Foggy East Broad Top: The ash pit. EBT Mikado #15 sits at the ashing station as the hostlers dump ashes and clean her fire before turning the locomotive over to the crew who will run her for the day. EBT #15 was a 1914 Baldwin Product, ordered by EBT as a virtual copy of their existing #14. She weighs roughly 75 tons and makes 27,600 lbs of tractive effort. She's the only EBT engine to ever hold an FRA Form 4, and theoretically still does as of 2018, at least for a couple of more years.
The application of the CFR Part 230 steam locomotive regulations to EBT around the year 2000, took a heavy toll on the operation. For many years, Mikados 12, 14, 15 and 17 had operated at various times each season, and all 4 would typically run during the Fall Spectaculars. With Part 230 in effect, technically none of the engines on the property were compliant. To avoid completely putting the operation out of business, the 14, which was determined to be in the best condition, was waivered for a period of time, to enable EBT to perform the newly required 1,472 Service Day Inspection on the 15. When the inspection on 15 was completed in 2005, both the 14 and the 15 ran for the Fall Spectacular. That was the last time 2 engines were in steam on the railroad. From then on, until EBT ceased operations at the end of 2011, the engine you see here was the sole steam power available.
A look at the one-time coal-hauler, which ran as a tourist railroad for decades and finally ceased operations in 2011. The album includes photos from an October 2010 charter as well as images from the very last Fall Spectacular in October of 2011.
