Judge: East Broad Top Railroad foundation can buy remaining miles of line

Organization able to purchase remaining several miles at northern end of line

A Huntingdon County judge Wednesday ruled that the organization that owns almost all of the East Broad Top Railroad can buy the remaining several miles at the northern end of the right-of-way from the EBT's former operator, thus making the historic narrow gauge line whole again, while extending the right-of-way far enough to connect with the Norfolk Southern mainline at Mount Union.

Judge Roy Ghaner ruled that the East Broad Top Foundation has 14 days to exercise its right of first refusal to intervene in former operator Larry Salone's East Broad Top Railroad Preservation Association's proposed sale for $2 million to local railroad enthusiast Stephen Lane's Juniata & Aughwick Railroad.

The foundation board will convene next week to vote, and is expected to match Lane's offer, thus executing the purchase, according to Bennett Levin, foundation member and chairman of the organization's Property Committee, adding, however, that he didn't want to be "presumptuous" in making a definitive prediction.

Salone first notified the foundation of Lane's offer in August 2025, giving the foundation 60 days to exercise its right to match, after which there was a delay on the foundation's part, followed by a request for proof that Lane's offer was genuine, and not an attempt to extort money from the foundation.

The judge ruled in May that Lane's offer was indeed genuine, then added this week that due to the foundation not having received enough information from Salone and Lane to determine the validity of Lane's offer -- but having squandered some of its originally allotted time to make a decision -- the foundation would have two weeks to make the purchase.

The agreement that provided the foundation with the right of first refusal was actually silent on how long the foundation had to decide, according to the judge.

While Salone and Lane set the deadline initially at 60 days, the normal criterion for how much time is allotted for a right of first refusal -- absent a stated deadline -- is simply what is reasonable, according to the judge.

Lane's offer was backed by an anonymous investor, Lane told the judge at a previous hearing.

He sought to maintain the investor's anonymity "due to the hostile nature of the sale," according to a motion that came into play at that time.

In the course of his inquiries to determine whether Lane's offer was in fact genuine, the judge conducted discussions in chambers to avoid revealing the investor's identity.

The foundation had reason to doubt the validity of Lane's offer because it was twice what the foundation initially offered for the property in 2024, even though there were components of the property that had since been sold or damaged -- which would seem to have made the assets less valuable, not twice as valuable, according to foundation lawyer Larry Newton, speaking at the time of a hearing in April.

"Money is not an issue with us," Levin said then. "But we don't want to be extorted."

The state Attorney General's office will need to review and approve the potential purchase by the foundation, as stipulated at an April hearing by the attorney for Salone and Lane, according to Levin.

The AG's office is generally responsible for transactions between nonprofit parties, according to Levin.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.