EBT hopper at Sumpter Valley Ry

Here is a recent photo of East Broad Top hopper 1038 that we repainted this fall. Two others have been painted but are not completely lettered. We hope to paint the other three next summer.

We operate a fleet of six operable hopper cars for ballast service and photo freights. The ex- EBT cars saw service on the White Pass before coming to the Sumpter Valley in the 1990s and we are painting 2 for the EBT, 2 for WP&Y, and 2 for the Sumpter Valley. A seventh car was incomplete and in very rough shape. It donated parts to make the 6 operational cars complete, and has since been scrapped.

We have ballasted 6-7 miles of track since we acquired the cars - a string of 6 cars will do up to 1/4 mile per train load. We do not load them to the top, as the rock is much heavier than the coal they were built for. Most of the cars have a line 2/3 of the way up on the sides to indicate a full load.