East Broad Top Railroad Timeline
East Broad Top Railroad TimelineLast Updated: 11/21/2008
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Opening | |
| 1832 | Festiniog Railway Incorporated |
| 1856 | East Broad Top Chartered |
| 1863 | Festiniog Railway converts to Steam (23.5") |
| 1865 | Talyllyn Railway Incorporated |
| 1865 - 1866 | Talyllyn Railway Consructed (2'3") |
| 1872 - 1874 | East Broad Top Railroad built |
| 1875 - 1886 | South Pacific Coast Railroad built |
| 1881 | Colorado Central completes what is now the Georgetown Loop |
| 1881 | D&RG San Juan Extention (part later the Cumbres and Toltec) completed |
| 1882 | D&RG Silverton Branch (later the Durango and Silverton) completed |
| 1882 | Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina completed |
| 1889 - 1891 | Rio Grande Southern Railway built |
| 1890 - 1896 | Sumpter Valley completed to Sumpter |
| 1900 | White Pass and Yukon Route completed |
| 1922 | Imperial Company line (later US Gypsum Railroad) completed |
| 1923 | Welsh Highland opens (23.5") |
| Puffing Billy Railway opens (2'6") | |
| 1932 | US Potash Railroad opens |
| Closing | |
| 1937 | Welsh Highland closes |
| 1941 | Welsh Highland scrapped |
| 1946 | Festiniog Railway closes |
| 1947 | Sumpter Valley Railway scrapped |
| 1950 | Talyllyn Railway closes |
| 1951 | Rio Grande Southern Railway closes |
| 1954 | Puffing Billy Railway closes |
| 1956 | East Broad Top ends common carrier service |
| 1968 | D&RG San Juan Extention service ends |
| 1973 | US Potash Railroad abandoned |
| 1982 | White Pass and Yukon suspends service |
| Reopening | |
| 1951 | Talyllyn Railway reopens |
| 1955 | Festiniog Railway reopens |
| 1960 | East Broad Top begins excursion service |
| 1961 | Welsh Highland reconstruction begins |
| 1962 | Puffing Billy Railway reopens |
| 1973 - 1984 | Georgetown Loop reconstruction |
| 1971 | Cumbres and Toltec begins excursion service |
| 1971 | Sumpter Valley Railway reconstruction begins |
| 1981 | D&RG Silverton Branch purchased for excursion service |
| 1987 | Welsh Highland reopens |
| 1988 | White Pass and Yukon begins excursion service |
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| ca. 1786 | Bedford Furnace built |
| ca. 1800 | First Broad Top coal marketed |
| early 1831 | Rockhill furnace no. 1 opened (charcoal powered) |
| 6/6/1850 | First Pennsylvania Railroad run into Mount Union |
| 2/1850 | Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain Railroad opened |
| 4/16/1856 | East Broad Top Railroad and Coal Co. incorporated |
| 1867 | Orbisonia house built (later became the EBT shops office) |
| ca. 1870 | Rockhill Iron & Coal Co. formed |
| 7/31/1871 | East Broad Top Railroad and Coal Co. incorporated |
| 1871 | East Broad Top Coal and Iron Co. Established |
| 6/6/1872 | Decision to build East Broad Top Railroad to gauge 36" |
| 9/10/1872 | Rockhill Iron and Coal Co. Incorporated (3/1872?) |
| 9/16/1872 | East Broad Top Railroad construction begun at Mount Union |
| early 1873 | First locomotives arrive: nos. 1, "E.D. Roberts," and 2, "R.D. Wood" |
| 8/30/1873 | Mount Union-Rockhill Furnace section of line opened - 11 miles |
| 1873 | Robertsdale founded by Rockhill Iron and Coal Co. Named after Allerton and Edward Roberts |
| 9/23/1874 | First East Broad Top Railroad train from Mount Union to Robertsdale - 30 miles |
| 10/15/1874 - 10/18/1874 | Official East Broad Top Railroad opening celebrations |
| 11/4/1874 | First regular East Broad Top Railroad train |
| 1/1876 | Rockhill Furnace no. 2 opens (coke powered) |
| 6/9/1876 | First fatality on East Broad Top Railroad |
| 6/17/1879 | First fatal East Broad Top accident |
| 1882 | Construction begun on Rockhill Furnace roundhouse |
| 2/23/1884 | Shade Gap Railroad incorporated |
| 1885 | East Broad Top Railroad and Rockhill Iron and Coal Co. default on bond payments |
| 1/1/1885 | Shade Gap Railroad opened |
| 1890 | EBT Locomotive no. 1 transferred to RI&C |
| 1891 | Woodvale founded by Rockhill Iron and Coal Co. Named after Richard Wood |
| ca. 1895 | Locomotives nos. 4 and 5 taken out of service |
| 2/1900 | First silica brick factory, W.H. Haws Fire Brick Co. (later Harbison Walker) opens in Mount Union |
| 8/1900 | Locomotives no. 6 "Addie" and "??? Thomas" disposed of |
| 11/27/1901 | Mount Union Silica Brick Co. opens in Mount Union |
| 12/1901 | Locomotive 2nd no. 4, "Cromwell," acquired |
| 1902 | Locomotive 2nd no. 6 acquired |
| 10/27/1903 | R.S. Seibert elected President of both East Broad Top Railroad and Rockhill Iron and Coal companies |
| late 1906 | Orbisonia station completed |
| 1907 | Pennsylvania bypass around Mount Union opened |
| 9/1907 | Car no. 20, "Orbisonia," acquired from Big Level & Kinzua Railroad |
| 3/1908 | Famous runaway caboose incident |
| 9/11/1908 | Fire destroyes paint and boiler shops |
| ca. 1909 | Shed roof over platform added to Orbisonia depot |
| 11/8/1909 | Shade Gap Branch opened to Neelyton |
| ca. 1909 | Rockhill iron furnaces close for last time |
| 12/1911 | Locomotive #12, first EBT 2-8-2, built by Baldwin |
| 1912 | Mount Union Refractories (later NARCo) opens: East Broad Top Railroad begins hauling ganister in commercial quantities |
| 10/1912 | Locomotive #14 built by Baldwin |
| 1913 | EBT orders first narrow gauge steel hoppers |
| 5/23/1913 | R.S. Seibert dies |
| 12/22/1913 | Shade Gap and Rocky Ridge railroads combine with East Broad Top Railroad |
| 2/1914 | Locomotive #15 built by Baldwin |
| 1914 | Robertsdale depot constructed |
| 1915 | Aetna powder plant construction started |
| 1916 | Coles Valley Branch opened |
| 1916 | United States enters World War I |
| 1916 | Locomotive #16 built by Baldwin |
| 1916 | Peak East Broad Top Railroad mileage: 53 miles of main and branch lines. Railroad extended to Alvan |
| 1916 | Six ex-Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn Railroad passenger cars acquired by East Broad Top Railroad - nos. 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15 |
| 1/1/1918 - 6/22/1918 | East Broad Top Railroad under United States Railway Administration control |
| 3/1918 | Locomotive #17 built by Baldwin |
| 11/1/1919 | Rockhill Iron and Coal purchased by Madeira, Hill |
| 1920 | Rockhill Iron and Coal Co. combined with Shantung Coal Co. to create Rockhill Coal and Iron Co. |
| 1920 | Cabooses nos. 27 and 28 built |
| 8/1920 | Locomotive #18 built by Baldwin |
| 1922 | Locomotive 2nd no. 3 disposed of |
| 1923 | East Broad Top Railroad acquires last new steam locomotive: 3rd #3 |
| 1924 | Timber Transfer completed at Mount Union |
| 10/1/1925 | Rockhill Coal and Iron opens sand floatation coal cleaning plant at Mount Union |
| 1/6/1927 | Motorcar no. M-1 put into service. Passenger car no. 8 equipped with roller bearings to serve as trailer |
| 7/1927 | Motorcar no. M-2 put into service |
| 1928 | Rockhill Coal and Iron Co. bankrupt |
| ca. 1928 | Motorcar no. M-3 put into service |
| mid 1928 | East Broad Top Transit Co. organized |
| 12/1929 | M-2 retired |
| 4/10/1933 | Operation of standard-gauge freight cars in interchange on narrow-gauge trucks formally begun |
| 7/1933 | East Broad Top Transit Co. Orbisonia garage burned |
| 12/31/1934 | Locomotive 2nd #4, "Cromwell," retired |
| mid 1935 | Regular train service on Shade Gap Branch discontinued |
| 5/3/1936 | First organized railfan trip over East Broad Top Railroad |
| 8/24/1938 | Rockhill Coal Co. formed as successor to R. C. &I. Co. |
| 8/30/1938 | Rockhill Coal & Iron Co. assets foreclosed and sold at auction |
| 9/1/1938 | Rockhill Coal Co. incorporated |
| 1940 | Evanston (Rocky Ridge) Branch abandoned |
| 1940 | Stanton Spur abandoned |
| 5/9/1940 | Second organized railfan trip over East Broad Top Railroad |
| 12/8/1941 | United States enters World War II |
| early 1942 | Narco Branch constructed |
| 8/1942 | Passenger car no. 11 sold to U.S. Navy |
| 1/24/1943 | Shade Gap - Branch to Neelyton abandoned and subsequently dismantled |
| 4/30/1943 | Locomotives nos. 2nd #5 and #11 retired and sold |
| 12/22/1943 | Shade Gap Railroad consolidated into East Broad Top Railroad |
| 10/6/1946 | First postwar railfan trip |
| early 1948 | Shade Gap Branch cut back to Black Log |
| 6/24/1951 | Seventh, and final, East Broad Top Railroad Railfan trip of common carrier era |
| 1953 | Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain Railroad abandoned |
| 1954 | Passenger car no.24 sold to ALCOA |
| 8/15/1954 | Passenger service discontinued |
| 1955 | Coles Valley Branch dismantled |
| 11/30/1955 | East Broad Top Railroad files for abandonment |
| 2/16/1956 | Authority to abandon East Broad Top Railroad granted by ICC |
| 3/23/1956 | Last day of two-train operation |
| 4/2/1956 | Federal Public Utilities Commission grants authorization to abandon East Broad Top Railroad |
| 4/6/1956 | Last revenue East Broad Top Railroad freight train: locomotive no. 17 to Saltillo and Mt. Union |
| 4/13/1956 | Locomotive no. 3 operated for last time |
| 5/1/1956 | Rockhill Coal Co. assets including East Broad Top Railroad sold to Kovalchick Salvage Co. |
| ca. 1957 | Narco and Shade Gap branches dismantled |
| 1/10/1958 | Rockhill Coal Co. fully consolidated into Kovalchick Salvage Co. |
| 1959 | Two flat cars sold to "Tweetsie" - East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad |
| 6/6/1960 | Locomotive #12 reoperated |
| 1960 | Locomotive #15 reoperated |
| 8/13/1960 | East Broad Top Railroad reopened for tourist service |
| 1961 | EBT begins regular tourist service, operation extended to new wye at Colegate Grove |
| 7/6/1963 | Railways to Yesterday's Rockhill Trolley Museum opens |
| 1963 | Proposal to locate Pennsylvania State Railroad Museum at Mount Union |
| 8/15/1964 | East Broad Top Railroad designated as National Historic Landmark |
| 1968 | Fifteen hopper cars from Mount Union Yard sold to White Pass and Yukon Railroad |
| 1972 | Hurricane Agnes causes several washouts on the EBT |
| 1977 | Nick Kovalchick dies, Joseph Kovalchick assumes presidency |
| 1979 | Mount Union coal processing plant and Timber Transfer scrapped |
| 2/1981 | Final Winter Spectacular |
| early 1982 | Four Hopper cars sold to Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad |
| 1982 | Friends of the East Broad Top organized |
| 1986 | Robertsdale depot leased to FEBT, FEBT purchases Robertsdale Old Post Office |
| 1987 | Saltillo tankhouse burned |
| 6/1987 - 8/1987 | Locomotive #14 rebuilt and returned to service |
| 1988 | Americas Industrial Heritage Project created |
| 1988 | East Broad Top Railroad operating schedule reduced |
| 6/1989 | NPS task directive authorizes East Broad Top Railroad Study of Alternatives |
| 1989 | C. Roy Wilburn retires as operating VP, succeeded by Stanley Hall |
| 8/31/1991 | C. Roy Wilburn dies |
| 9/1994 | EBT announces it will not operate in 1995 without additional funds |
| 9/1995 | Full Steam Ahead restoration outline released |
| 4/1996 | Floods cause moderate damage to operating railroad |
| 10/1997 | Announced that Nathan Kovalchick will begin assuming operations of Kovalchick Salvage |
| 1998 | Kovalchick Salvage purchases the Conrail spur in Mount Union, Mount Union Connecting Railroad formed |
| 3/1999 | EBT owners propose donating Rockill Shop to a nonprofit as part of a Transportation Enhancement Act 21 funds application |
| 5/1999 | TEA21 application approved, EBT added to Allegheny Ridge State Historic Park |
| 5/2000 | Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad purchases five hoppers and removes them from the Mount Union yard |
| 8/12/2000 | EBT celebrates 40 years of excursion service |
| 3/2001 | Pine Creek Railroad purchases two hoppers and removes only their trucks and brake gear form Mount Union |
| 3/8/2001 | Railways to Yesterday announces plans to extend the Shade Gap Electric Railway by October |
| 3/2001 | Mount Union Connecting begins track rebuilding in Mount Union |
Back to the EBT Information Sources