EBT 2010 season

The East Broad Top has announced its schedule for 2010, which will mark the 50th year of tourist operations. As usual, the official opening day is the first Saturday in June, and the railroad will run every weekend through the end of October. Expect special events for opening day (June 5), Community Appreciation Day (August 14 -- the actual 50th anniversary), and the Fall Spectacular (which will again bring a special photo train on Friday, October 8, with a full timetable of other trains on Saturday and Sunday). The railroad will for the first time operate on two Monday holidays -- July 5 and September 6 -- and it will run diesel-powered Santa trains November 27 and December 4. There may be other extra operating days as well, and other surprises -- especially for the Fall Spectacular.

The railroad's press release follows.

-- Lawrence Biemiller

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East Broad Top Railroad's 2010 Season Marks a 50-Year Anniversary

For 2010, Pennsylvania's historic East Broad Top Railroad plans a series of celebrations—along with an expanded operating schedule—to mark the line's 50th year of running steam-powered passenger trains for visitors to the rolling farmlands of the Aughwick Valley.

The 33-mile East Broad Top, constructed from 1872 to 1874, is famed as the only surviving narrow-gauge railroad east of the Rocky Mountains. Shut down in 1956 after the last coal mines on the line closed, the EBT was purchased by the Kovalchick family of Indiana, Pa., but was never scrapped. In 1960, a portion of the line reopened for the bicentennial of the twin towns of Rockhill Furnace and Orbisonia, Pa., where the EBT has its headquarters. Every year since, the railroad has carried thousands of tourists, railfans, and local families behind its coal-fired locomotives.

The EBT will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its reopening throughout 2010, beginning with ceremonies on opening day, June 5, said Larry Salone, president of the EBT Preservation Association. Additional anniversary events will take occur on Community Appreciation Day, August 14—the actual 50th anniversary of the reopening—and during the railroad's three-day Fall Spectacular, October 8-10. Other occasions already on the EBT's 2010 calendar include the second annual Central Pennsylvania Ragtime Festival, sponsored by the EBT and the Iron Rail Bed and Breakfast and set for June 18-20; a July fireworks train; a visit by Civil War reenactors on August 14-15; and Santa trains November 27 and December 4.

Mr. Salone said the railroad would expand its schedule by running trains on two Monday holidays—July 5 and September 6—and possibly on other dates as well. The railroad is normally open Saturdays and Sundays from June through October. Trains run at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. Coach fares for 2010 will be $13 for adults and $8 for children 2 through 11. (Infants ride free.)

The EBT is home to six narrow-gauge steam locomotives, a unique narrow-gauge gas-electric car, several 19th-century passenger coaches, and other equipment. The railroad is also known for its large repair-shop complex, which is more than a century old and contains an unparalleled collection of late-19th and early-20th century machines and tools. Tours of the shops and mile-long rides on the railroad's historic track-maintenance cars are available any day trains are running.

The East Broad Top was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964, and it has been called "the largest historic artifact in the United States" in "Preservation" magazine, published by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The nonprofit the East Broad Top Railroad Preservation Association was formed in 2009 to operate the line. It joined the Friends of the East Broad Top, whose volunteers are working to restore the railroad's buildings and rolling stock. The Friends of the East Broad Top also operate a museum in the railroad's former passenger station in the coal-mining town of Robertsdale, Pa.

For more information about the East Broad Top, visit the railroad's Web site.

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Lawrence Biemiller
Washington, D.C.