Steam & Excursion > East Broad Top

Just seen on Facebook...
"Well here it is. The railroad will NOT run this summer. Things could not be worked out between Mr. Kovalchick and EBTPA. We will still be offering tours of the shops and round house for groups of 20 or more people but they must call the station and make arrangments for that at 814-447-3011.This does not mean that the railroad will not open back up next year, we will be looking at all the possibilities to try and reopen in 2013. We will keep you posted as to what is going on with the railroad as the year goes by."

WOW Bummer.

But this is on Facebook.....perhaps there is still just a slight (very slight) glimmer of hope, that it's not quite all true????

Tom,

It is a post from EBT themselves on their Facebook page. I say it's pretty legit...

I am not up on all of the details surrounding the relationships that has made this operation tick over the years, but this development is a real tragedy that should not happen.

It costs a lot of money to run a steam locomotive today and to have them operational but stuck in the enginehouse for a year is devastating.

Any insight as to what the sticking point is?

OUCH ! That's a serious bummer :( Yeah, wonder what happened ? I realize it costs $ to operate, but how can they make $ if it doesn't operate ?

I've been following all the pictures on Facebook of the rebuilding of the blacksmith shop, straightening it out, etc. Wonderful work happening there now. The EBT Friends have to be devastated too. :(

Mike

Bad news indeed. I was going to take my daughter there this summer for her first trainride. Guess its Strasburg or WMSR instead,

I understand the relationship with the owner and volunteers that run it has always been tenuous?

I wonder what the annual operating loss is? It would be chump change to some like Buffet of Gates to keep this going.

Here's the latest from Trains Newswire:

East Broad Top shutdown may be temporary
By Wayne Laepple
Published: May 23, 2012
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – Even as word spread that the famed East Broad Top Railroad, the last narrow gauge railroad east of the Mississippi River, would not operate this year, the Friends of the East Broad Top were at work around the railroad’s shop complex the next day.

The May 18 announcement came as a surprise to railfans and the railroad’s hometown of Rockhill Furnace, since the East Broad Top has operated steam-hauled passenger excursions over 4.5 miles of its line every summer since 1960. The announcement also shocked local and state politicians, which was the intent of owner Joe Kovalchick.

“This was an eye opener for people, especially the politicians, who said I would never do this,” he declared. The Kovalchick family has subsidized the operation for half a century, he said, a situation that was unacceptable going forward.

A three-year lease to the nonprofit East Broad Top Preservation Society ended on April 1, and negotiations for a new contract ultimately failed. Kovalchick said the lease was an effort to develop a public-private partnership to continue the railroad’s operation.

Lee Rainey, president of the Friends of the East Broad Top, said Kovalchick specifically invited the Friends to continue efforts to stabilize the shop buildings, restore rolling stock, and repair shop machinery. The group’s members were out in force on May 19 and 20. Rainey agreed with Kovalchick that a public-private venture was the only way the railroad could resume operation. “We can’t rely on the Kovalchick family forever,” he observed.

During the three years of East Broad Top Preservation Society operations, a number of innovations, such as Thomas the Tank Engine and Polar Express events, helped the railroad’s bottom line. “Larry Salone (who heads the society) pursued funding with energy and skill during that time, and he did it in the worst possible economic times,” Rainey noted.

Society officials did not respond to several phone and email requests for comment. On the organization’s website, an announcement of the shutdown stated in part: “At this time there are no certainties beyond 2012. We can’t say this is the end of the line, nor can we say this is just temporary. Should any type of operations or events be planned in the future, we will announce them here. Until then there are no further details.”

“We all need to work together – the Kovalchick family, Friends of the East Broad Top, the East Broad Top Preservation Society, and EBT fans – so we come out of this shutdown in a better place,” Rainey concludes. “The most tangible thing any individual can do right now to help the EBT is to join one of our work crews.”