Tpavlic
I'm Still Waiting
It's April 14, 1956. The end of common carrier days of the East Broad Top Railroad ended a day prior. The 6 Baldwin 2-8-2s that have powered the railroad since 2-6-2 No. 11 was sold to the US Navy in 1942 are tucked away in the roundhouse, never to operate again. The railroad and all assets are sold to the Kovalchick Salvage Company of Indiana, PA for their scrap value. But the railroad goes untouched for 4 years.
It's August 13, 1960. Numbers 12 and 15's retirement are cut short. 12, now named 'Mille' after Millie Kovalchick, pulls the first weekend of tourist operations northbound, with No. 15 following close behind the train in reverse. The operation proves popular enough that it is expanded to the old Clay Pit Spur and a wye is built to turn the train. For the next 5 decades, the East Broad Top would survive hauling people on trips back in time.
It's December 23, 2011. The sun sets on the tourist era East Broad Top. After 51 years, the Kovalchick family can no longer justify operating the railroad at a recurring, regular loss. The EBT runs its final trips for the Christmas season, and Number 15, the last operable steam locomotive, is put into storage. The future for her and her sisters, two of whom never ran since 1956, looks grim.
It's Novemeber 2, 2019. A photo session is held by the railroad with support from the Friends of the East Broad Top, the first such event since the 2011 shutdown. Nothing is fired up, save for the gas-electric motorcar M-1 and the M-6 diesel-hydraulic switcher, and nothing else has changed. 17 got a bath and a day in the sun, but a thick layer of dust continues to accumulate on the other 5 engines. It was during this 2019 visit that this image was captured. One that others have taken countless times inside this authentic c.1874 roundhouse. The railroad was still here, and each engine saying 'I'm still waiting' some 59 years after their end should have come.
And it was when the first rumblings of the future could be heard...
I'm Still Waiting
It's April 14, 1956. The end of common carrier days of the East Broad Top Railroad ended a day prior. The 6 Baldwin 2-8-2s that have powered the railroad since 2-6-2 No. 11 was sold to the US Navy in 1942 are tucked away in the roundhouse, never to operate again. The railroad and all assets are sold to the Kovalchick Salvage Company of Indiana, PA for their scrap value. But the railroad goes untouched for 4 years.
It's August 13, 1960. Numbers 12 and 15's retirement are cut short. 12, now named 'Mille' after Millie Kovalchick, pulls the first weekend of tourist operations northbound, with No. 15 following close behind the train in reverse. The operation proves popular enough that it is expanded to the old Clay Pit Spur and a wye is built to turn the train. For the next 5 decades, the East Broad Top would survive hauling people on trips back in time.
It's December 23, 2011. The sun sets on the tourist era East Broad Top. After 51 years, the Kovalchick family can no longer justify operating the railroad at a recurring, regular loss. The EBT runs its final trips for the Christmas season, and Number 15, the last operable steam locomotive, is put into storage. The future for her and her sisters, two of whom never ran since 1956, looks grim.
It's Novemeber 2, 2019. A photo session is held by the railroad with support from the Friends of the East Broad Top, the first such event since the 2011 shutdown. Nothing is fired up, save for the gas-electric motorcar M-1 and the M-6 diesel-hydraulic switcher, and nothing else has changed. 17 got a bath and a day in the sun, but a thick layer of dust continues to accumulate on the other 5 engines. It was during this 2019 visit that this image was captured. One that others have taken countless times inside this authentic c.1874 roundhouse. The railroad was still here, and each engine saying 'I'm still waiting' some 59 years after their end should have come.
And it was when the first rumblings of the future could be heard...