Re: EBT: The Final Fall Spectacular >>>Photos<<<

Hi James,

Over the last few years, we've occasionally seen bits and pieces in the news about the owner wanting to sell the railroad intact (vs. parting it out), and there have also been reports regarding the last operator attempting to purchase portions of the railroad, but really no news worth getting excited over. The EBT situation may best be summarized as follows:

-- Yes, the owner apparently does want to sell the railroad, but wants a significant price for it....likely millions.

-- Anyone interested in buying the railroad would not only need millions to meet the purchase price, but would need millions more to rehab locomotives, rolling stock and track.

-- EBT is in a rather remote location in PA that doesn't get a lot of tourist traffic, making it very difficult for anyone to make a business case for spending the above-mentioned millions to operate it either as a tourist railroad or a museum.

-- Government agencies have no funds available to make a museum or State/National Park out of it. They also have a poor track record in situations where they have attempted such transformations.

-- EBT's best hope may be that some philanthropic individual will recognize its value and establish some sort of historic trust that would not be dependent on the operation making a profit.

I hope that I live to see it run again.

/Kevin



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/2018 03:18PM by KevinM.