Photos from A Recent EBT Trip

[Amalynn]

So while I was home a bit over a week ago I took my wife along to a ride on the East Broad Top. We rode the train out to Colgate Grove and back, had lunch, and then I went on their new extended shop tour. My wife wasn't really interested in the shop tour so I went by myself while she went and found something else to get in to. I took lots of pictures.







Our train, consisting of the ex-Algoma Steel GE 55-tonner (while 16 is still down for repairs), an open car, combine 17, coach 22, and one of the cabooses (which didn't get included in the photo, whoops). Combine 17 and COach 22 are new production cars that were acquired last year to help take strain off of the aging wood cars and give an alternative to the open cars.











The interior of our coach. The new cars are swanky and do include walkover seats. They were really nice.











The new coaches ride pretty nicely. Fairly smooth. The new combine also has wheelchair lifts in it. We did not disembark at Colgate Grove, but the newly fixed up facilities there are quite nice.







The shop tour starts at the Freight Office in ROckhill Furnace. There's a lot of really cool stuff in there.







Antique Dynamite boxes always get my attention. Growing up, my Dad was a commercial blaster and collected these antique boxes everywhere we found them.















This desk in the Freight Office included some interesting paraphernalia.







Note the blank pad of waybills :O







This photo is just to show the size difference between the standard gauge and narrow gauge equipment.







The boxcar was donated by the Kiski Junction RR and was just yesterday propped up on some of the EBT's in-house built transfer trucks and is now rolling on a 36" gauge. They are going to do some minor mechanical work and a cosmetic restoration then plans are to include the car in photo freights.







This old Ford straight truck caught my eye, can't help it anymore as a truck driver.











Here's the little work train they were using when working on trackwork both north of the station on the way to COlgate Grove as well as going south. Once the PA-475 crossing is reactivated they will be able to take the work train all the way down to the current end of track nearing Jordan Summit, approximately 1 mile south of the station. I just love little trains like this with critters. An open car for people and a flat car being used for tools and materials, powered by M-4.











#12 and #18 in the roundhouse.











M-1.











The 18th century stone farmhouse as well as the recently restored section of the storehouses. The farmhouse was historically used as the yard office. It has apparently been remodelled a few times in its history, as well. The storehouses were sinking in to the ground to the point that the little structure between the storehouses proper and the stone farmhouse went from having a flat roof to having a heavily slanted roof. The FEBT pulled all of the parts in it out, jacked the whole thing up, rebuilt the bottom and poured a concrete foundation, rigthted the warping in the shelves, and then put it all back down and carefully replaced everything right where it was.











A better view of the restored storehouses. You can also see the sandhouse here.











Inside one of the storehouses.











These are all spare locomotive parts. THere are parts to locomotives that haven't been at the railroad since *before* the shutdown in 1956. They really just never threw anything out.









More to come

[Amalynn]

On our way over in to the main shop complex proper, there's a wheelset storage track for wheelsets needing work. You can see a pony truck wheel, a trailing truck wheel, and a freight car wheel.



More wheelsets.



This is a part of the little open alley separating the blacksmith shop away from the foundry and main shop structure. The metal plates cover over the area for the belt system to transfer underground and get in to the blacksmith shop.

The following photos are of stuff in the blacksmith shop.
A forge -


Gigantic steam hammer -

This steam hammer is apparently in really good shape and a blacksmithing program at a college in PA has expressed an interest in re-lighting the forges and restoring the steam hammer to run off of compressed air. It wouldn't take a lot of money to do, just time.

Another smaller hammer, this one is run off of the belt system.


Jackshaft for running the hammer -


I believe they said this is a saw? Also run off of the shafts and belts -


The shaft that the belt goes to for the saw is here -


Make sure to report all injuries to your foreman! -


Grindstone and blacksmith tools -

[Amalynn]

These are all leaf springs they were making near the end of service. Apparently as costs were cut and money ran out the track quality suffered, and they started breaking leaf springs left and right trying to still run on it, so they just made lots of spares.


These are pulleys that were on the floor for machinery, I think.


There was an oven in the blacksmith shop, too. Check out that counterweight. It's a coupler pocket for link and pin couplers, repurposed.


Another wheelset storage track. Originally the rails were set on two 36" gauges to stagger the wheelsets for space efficiency. During the Kovalchick Era they were using some of the EBT's wheelset tooling to help with scrapping standard gauge cars, so they re-gauged a set of rails to sit on a standard gauge spacing for storing the axles.


In the foundry, here's a gigantic gantry crane.


And here's the foundry's furnace. Apparently it's also in good enough shape that it could be fixed up given sufficient interest in the casting process's industrial history. The wooden cribbing on the top left is the charging floor for setting up the furnace for a blast.


A bunch of scrap potbelly stoves? They're basically all cracked and ruined.


Mold box with a wooden pattern on the left and cast iron firebox grate on the right.


This is a small furnace for casting brass and bronze.

[Amalynn]

This workbench is for building mold center cores for when you need a hollow component to be cast.


Dave Domitrovich (EBT General Manager) explaining the mold process while more potbelly stoves look on.


This gigantic pile of scrap is all stuff queue'd up for melting down and turning in to other parts for the railroad. Nothing goes to waste on a narrow gauge short line!


Up in here is a gantry crane for lifting heavy stuff up to the charging floor of the foundry. The little lean-to with no floor on the right covers the belts that power the blower for the furnace and other small tools.


This is a gigantic tumbler.


This is a little cart that was built by the EBT shops for transporting wheelsets around the shop in preparation for re-machining.

[FiatFan]

Very cool! Thanks for posting.

Tom

[Amalynn]

Going in to the machine shop, here's several machine tools -
Wheel boring machine -




Axle lathe -


#14 over in the Locomotive Shop -


Belt and shaft map for the shop complex -


Boilers in the Boiler Room -



Lathe -


Wheel lathe -


Steam Driven Air Compressor -

[Amalynn]

Locomotive #14 in the locomotive shop, again -


Moving in to the car shop, there are three tracks. Apparently they were used in the following ways - The furthest left track is for quick fixes, in and out type stuff. The middle track is for more heavy duty repairs that may need more time or more intensive work. The right track closest to the rest of the shop complex are for the heaviest of repairs, and I would suspect that's likely also the track where things like carbuilding were done.

On the outermost track are a steel flatcar, currently loaded with a bunch of wood. Behind it are one of the cabooses and behind that is Coach 8.


These are all special wood tools, which also run off of the shops' belt system. The track down through it all is a 2' gauge track used to transport materials from the wood shed at the south end of the shop in to the car shop. There was a small push cart that goes on it as well.


Down the rightmost track at the moment are a collection of EBT speeders. All but one known to survive are at the railroad. You can also see the 2' gauge track running next to it. That track would have been incredibly useful for doing repairs and building of wooden freight cars and later passenger cars.


More speeders -


Between the doors entering in to the shop complex you can see a little door for the 2' gauge cart.


I was able to grab an incredibly helpful close-up shot of the endsill of the B end of Coach 8. What's up with that uncoupling lever? That's whack. This will be pretty helpful in modelling Coach 8 which I am hoping to resume work on in a couple of months.


This is the buildup of paint of decades of workers cleaning dauber brushes (used to mark cars with things like re-weight dates).


Here's that wheelset cart's little track going all the way out to the car shop middle track.


The car shop, left and centre tracks, from the outside. I believe the section with all the rails close to the camera are for a scale for the shops originally. Don't mind the FEBT volunteer diligently working to repaint the shop building. They were holding a work weekend the same day as my tour.

[tompm]

Great pictures! I have always wanted to see the EBT. After seeing these I want to do it even more.

[Amalynn]

I was so excited when they announced the extended shop tours so I knew I needed to go as soon as possible to attend. They do picnic layovers, now, so my wife and I are planning to go back for a picnic together sometime this summer

[Charlie B]

Thanks for this detailed tour of the EBT. I hope to make it again but I will wait for the steam to get running again.  I am now a spectator. I hope they get the entire line opened before I leave this life, I think this railroad is a national treasure and the entire railroad needs to be saved. We have lost too much of it all ready.
Charlie

[Amalynn]

Thanks for this detailed tour of the EBT. I hope to make it again but I will wait for the steam to get running again.  I am now a spectator. I hope they get the entire line opened before I leave this life, I think this railroad is a national treasure and the entire railroad needs to be saved. We have lost too much of it all ready.
Charlie

They mentioned on the tour that they are now in the “Put everything back together and make sure it works” phase of the repair with an expectation of steam returning in August, so hopefully not too much longer!

I’m really looking forward to seeing the line to Saltillo completed in the next few years. I am hoping to get out and give a hand working one of these days while I am home.

[TMo]

I have a feeling those photos are going to be put to good use in developing ideas for what you want to build, Amanda! Thanks for sharing! Loved the detailed look at the narrow gauge shop and the ingenious ideas for storing and moving those heavy wheel sets. Appeals to the engineer in me.

[Amalynn]

I have a feeling those photos are going to be put to good use in developing ideas for what you want to build, Amanda!  Thanks for sharing!  Loved the detailed look at the narrow gauge shop and the ingenious ideas for storing and moving those heavy wheel sets.  Appeals to the engineer in me.

The whole setup for bringing wheelsets in and processing them through for reprofiling was so ingenious to me. It’s *clear* that they were doing it a lot from the earliest days of the railroad. And to do all that work without cranes, hoists, or lifts, to boot! They will definitely be put to good use!

[nachoman]

Great photos! Thanks for sharing!

[cn nutbar]

I visited the East Broad Top many years ago---your great pictures brought back many fond memories---thank you for sharing.