The East Broad Top Railroad is a fascinating place to visit, even if it isn't running any more. I won't try to explain its history; most of you are familiar with it, and if you're not, you can find better information on line than I could easily provide. But here are some recent photos. The night watchman is a friend of mine, so I was able to wander around at will, although I didn't get into any of the buildings where the jewels of the collection are stored.
So we start at the iconic depot:
Across the street is the roundhouse:
I believe the Friends are responsible for anything that has been recently repainted or restored:
Now we head north along the main line. The Runk Road bridge:
Most of the line looks like this. Parts of the track are uncovered, but most of it is buried in vegetation.
The Aughwick Creek bridge:
The main line goes right through the Old Baptist Cemetery:
Finally, we get to the dual-gauge yard at Mount Union. A large number of narrow-gauge hoppers have been stored here since 1954. Trees almost a foot in diameter have grown up between them. What used to be a railroad yard is now a rather spooky forest. It's a great place to visit!
Finally, the Mt. Union engine house for the standard gauge switchers. I believe one of them is still inside.
Folks,
ReplyDeleteThe East Broad Top was a common carrier until 1955. The last narrow gauge in the eastern United States.
The National Park Service should have preserved that line; not the boring Lackawanna one in
Scranton. Imagine it took them 5 years to do a single 1472 day inspection on a small
Pullman Locomotive. How about restoring the Park's Lackawanna #565? she is a 2-6-0 on her
home; not all those Canadian locomotives.
Ted Miles, Member CRRM