East Broad Top Railroad

2008 Season Press Release

PRESS RELEASE

Historic East Broad Top Railroad Opens June 7.

Steam whistles and coal smoke return to Pennsylvania's historic East Broad Top Railroad when the 2008 season opens on Saturday, June 7. The railroad offers steam-train excursions, speeder-car rides, roundhouse and machine-shop tours, and special events throughout the summer and fall—including a visit by Civil War reenactors.

Most of this year's East Broad Top trains will be pulled by No. 15, a workhorse 92-year-old steam locomotive built for the railroad by the renowned Baldwin Locomotive Works. The trains make an 11-mile, hour-and-15-minute round trip through scenic Huntingdon County farmland, and passengers can ride in antique coaches, open cars, a caboose, or the railroad president's private car.

Trains depart from the railroad's station in Rockhill Furnace, Pa., at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday through the end of October. All trains stop at Colgate Grove, where photographers can take pictures of No. 15 and picnic lovers can disembark to enjoy their meals and catch a later train back.

On most weekends visitors can also ride one of the railroad's restored single-cylinder track speeders, which once ferried EBT track crews back and forth—and which are now especially popular among kids. The speeders operate on a portion of the main line that has been reopened after 50 years of disuse, and several hundred additional yards were cleared just this spring.

In addition, on many weekends visitors can tour the railroad's roundhouse, home to six East Broad Top steam engines. When tours are available, visitors can also walk through the railroad's historic shops, which house an assortment of vintage machinery for maintaining locomotives and cars.

Visitors may also see and chat with volunteers from the Friends of the East Broad Top who are working to preserve the railroad by painting buildings, replacing beams and windows, and working on car-rehabilitation projects. The railroad was the subject of an eight-page article in the March/April issue of Preservation, the magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The article called the railroad "a nationally important site."

Fares for the 2008 season remain unchanged. Coach fare is $12 for adults and $8 for children aged 2 through 11. Caboose fare is $14 for all riders, and the fare for the president's private car is $15. Speeder rides are $2 apiece. The combined roundhouse and shop tour is $8. The railroad does not accept credit cards, but ATMs are available nearby. Reservations are not necessary. For more information and directions, visit the railroad's Web site (http://www.ebtrr.com) or call the station at 814-447-3011.

Parking is available beside the station and the roundhouse. Visitors who purchase tickets for the train are welcome to camp overnight at the secluded picnic grove, but must bring their own equipment, food, and water. Bus tours are welcome, and tickets and yard and shop tours for groups can be arranged in advance by calling the station at 814-447-3011.

The railroad reserves the right to substitute equipment and adjust schedules as necessary. Speeder rides and roundhouse and shop tours are offered by volunteers and may not be available every weekend.

Many visitors to the East Broad Top also ride historic streetcars at the Rockhill Trolley Museum, which is located right beside the railroad and which runs over the railroad's former Shade Gap branch. Food is available from a lunch cart beside the roundhouse. An attractive Victorian bed and breakfast, the Iron Rail Inn, occupies a house across from the station that was once the home of the railroad superintendent.

The Friends of the East Broad Top operate a museum in the railroad's station in Robertsdale, about a half-hour south of Rockhill Furnace. The museum is open the first and third weekends of the month during the railroad's operating season. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.