East Broad Top Adds Dinner Train
and Fireworks Run on July 17
Looking for things to do with the family this summer? How about a riding a historic steam-
powered train through rolling Pennsylvania hills to a catered dinner and a fireworks display?
The East Broad Top Railroad will run its second picnic-dinner train of the year on Saturday,
July 17, at 6 p.m., taking riders to the Colgate picnic grove. There the popular Chambersburg
restaurant Family Traditions Lighthouse will provide an all-you-can-eat buffet featuring fried
chicken, barbecued chicken, assorted side dishes, and dessert. A fireworks display will follow at
about 9 p.m. Tickets covering the ride, the meal, and the fireworks will be $30 for adults and
$25 for kids 2-12. Reservations are required—call the station at (814) 447-3011 or send an e-
mail to
office@ebtrr.com.
The train will make an after-dinner station stop in Rockhill Furnace at 8 p.m. to pick up riders
interested only in the fireworks portion of the evening. Tickets for the 8 p.m. departure will
cost $15, and the railroad will have popcorn and sodas will be for sale on the train.
The train will be pulled by No. 15, a Baldwin steam locomotive that has hauled countless coal
and passenger trains for the East Broad Top since 1914. This season the East Broad Top,
designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its
remarkable 1960 rebirth as an attraction for families, railfans, and history buffs.
The East Broad Top was built from 1872-4 and was best known for hauling high-quality Broad
Top Mountain coal on a 33-mile route from Robertsdale to Mount Union. By the 1950s, it was
the only surviving narrow-gauge railroad east of the Rocky Mountains, with rails three feet
apart, rather than the usual 4'8".Today the EBT's Rockhill Furnace headquarters is home to
six steam locomotives, rare 19th-century passenger cars, freight equipment, two unique
gasoline-powered motorcars, and more. In addition to enjoying train and track-speeder rides,
visitors can tour the railroad’s roundhouse and its impressive machine shops. And the nearby
Rockhill Trolley Museum offers trolley rides.
The EBT will operate Saturdays and Sundays through October, as well as on Monday, July 5.
Other coming events include Community Appreciation Day and the Civil War weekend, August
14 and 15, and the annual Fall Spectacular, October 8-10. For more information visit the
railroad’s Web site at ebtrr.com or call the station at (814) 447-3011.
(Editors: For more information or to set up interviews, call David Brightbill, the EBT office
manager, at (814)-447-3011 or office@ebtrr.com)
East Broad Top Railroad Preservation Association
P.O. Box 158, Rockhill Furnace, Pa. 17249
