East Broad Top Railroad

Arguably one, if not the most famous narrow gauge railroad east of the Mississippi, The East Broad Top Railroad, located in Rockhill Furnace, Pennsylvania, was chartered in 1856 (though it wouldn’t begin operation until 1873) to haul semi-bituminous coal from the Broad Top Mountain plateau to the interchange with the Pennsylvania Railroad at Mount Union, PA. However, the line, like so many before it, saw a decline in the 1950's due to a decrease in the demand of coal. The line was sold in April of 1956 to the Kovalchick Salvage Company, who instead of scrapping the line, decided to preserve it. The first excursion train ran in 1960, and would operate continuously until 2011, when the line was put into dormancy. Recently, however, the railroad was sold to the non-profit EBT Foundation, who are working to return the railroad to operation next year. 

The LEGO version of this iconic Narrow Gauge Railroad includes a model of the East Broad Top's #12 "Millie", a 2-8-2 Mikado built in 1911 by Baldwin Locomotive Works. (The EBT owned 6 such Mikados on their roster of various sizes, numbered 12-18, with 12 being the smallest of the 6.) The model is a simplifed, but faithful take on Millie, with her proudly replenished in the EBT's Excursion Paint scheme. Behind her tender are 2 passenger cars and the observation car “Orbisonia”, built as close to real thing as I could get them. Also included is a large loop of track with a siding for your train to run around. Finally, there 7 minifigures, including an engineer and fireman, a conductor, 2 foa... I mean railfans, (complete with cameras!), and finally, a father and his train-obsessed son, complete with a small model of #12.

 The East Broad Top has to be one of the most beloved narrow gauge railroads anywhere. It's considered the most in-tact industrial site by the Smithsonian Institution. Not to mention, it's world famous, having been visited by people all over the world to take the trip back in time, when life was simpler, and to get a sense of how Narrow Gauge Railroading was back in the day I personally believe, If this set were to be released, it would be a hot seller.

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