To help answer EBT questions, here is the text of a posting I made at RyPN Interchange back in May of this year...
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First to address the question "What's up with the EBT" and then to address the questions and arguments behind the question:
The EBT as we speak is preparing for the opening of its 41st season in June. Some tie replacement and trackwork has been done over the winter and there has been some brush clearing along the line. No renovation or stabilization work of real note has happened in the Rockhill Furnace shops in recent years. Funding under the TEA-21 program to work on the shops buildings two years ago did not come to pass--more on that in a minute.
So for the currently operating portion of the EBT it's pretty much steady as she goes--no major changes for the worse or better.
On the north end of the EBT at Mt. Union there are big doings. Joe Kovalcheck has leased the north end of the RR, including the Mt. Union engine house, to a new shortline operator, Mt. Union Connecting Railroad. The Mt. Union Connecting has secured economic development grants and is rehaibilitating the dual-gauge trackage to serve an industrial park south of Mt. Union. The Mt. Union enginehouse has been refurbished and repainted, and contractors are actively working on the track even as we speak. Though the rehabilitation covers only the standard gauge track, the lease agreement calls for leaving all the third rail and n.g. special work in place. Mt. Union will get its locomtoive and go in to business later this year with luck.
There is also activity on the Shade Gap branch, leased from the EBT by Railways to Yesterday (the Rockhill Trolley Museum). RTY is extending their standard gauge trolley line all the way to the 522 highway crossing. Contractors are setting overhead poles and preparing the ROW as we speak.
Finally, cooperation between the Friends of the EBT and the railroad continues to blossom after a rough patch many years ago. The Friends have leased the Robertsdale station at the south end of the line as their museum, and have purchased and are restoring the old Post Office directly across the tracks. The friends have also done some stbilization work on the Saltillo station, and are participating more actively (with the railroad's permission and cooperation) in the various annual observances and celebrations.
So that's what's happening. Now to the other part of the question, the "something must be done" part.
Basically, nothing big "can be done" becuase the EBT's private owner, Mr. Kovalchick, and the various state and Federal agencies involved, can't come to terms on a plan of cooperation.
The details are long and complicated, but the nub of the issue seems to be that the State and Federal entities can't really do much to help a for-profit, private company (which the EBT is) unless they can get parts of the property put into the public domain, either by purchase or by transfer to a non-profit foundation or other entity which public agencies CAN support. This kind of a plan was at the heart of the TEA-21 application two years back.
The reason it didn't come to fruition is that the public partners and Mr. Kovalchick can't find a formula that all can agree on. Sources tell me that Mr. Kovalchick felt that the public agencies were constantly moving the goalposts and undervaluing his property. The public agencies feel that Mr. Kovalchick was, when push came to shove, not willing to sacrifice unfettered private ownership and control in exchange for public funds. So it is an impasse. Both sides had and probably still have good intentions, but they do not share enough common ground to do much.
The points I want to make here are:
1. public agencies are not neglecting the EBT. Within the last few years they have brought money and some creative ideas to the table, but not in a way the EBT felt it could accept.
2. The EBT is the private property of Mr. Kovalchick, and his decisions and considerations govern when and on what terms the public will become more involved. So far he has not received the offer he feels is fair and acceptable.
3. When we say in general terms that "something must be done" about the EBT, we always have to remember that in the context of the United States and private property rights, the "something" will have to be something that secure's Mr. Kovalcheck's approval, and meets his terms. So far, his terms have not been terms that public agencies are allowed to meet--the simply cannot basically transfer funds to for-profit corporations. Mr, Kovalcheck might yet sell or donate parts of the property into the public domain, but so far he has not had an offer he feels was acceptable.
So to sum up--
1.there is good news at the EBT itself, though it's small and incremental and the wolf is still at the door.
2.Public agencies and the EBT continue to talk, but they are each prisoners or their own responsbilities, values and perspectives. At the moment that means an impasse.
For me peronally, I respect Mr. Kovalchick, and grateful to him for everything his family has done, and would not challenge his right to maange his property as he sees fit. That said, I hope someday he and the public agencies can come to terms, so thr public can invest in the irreplacable asset the EBT really is. It will take a lot of work on both sides, but someday perhaps we'll get there.
