PA.

We were camped just outside of Saxton, PA, about 15 minutes West of Robertsdale. On the way to Robertsdale we happened on to what I believe are relics of the Huntington and Broad Top, a standard gauge coal hauler that worked the West side of Broad Top Mountain. In Dudley, PA there are a few stations, a tank, and an 0-4-0 on display…

Then it was on to Robertsdale, the southern end of the EBT. Robertsdale Station sports a new roof, a recently reclaimed scale track and a short string of display hoppers…

Across the street is the original office of the Rockhill Iron and Coal Company. The second floor offices are still intact, but not open to visitors. The first floor is occupied by the US Post Office. The building also sports a matching new roof…

The EBT Foundation and volunteers from the FEBT have cleared over a mile of track toward the mines and and made it passable with hand cars and speeders. The foundation offered free speeder rides to FEBT members to the current end of cleared track in Wood…

The following shots were taken from the speeder…

They even built a temporary bridge to span a washed out culvert…

My final speeder ride shot is of the current end of passable track in Wood…

After the speeder ride I toured the recently completed FEBT Museum in the old Post Office building which also has a new matching roof…

Next to the old post office, land clearing revealed the gates to a playground/park the railroad built for the mine worker’s children…

We then ventured North to explore some previously un-seen (by me) sites and a few I know well. We couldn’t locate the extant tank at Coles as the brush has completely obscured the road bed. Just as well as all of these sites are now off-limits. We drove through Saltillo, but I didn’t take pictures as there is really nothing to see there; YET.

Our first photo stop was in Pogue at Rutter’s Cash Store AKA Pogue Station…

This is the goal destination for next fall…

Venturing just a little North, we found Pogue Bridge where lot of tree clearing was done a little over a year ago to assess the bridge and piers…

Yet a little further North is the current end of reclaimed track. Looking North from PA Route 475…

And looking South where land has been cleared and track moved aside in preparation for road bed grading…

And in the distance, the road bridge at Jordan Summit. Track is cleared to the South a little but beyond the bridge…

Continuing North, the Odd Fellows Cemetary Road is the next cross road which is now a legal grade crossing and signed as such…

Looking North from the crossing we can see the Rockhill yards and facilities…

Looking South is newly re-built track. Currently only every other tie is being installed to support the work train. Additional ties will be inserted and ballast placed before heavy trains can pass…

Hopefully this huge photo dump hasn’t bored you too much :smiley: Thanks for looking.

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#9

You’re sure making me jealous, Jon! Wow, what fun you’re having exploring!

Thanks for all those shots, they really help in understating the EBT.

#10

That is my friend Dave (who owns the Case steam tractor) and his son Josh (speeder engineer). Wish I would have know you were going as I was really debating it but I had other things to do. So I did the responsible thing and stayed here. Great pics !!!

#11

Cool! As we passed the Mechanicsburg exit I thought of giving you a call. But with our far West destination we needed to get to the campground in time to set up before dark and we had just cleared two big traffic jams on 78. It was over 8 hours with only gas stops door-to-site. Nice campground, but too far.

#12

Jon,

What an awesome series! It is amazing that they found the donor, investors, and volunteers (to include those with the correct skills!) to accomplish all of this! What really impresses me is that they are looking beyond just getting trains moving on tracks to include preserving the buildings and sights of a bygone era! Your pictures at the end where development had forever destroyed a piece of history was quite poignant. I was tangentially involved with similar controversies surrounding Civil War sites years ago, and those controversies are ever present here where limited land, multiple cultures, and multiple epochs only complicate things further. The tension between preservation and responsible development is very real.

I worry about the fate of our own little railroad, as the ahupua’a / land division through which it runs has been redesignated from agricultural to commercial and residential. Even if the current views are not cane fields, they are quite sweeping and evocative. Will folks pay to ride when all they see are backsides of stripmalls and condos?

Sorry to wax philosophical! Again, thanks so much for sharing!

Eric

#13

Thanks Eric. This truly was a stars aligned kind of thing. Many of the long term Friends members, many much longer than me, were all but convinced it would never be more than a static display ever again, if even that. Through the dark days they kept at it, restoring what they could with limited funds and manpower. We all hoped that some day the stars would align, but it was little more than hope. Those closely involved from decades ago never gave up searching for and finally found sympathetic ears within the preservation philanthropy community and the East Broad Top Foundation was born.

On Valentines Day 2020 the purchase of the railroad was announced and almost immediately membership in the Friends began to swell and the fund raising campaigns shot past goals. In the middle of all this excitement COVID happened. It really is nothing short of amazing what has been achieved and what is yet to come.

#14

Jon, Thank you so much for the photo essay. It was terrific. I hoped you had a good time. :innocent:

#15

It is the first time since the EBT RR closed in 1956 that a powered vehicle has been seen on the Robertsdale tracks.

#16

Like me. I joined in the 1970s and visited many times, even in the dark days. This pic is the mid-70s with my wife and #14.

Image (5)-1970s-ann
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#17

(late reply, been steaming this weekend)

Yes Jon we indeed saw you with your dog at the museum. I remarked later to my wife that you were the only person I think I recognized that entire great weekend.

Jerry

#18

I have been trying to get Jimmy Braum to upload his speeder video to Youtube, or send me the file so I could post it here. It is the ride I took and the back of my head is in most of the video :roll_eyes: So far no luck. If you are on Facebook, go check it out here Jimmy’s Facebook Video

If your don’t do Facebook, there is this video of a different run…

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#19

That’s awesome Jon !
I know my above video is not at EBT but I thought I would post it for a whistle salute from a proud father to his son whom was running the speeder. I understand there is in inside(father/son) joke about polishing the rails going up that 2% grade. I just think it’s fantastic that the younger generation is grabbing hold! (Kudos to Josh) .
BTW did you see Randy L. that weekend?

#20

No. He was quite active in FEBT for a while, even on the BOD for a term, but I haven’t heard anything about him in a while.

#21

The students at Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA produced a really well done short documentary on the re-birth of the EBT. It’s worth the time to watch.

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#22

Jon, great video I really enjoyed it. It is wonderful to see this great piece of history coming back to life.

#23

Great video, was there in 2006 and got to ride and do a in depth tour on the facilities.

Corrected year after finding the pictures.

#24

Thanks very much Jon, I really enjoyed the video and learned a lot.

#25

Great video Jon. Jean heard me watching it and I had to send her the link for it. (We were last there in 2008!)

#26

Here’s another video, not taken by me. This one, of the Southbound Special, also stars the back of my head in spots, but the real star is the restored track as far south as PA Rt. 475. We were among the first passengers to traverse this track since 1956.

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#27

Excellent video! Thanks for sharing. I’ve been following the write ups on FB and the back of your head never looked better. Going to have to give this some serious thought for next year. At least one more time would be lots of fun.

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