Re: How a tourist line stays in business- Location-Location-Location

The East Broad Top, despite its somewhat remote location, is within easy drive of several million people. Its biggest problem was the lack of marketing by its owners. For years they depended on a few billboards and signs tacked to trees all over the region, nothing more. They never tried television or any other media. Without the word getting out, patronage just kept declining. I can recall in the '60's and early '70's, the trains ran seven days a week during high summer, and there were people aboard, but by the mid-'80's, they were down to weekends. The place took on an appearance of neglect, and that was reflected in the decline in visitors. It was the classic slide downward. Now that it's been dormant for four or five years, it will be very difficult to regain its patronage if it ever starts up again. What a shame!