Here's a little teaser from the photo shoot this past Friday during the EBT's annual Fall Spectacular. ; I had to work Friday morning, so I missed the morning shoot, but managed to make it to Rockhill Furnace in time for the afternoon and night shoots. ; I'm working on the photos now and will upload a couple more soon. At the East Broad Top, some things will never change. ; While the turntable was equipped for mechanical operation, it was never connected to a power source. ; Thankfully the folks at the EBT have never gotten lazy and hooked it up. ; Instead they continue the time honored tradition of balancing the locomotives on the turntable and using some old fashioned man power to take them for a spin.
Thanks guys! ; Here's two more for today: Busy Night at the Depot: East Broad Top #12 has rarely been seen outside the roundhouse since she was taken out of service in 2000. ; She was brought out and located in front of the depot for this year's Fall Spectacular to celebrate her 100th birthday. ; While no plans exist to restore her to service at this time, she has been well cared for and hopefully she'll operate under her own power again someday. Waiting by the Coal Dock: The East Broad Top restored two water plugs in the yard this year that had been out of service for a long time. ; One is located on the other side of the locomotive in this shot and the other is near the ash pit by the machine shop. ; The Friends of the East Broad Top started restoration work on the coal dock this year.
Thanks guys! ; I finally got them all done. ; Here's a couple more from the night session and from the special extended shop tour. Heading for Mt Union under a starry sky: ; Resting in the yard: The machine shop: The tour guide explained to us that the Friends of the East Broad Top did an oral history program where they interviewed as many of the former EBT Shops workers as they could find. ; During those interviews, the Friends found out that the workers all believed that when the shops closed that it would only be temporary, so after the last shift that day, they put all of the tools back where they belonged and oiled all the machinery. ; Since then, the Friends have oiled all of the machinery several times over the years and are currently bringing the machines back online so they can be used to repair or fabricate new parts on site. ; They take great pride in pointing out that they are repairing parts on the machines that fabricated the parts in the first place. ; I can't think of any other railroad shop that can still say that today. The tool room: The boilers that provided steam to the stationary steam engine that powered the line shafts: The steam powered DC generator. ; This supplied power to the shops complex, the Orbisonia Station and the railroad president's house. ; We were told that the coils on the ceiling are voltage drivers for the system. And a really old arc welder. ; They are trying to determine the age of it but haven't found any markings on it that tell them who manufactured it or how old it is:
