Officials of the historic East Broad Top narrow gauge tourist railroad in Pennsylvania said track repair and restoration of shop facilities continues at a rapid pace.
Track work has involved replacing thousands of crossties while the shops in Orbisonia have been stabilized.
EBT has purchased a standard-gauge tamper that it converted to narrow gauge use.
Excursion trains are currently operating over 2.5 miles of track between Orbisonia and Runk Road fill.
Work on the Orbisonia shops has included restoring line shafts in the main building and stopping the structure from sinking further into the ground.
Officials said the shops were built over a marsh and in some places structures had sunk as many as 3 feet.
Every building in the complex has been restored to a level footing.
On Sept. 16, EBT held a golden spike ceremony to mark the first time since 2011 that a train has operated to the Colgate Grove picnic area where trains have traditionally been turned.
EBT hopes to be able to resume regular excursions to Colgate Grove by late this year.
No date has been announced yet when steam operations will return to the EBT although shop forces continue to work to restore the railroad’s fleet of five steam engines.
The first steamer expected to return to operation will be 2-8-2 No. 16, which last steamed in 1956 and never operated during the tourist era.
Tags: East Broad Top Railroad, East Broad Top steam locomotives, EBT Colgate Grove Picnic Area, EBT steam locomotives, historic restoration, Pennsylvania tourist railroads
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October 5, 2021 at 6:49 am |
I know it doesn’t sound right, but it’s “Runk” Road. The other thing is that much of the work on the shop buildings has been done on a volunteer basis by the “Boiler House Rats” crew of the Friends of the East Broad Top over the 10 years that the railroad was shut down.