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The East Broad Top Foundation and the Friends of the East Broad Top are conducting a campaign to restore track and trackside facilities from the operations center at Rockville/Orbisonia the middle of EBT's 33-mile right of way to Saltillo, nine miles to the south -- an effort they've designated "March to Saltillo," according to a news release from the organizations on Thursday.
Last year, 2.5 miles of track was constructed from Rockhill southward to the Southern Huntingdon County High School campus, while track was also constructed 0.4 miles northward from Saltillo -- with trackwork being also constructed southward from Pogue, which is halfway between Rockhill and Three Springs -- work funded with $740,000 from the Friends, according to the news release.
A contract has been let for clearing and grading on the remainder of the right-of-way between Saltillo and Three Springs, using money from a 2026 Friends campaign; while the required materials for that work will be paid for by a $100,000 donation from the groups' Naming Opportunities Program.
A new replica station has been constructed at Saltillo to replace the original, which was razed in 2004, according to the news release.
A replacement water tank will also be constructed at Saltillo to replace the original, which was destroyed by fire in 1986, according to the news release.
A replica station will be built at Three Springs, replacing the original that was demolished in 1954, and repairs will be made to the Tank House Bridge in Saltillo, with both projects to be funded by a $1 million grant from the Pennsylvania Redevelopment and Capital Assistance Program, according to the news release.
The foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit formed in 2020 to "purchase, restore and operate" the EBT.
Since then, the foundation has contributed almost $12 million in private funds toward rehabilitation of the railroad, which runs from Mount Union to Robertsdale, according to the news release.
Founded in 1983, the all-volunteer nonprofit Friends has raised $2.1 million since 2020 and has worked for 20 years stabilizing buildings, restoring rolling stock and establishing an EBT museum in Robertsdale, according to the news release.
The EBT was built from 1872-74 to serve a new iron furnace being built then by the Rockhill Iron and Coal Co., according to the news release.
The EBT remained in business, mainly hauling coal, until 1956, according to the news release.
In 1960, a four-mile section opened as a tourist attraction.
The EBT still has its original locomotives and rolling stock and a 1910 machine shop complex at Rockhill/Orbisonia.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.