East Broad Top Restoration Progress (2026): March to Saltillo & Beyond

Last revised: August 19, 2026

Since the East Broad Top Foundation purchased the railroad from the Kovalchick family in February 2020, Rockhill Furnace has become one of the most closely watched preservation projects in North America. Track crews, shop forces, and Friends of the East Broad Top (FEBT) volunteers are not merely polishing a tourist stub—they are physically rebuilding the three-foot-gauge main line that last carried coal in 1956.

This page will provide regular updates to EBT's continued restoration, featuring major mileposts (segment reopenings, steam returns, shop campaigns). For coal-era history, tourist years 1960–2011, and the classic roster table, see East Broad Top history. For Baldwin Mikados in depth, see EBT steam locomotives.

Looking north on the EBT out of Orbisonia, PA in 2018

Looking north on the East Broad Top out of Orbisonia, Pennsylvania on September 18, 2018 prior to the railroad's reactivation. Jon Wright photo.

Status Snapshot (August 2026)

Segment / topic	Status
Rockhill Furnace north to Colgate Grove	Tourist-era main rebuilt and in regular passenger service (classic ~4.5–5 mile picnic-wye operation restored under the Foundation)
Rockhill Furnace south toward Pogue	Main line reopened for operation in summer 2025—first trains in decades on trackage idle since the coal era (reports cite roughly 2+ miles south, including highway crossings)
March to Saltillo (overall)	Nine-mile southward campaign (Rockhill toward Saltillo via Pogue / Three Springs). Grading, ballasting, and phased track rebuild underway; Saltillo is the near-term southern goal
Saltillo	March 2026: ceremonial start of track laying from Saltillo station toward Three Springs; new Saltillo station is an FEBT-funded project
Pogue–Prices Bridge	Graded / prepared for reinstallation as of spring 2026 FEBT summaries
Robertsdale (ultimate south)	Still the long-term coal-town destination; FEBT museum presence at the inactive southern end continues while track advances from both Rockhill and Saltillo directions over time
Steam	Baldwin 2-8-2 #16 returned to service (first revenue-era steam leadership since 1956); #15 next in the shop queue; see steam leaf
Investment	More than $10 million reported invested by early 2026 across track, shops, cars, staffing, and related work
Official sources	eastbroadtop.com · febt.org · EBT / FEBT social channels for week-to-week photos

Confirm open miles and excursion products on the railroad’s site before traveling—schedules and temporary track limits change during construction seasons.

Why This Rebuild Matters

Most heritage railroads operate a preserved fragment. The East Broad Top’s postwar miracle was that Nick Kovalchick saved the whole property—shops, roundhouse, hoppers, six Baldwin Mikados, and roughly thirty miles of main—then ran a short tourist segment north of Rockhill for half a century. When that tourist era paused after 2011, the physical plant remained largely intact but inactive.

The 2020 Foundation purchase flipped the script from “caretaking a closed railroad” to rebuilding an operating common-carrier-style narrow-gauge main. The north picnic run proves the visitor product; the southward March to Saltillo proves the long game: reopen dormant main line through the Aughwick Valley toward the Broad Top coal towns that justified the railroad in the first place.

Timeline of Foundation-Era Progress

2020–2022 — Soft reopen and Colgate Grove

After the February 14, 2020 announcement at Rockhill Furnace, soft openings and anniversary events led into limited 2021 running and fuller 2022 seasons. Early capital stabilized shops and yards; Pennsylvania state grants (including a $1.4 million award in 2020 and a further $1.1 million announced in December 2021) explicitly underwrote southward track work toward Three Springs / Saltillo plus Colgate Grove property, MOW equipment, fire suppression water supply, and related shop-area improvements.

By the mid-2020s the tourist-era track north through Colgate Grove had been thoroughly rebuilt with hired local crews and FEBT volunteer support—ties, rail, surfacing—so the classic picnic-wye product again sits on reliable iron rather than deferred maintenance.

2023–2025 — Steam returns and the south opens

Baldwin 2-8-2 #16 (1916)—idle as an operating engine since the end of freight in 1956—became the Foundation’s first major steam return. Shop milestones through 2022–2023 led to public steam leadership in the mid-2020s (including high-profile 2025 appearances). That single locomotive transformed the visitor experience from “narrow-gauge diesel and hope” back to authentic EBT steam.

On the track side, 2024–2025 work pushed the southward rebuild past successive road crossings. In August 2025, trade press covered reopening of main-line trackage south of Rockhill that had not seen trains in roughly 69 years—a psychological as well as operational breakthrough. FEBT summaries describe ballasting of prior-year sections and rebuild continuing to the approaches of Pogue Bridge, with operations extending through multiple public crossings toward the high-school / Pogue area.

2026 — Saltillo from the south end

Rather than only pushing rail south from Rockhill, 2026 opened a second front: track laying at Saltillo toward Three Springs (ceremonial start reported March 21, 2026). Building from both ends of a nine-mile gap is classic railroad construction logic—materials staging, local access, and a finished station node at Saltillo while intermediate grading (including Pogue to Prices Bridge) waits for steel.

FEBT’s March to Saltillo campaign page remains the best volunteer-facing status board; EBT Foundation communications and Trains / Railway Age coverage supply independent mileposts for journalists and researchers.

What “March to Saltillo” Actually Means

Saltillo sits roughly nine miles south of Rockhill Furnace on the historic main—about twice the length of the old Colgate Grove tourist stub. Reaching it doubles the storytelling geography: valleys, farms, small-town stations, and the psychological sense that Robertsdale is no longer a museum at the unreachable end of a dead railroad but the next campaign after Saltillo.

Expect years, not months. Narrow-gauge stick rail must be pulled, sorted, and relaid; crossings require coordination with PennDOT and local roads; bridges and drainage set the pace as much as spike gangs. The Foundation’s paid track department plus FEBT volunteer forces are the dual engine—don’t confuse weekend photo posts with finished, tamped, timetable-ready main line.

Shops, Roundhouse, and the Rockhill Campus

Parallel to the main-line push, Rockhill’s National Historic Landmark shop complex continues stabilization and public interpretation: roofing campaigns, roundhouse/turntable work, car repairs, and guided shop tours. Master Mechanic’s Office restoration completed in 2025 per Foundation materials. Robertsdale’s EBT-related buildings have also seen roofing and museum investment even while trains have not yet returned there.

That dual campus story—operating headquarters at Rockhill, interpretive / destination coal town at Robertsdale—is why track progress alone understates the project.

How to Follow Without Drowning in Updates

This page — major mileposts only; we revise when segments open or campaigns change phase
eastbroadtop.com — ride schedules, events, tickets
FEBT March to Saltillo — detailed volunteer track status
EBT / FEBT Facebook — daily photos; treat as primary visual feed, not a substitute for confirmed open miles
Rail News on AR — we may post discrete news cards when a segment opens or a locomotive returns