HUNTINGDON CO, Pa (WJAC) — Despite the pandemic, the Friends of the East Broad Top organization is currently busy on restoration work at the East Broad Top railroad site.
In conjunction with Orbisonia’s bicentennial celebration, the site operated as a tourist attraction, from 1960 until 2011.
In this week's Road Trippin' segment, we take a look at the site's history and the repairs it's undergoing.
“The East Broad Top Railroad started construction in 1872, to serve originally the iron mines that were located just east of here. Those iron mines were mined, and coal was turned into coke that fed the iron furnace, the Rockhill Iron Company was also located here. It operated as a coal carrying railroad until 1956, in which the railroad was shut down due to a decline in the coal industry.”
“We’re in the process this year of doing a lot of repairs and stabilization to the property, beginning with locomotives. We have six original locomotives, all built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia. We are currently repairing and inspecting two of those locomotives for operation.”
The site was designated as a national historic landmark in 1964.
The Smithsonian Institute has also deemed the site’s workshops to be the most complete set of early industrial railroad shops in the United States.
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