The East Broad Top Railroad -- Where Time Stopped on April 14, 1956
by Tpavlic
The East Broad Top Railroad is a special place in railroad preservation. It is the ONLY complete, intact, and original narrow gauge railroad in the US east of the Mississippi River and the oldest extant narrow gauge railroad in the country, having opened to traffic in 1873-4. The Smithsonian has called it the single best preserved example of a turn of the century industrial site in North America. Little has changed here since April 14, 1956, a day when workers hung up their tools expecting a call to return...a call that truly never came.
Addendum, 14 February 2020:
After 9 long years of slumber and 28 years on numerous listings of endangered historic sites (both in Pennsylvania and the country as a whole), the East Broad Top Railroad is being re-awoken for the second time. Its future securely in the hands of a nonprofit foundation run by railroad industry professionals and EBT enthusiasts, the railroad plans to begin tourist operations as early as 2021.
