Pennsylvania Narrow Gauge Reborn. When rail enthusiasts hear the words "Narrow Gauge", they usually think of Colorado, not Pennsylvania. Visions of roundhouses full of K-28s and K-36s come to mind. Of the few surviving narrow gauge railroads in the US, most are west of the Mississippi. But Pennsylvania was once home to a very active narrow gauge railroad which served the coal country for nearly a century. That Railroad was the East Broad Top, based in Rockhill Furnace, PA. Fortunately, largely because of its remoteness, that railroad is still almost completely intact. That said it has been dormant since 2011, never able to quite make it as a tourist railroad. That is all in the process of changing.
With the formation of the EBT Foundation, the railroad is being revived as a historical artifact, a living history interpretive exhibit and hopefully, an engine for economic development in the region. The first tangible evidence of that revival is pictured here, in the form of the first EBT Steam Locomotive to be restored to operation. EBT Locomotive #16, a Baldwin 2-8-2 Mikado, built in 1916, moved under its own power on February 1st of 2023, for the first time in 67 years. Here, we see the engine making one of several break-in runs in the yard in Orbisonia, PA. In the coming years, this engine is expected to be joined by all of its 5 sisters, and the railroad intends to rehabilitate tracks to several nearby towns, which have not seen a train in 6 decades. Narrow gauge is alive again in Pennsylvania.
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.
