Kenneth C. Springirth

East Broad Top Railroad (Images of Rail: Pennsylvania) Kenneth C. Springirth

Chartered in 1856, the East Broad Top Railroad began operating in 1873 through scenic Huntingdon County in south-central Pennsylvania. This well-managed narrow-gauge railroad connected the isolated Broad Top Mountain coal field with the Pennsylvania Railroad at Mount Union. With a decline in the hauling of coal, service ended in 1956. Nick Kovalchick, president of the Kovalchick Salvage Company of Indiana, Pennsylvania, purchased the railroad and reopened a portion of it as a tourist line in 1960. Through vintage photographs, East Broad Top Railroad showcases the steam locomotives, rolling stock, and railroad yard at Rockhill Furnace, which is the most historic railroad yard in North America.