The East Broad Top Railroad

I didn't want to miss the crew pulling the locomotive out of the roundhouse, so I didn't spend much time in Mt Union and hit the road for Orbisonia / Rockhill. Along the way I stopped at a few road crossings for pictures. The sight of the dual and narrow gauge rails continued to amaze me. It just seemed so misplaced! The only other place I've ever seen so much dual gauge was on the Colorado & Western RR.

After my orbit of the yard I ended up at the Roundhouse. The crew finally had #15 ready to move out to the turntable and ash pit after a 45 minute wait.

Next I headed over to the depot to buy my tickets. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that tickets for the Parlor Car, Shop Tour, and Pop Car ride were a whopping $25... TOTAL. I expected to pay a lot more. However, I made up the difference by purchasing several books at the end of the day.

While I was getting tickets, #15 crossed Meadow street next to the Depot and backed onto her train. I caught her crossing Meadow Street for the 2nd time to spot the train at the Depot.

I decided to ride the first train of the day (there were 3) so that I could squeeze in a shop tour and pop car ride and still have time to chase the evening run. I chatted with Conductor David both ways on the trip. He was a fantastic source of inside info. It looks like the long-time dream of opening the line to Mt Union may happen sooner rather than later. If it does, there's a real good chance that the line will be opened and repaired all the way to Robertsdale sometime after. There's even scuttlebutt about dual-gauging the line all the way to Rockhill in order to run standard gauge freight for the growing lumber industry. All-in-all this is a really exciting time on the EBT. I truly wish the powers-that-be all the luck in the world to make these dreams become a reality.

 

My truck from the Parlor Car	A few shots from the Parlor Car heading north from Rockhill
Looking south at the north east leg of the Colgate Grove Wye		The tail of the Colgate Grove Wye

The train runs a few miles out to Colgate Grove and then is run through the wye. Before returning, the passengers are given about 15 minutes to walk around. The area is quite pleasant and would be a great spot to hang out with the family and a fully stuffed picnic basket. The railroad has swing sets and other attractions for the kids.

 

Looking towards the tail of the wye	The northeast leg towards the main	Parked on the southeast leg
Looking south down the main towards Rockhill / Orbisonia	Same spot as previous, facing north	Looking north at the end of the serviceable track between Rockhill and Mt Union Note the use of "broad" gauge ties
The rest/picnic area		EBT Parlor Car #20
Leaving Colgate Grove

On the return trip I spotted a couple of locations to use for photos that evening. After returning to Rockhill I headed over to the Roundhouse for the Shop Tour. I have forgotten the tour guide's name, but he was quite good and very knowledgeable.

 

The Inspection Pit	EBT #12 - Named for the daughter of Nick Kovalchick (owner of the EBT)
EBT #17	EBT #12	Engineer's side of #17
EBT #18	EBT #16	Classic Roundhouse Shot
Classic Roundhouse Shot		The M1
Check out that crazy horn	The Inspection Pit on the Roundhouse lead Note the stub switch	Belt-driven Machine Shop
The main steam engine for the shop	Machine Shop	Back shop

As the tour neared completion I heard #15 blowing for the depot on her return from the 2nd trip of the day. I quickly thanked the guide and bolted for the door. I JUST had time to set up the cameras inside the wye when #15 crossed Meadow street and headed towards me. I followed the train through all 3 legs of the wye, the 3rd leg being the yard.

 

Rounding the north leg of the wye	Almost to the tail of the wye, which is also the beginning of the Shape Gap Branch	Parlor Car #20
Backing down the south leg		The flanges made a LOT of noise here!
Heading north in the yard	The video here came out pretty nice	Heading for the Depot
Being serviced after unloading passengers	More hoppers... they're everywhere	Back at the Depot waiting to depart with the final train of the day
Taken from a hopper

As soon as the train was spotted at the depot I headed toward the pop car spotting area to get in a quick ride before the final train of the day departed for Colgate Grove.

The track south of the yard is serviceable for motor cars for about a mile and half. It's taken a considerable amount of effort to clear this small amount from the dense overgrowth. 60 years of inactivity is a long time. Mother Nature and time have teamed up to present a fierce competitor against man. According to the pop car driver there's usually only 2-3 guys working on clearing track.

 

This thing sounded like a single cylinder engine. I understand now why they're called "pop cars"	Coal tipple on left, pop car shed on right		Waiting in the hole for the other car to clear the main
Heading south	More hoppers		Notice the tree stumps
More stumps - lots of work has been done	Nearing the current end-of-the-line		End-of-the-Line
Heading Back	Stored hoppers		Note the inclined track for the coal tipple
Heading back into the yard

Here is a video of the return trip on the motor car

As soon as we got back I thanked my motor car host and rushed to my truck so I could get in front of the train. I know better now, but my first (and only) stop to catch the northbound train was Runk Road. None of the pictures from the northbound train are worth showing. I completely screwed up. After it passed Runk, I decided to try a dirt road about a quarter of a mile south of Colgate Grove to catch the southbound, but after slowly making my way down there I decided it looked a bit too much like someone's driveway. So, I figured I'd better play it safe (i.e., not piss off the locals) and headed back to Runk Road to wait for the southbound.

 

Runk Road Crossing			My truck at Runk Road
The southbound headed back to Rockhill
PA is pretty, nothing like the Gulf Coast		Attempt at art

After Runk Road I headed back to Rockhill. At first I missed Enyart Road, but it caught my attention just after I blew past. I made a quick u-turn and headed back. This turned out to be a pretty neat spot. But, I was in such a hurry I didn't even turn the truck off. I jumped out, grabbed the cameras and set up in the first spot I found that gave a decent shot.

 

My truck and EBT #15 at the Enyart Rd crossing	#15 roars past me en route to Rockhill

At a more leisurely pace I made my way back to Rockhill, getting there in time to catch the train at the Meadow Street crossing. This time, though, I didn't chase it around the wye. I waited in the parking lot for it to come to me. I was getting a bit tired by this point in the day. The constant activity and lack of sleep over the previous 4 days was catching up to me.

 

Crossing (and flagging) Meadow St	After a trip through the wye, the train heads back  to the Depot
Approaching the Depot	Spotting the final train of the day at the Depot

With the last train of the day back and the chase over, I headed to the gift shop to offer a bit of financial support to the railroad. I came away with several books for me, one for my father, and a nifty shot glass for my wife's collection. Then it was back to work filming the crew putting #15 in the Roundhouse.

 

Sitting over the Inspection Pit	Approaching the Ash Pit
Dumping the ash	Going for a spin	Easing into the Roundhouse

At this point my mission for the day was largely complete. But, I wanted a better look at the yard in Mt. Union. I figured that if there was a chance it would be cleared and repaired then this might be my only chance to see it as it exists now. So, off I headed... back to Mt. Union. Once again I headed up East Shirley and parked where I'd parked that morning. I grabbed the camera and hiked into the yard. As soon as I crossed the tree line I realized what I'd missed that morning being half asleep... a wonderland of old cars buried in the forest. This setting would be ideal for a scary movie if filmed at night.

 

I believe these are the experimental multi-gauge Army box cars that were discussed on the NGDF a while back	A railroad archeologists' wonderland
Trees growing between cars			The track is in sad shape in some areas
I've never seen this amount of dual gauge track outside of the model railroad world			Note the 2 levels of the yard
Odd that only the NG rail is out of gauge	This is such a neat area		Again, the yard is 2 levels
This is just crazy		One last look back through the tunnel of trees...

Thoroughly satisfied and exhausted, I headed back towards Rockhill and then on to the interstate... because that's what my buddy, Garmin, told me to do.

I went as far as I could and got a hotel in Winchester, VA.

Day 6 - Winchester, PA to Birmingham, AL - 680 Miles

Day 7 - Birmingham, AL to Spring, TX - 690 Miles

As I write this it's Monday, September 14th (5 days after I got back) and I'm STILL tired. That much driving in such a short amount of time is just goofy. However... I'm already looking forward to the 1,000 mile trip to Chama in 5 weeks. As has been noted before... I'm slightly insane.