Welcome to Vagel Keller's Industrial Heritage Homepage
History & Modeling of the Coal, Iron & Steel Industries and the Canals & Railroads that Served Them
Industrial History & Tourism
Rockhill Iron & Coal Company
Rockhill Iron & Coal Company
Rockhill Iron & Coal Company
A series of illustrated essays on the merchant pig iron company served by the East Broad Top RR
The Mount Savage Iron Works
Rockhill Iron & Coal Company
Rockhill Iron & Coal Company
Download an article about the company that manufactured the first American-made iron rails.
Industrial History Sites
Rockhill Iron & Coal Company
Industrial History Sites
Photo essays on National & State Historical Industrial Sites in PA
The East Broad Top Railroad & Coal Company
Introduction
The East Broad Top Railroad is a three-foot gauge line that hauled freight and passengers in south-central Pennsylvania's Huntingdon County from 1874 through 1956 and operated as a steam tourist railroad from 1960 through 2011. Tourist operations resumed in 2021 under new ownership, the non-profit EBT Foundation, Inc. Friends of the EBT, Inc. (FEBT) continues its volunteer preservation and restoration work in the shops complex at Rockhill, PA and elsewhere in cooperation with EBTF.
The entire 32-mile mainline is mostly intact, and includes a 4-arch reinforced concrete bridge, a 268-ft long deck truss & girder bridge, and two tunnels. The original EBT is connected to the Norfolk Southern Railroad system via the intact dual-gauge yard in Mt. Union, PA, where a dual-gauge engine house still stands. However, since the ealrly 2000's the northern section of the line has been controlled by the nonprofit EBT Preservation Association. In 2020 the nonprofit EBT Foundation purchased the remaining railroad right of way, including the historic Rockhill Shops complex. At the south end of the line, in Robertsdale, PA, the FEBT owns the former EBT station and the former post office building, which houses the Friends' museum & library. Restoration of the former EBT station is on-going, and a mile of track southward is open for hand car and track speeder rides in season.
Learn More
The East Broad Top webpage contains links to illustrated histories and touring guides on branchlines and industries served by the EBT. It also has links to photographic essays on EBT locomotives and equipment.
Western Maryland Shortline Railroads
Introduction
The Georges Creek RR was a short-lived line in antebellum western Maryland. Completed in 1853 from Westernport to Lonaconing (upper, left on the map), it came too late to save the financially troubled iron furnace at Lonaconing, In 1863, as coal production soared during the Civil War, it was absorbed into the Cumberland & Pennsyvlania RR, a shortline connecting the coal fields west and south of Cumberland, MD with the Baltimore & Ohio RR and C&O Canal.
The operating hub of the C&Pa was at Mt. Savage (upper, right on the map). Most notably, the C&Pa's facilities at Mt. Savage included a complete locomotive erecting shop, which produced locomotives for both the C&Pa and other customers in its early years.
Historian Patrick Stakem has written two short, but very informative and well-researched, articles on the Georges Creek and the C&Pa's Mount Savage shops. Both are available as PDF files, below.
Railroad History & Preservation Resources
Friends of the East Broad Top, Inc.
Pennsylvania RR Historical & Technical Society
Rails and Trail.com ICC maps of the EBTRR
A 501.c.3 non-profit association dedicated to preserving and rest orating the East Broad Top Railroad National Historical Landmark.
Rails and Trail.com ICC maps of the EBTRR
Pennsylvania RR Historical & Technical Society
Rails and Trail.com ICC maps of the EBTRR
Detailed maps in PDF format from the collection of Friends of the East Broad Top.
Pennsylvania RR Historical & Technical Society
Pennsylvania RR Historical & Technical Society
Pennsylvania RR Historical & Technical Society
Preserving the heritage of "The Standard Railroad of the World" for future generations
Chris Coleman's EBT Homepage
Waynesburg & Washington RR on Facebook
Pennsylvania RR Historical & Technical Society
Chris Coleman's unofficial East Broad Top RR Homepage is the "Go-To" site for all things EBT: historical locomotive and rolling stock rosters, visitor guides, E-mail discussion lists, and publications about plans for the EBT's future are all here.
Waynesburg & Washington RR on Facebook
Waynesburg & Washington RR on Facebook
Waynesburg & Washington RR on Facebook
Pictures and information about a 3-ft narrow gauge railroad in Pennsyvlania's southwest corner; 2-6-0 #4 survives near Waynesburg.
Cumberland & Pennsylvania RR Images
Waynesburg & Washington RR on Facebook
Waynesburg & Washington RR on Facebook
An extensive collection of photographs of locomotives and facilities of the C&Pa is maintained on the Mt. Savage Historical Society's webpage.