The owner of the East Broad Top in Pennsylvania is looking to sell the 33-mile railroad, which has been idle for five years.
Owner Joe Kovalchick is seeking someone, some group or an agency to buy railroad.
“I want to keep it together,” he said. “It’s important to maintain that.”
Kovalchick said he has had offers from would-be buyers who want the line’s locomotives, but has spurned those because he doesn’t want to sell the East Broad Top in piecemeal fashion. Thus far, no one has offered to buy the entire railroad.
A few private runs have occurred on the railroad since steam excursions ended in 2011.
Gas-electric car M-1 and one of the carrier’s center-cab diesels have made runs for the annual Friends of the East Broad Top October gathering. Several EBT motor cars have made shorter trips.
Lee Rainey, head of the EBT friends group, said volunteers have continued to preserve and stabilize buildings on the line.
“Major stabilization work was begun and is about half done on the freight house,” he said. “Built in 1884, the freight house was in very precarious condition.”
The East Broad Top Preservation Association operated the railroad for two years and sought to raise $8 million to buy it.
However, the group has only been able to acquire the standard gauge former Conrail connection in Mount Union, Pennsylvania, and about four miles of the East Broad Top south to Aughwick.
The standard gauge trackage is being used for rail car storage. The EBTPA also is seeking to develop the Mount Union interchange yard into a linear park.
All of the EBT’s six steam locomotives are in need of overhauls to meet federal regulations. The track would also need extensive rebuilding.