A Railroad Frozen in 1956
When freight service ended on the East Broad Top Railroad in 1956, workers simply walked away. Tools stayed on workbenches. Coal sat in bins. Steam locomotives remained in their roundhouse stalls. The Smithsonian later called it one of the most intact 19th-century industrial sites in the United States.
The narrow-gauge line in Rockhill Furnace, Pennsylvania, had hauled coal out of the mountains since 1872. After it closed, the three-foot-wide tracks and machine shops sat largely untouched for decades. In 2021, after restoration work, trains started running again as a heritage railroad. It's now the only surviving three-foot-gauge common carrier railroad east of the Rockies.
The railroad's autumn schedule runs through October 31, with departures every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. All weekend trains are pulled by coal-fired steam locomotives more than a century old.
Two Routes Through the Aughwick Valley
The main fall ride is the Northbound Colgate Grove Excursion, a nine-mile roundtrip through farmland and forest. The hour-long journey follows the Aughwick Valley, where maples and oaks press close to the tracks. Passengers can get off at Colgate Grove, the halfway point, and spend 90 minutes under the trees before catching a later train back.
The Southbound Pogue Excursion covers a different stretch of track, heading the opposite direction from Orbisonia Station. This route hadn't carried passengers in nearly 70 years before reopening. There's no layover stop; the train simply reverses near the community of Pogue and returns. It runs on select dates in September and October, and a combo package covering both routes saves ten dollars per person.
Trains depart at 10:30 AM, noon, and 1:30 PM, with a 3 PM departure added on some days.
Four Ways to Ride
Passengers choose from four car types. Enclosed coaches have padded seats and windows that open. Open-air cars offer outward-facing benches under a sunshade. A historic caboose provides a different vantage point. The cinder car has no roof or sides, putting riders closest to the smoke and scenery; the railroad recommends eye protection for anyone riding there.
Coach, open-air, and cinder car seats cost 25 dollars for adults and 15 dollars for children ages two to twelve. The caboose runs 30 dollars for adults and 20 for children. Every train includes at least one accessible car.
The experience is deliberately old-fashioned. Coal smoke drifts back over the cars. The locomotives whistle at grade crossings. The narrow gauge makes the ride feel slower and closer to the ground than modern trains.
Beyond the Train Ride
The railroad offers guided tours of its depot complex, including the roundhouse where locomotives have been stored since the early 1900s. The site also houses the largest belt-driven machine shop in the country, with equipment that still runs on overhead shafts and leather belts.
Visitors booking both a train ride and a facility tour should budget about three hours. Tickets must be picked up at Orbisonia Station 30 minutes before departure; they're not emailed.
The Pumpkin Patch Express runs on select October weekends, combining a train ride with 90 minutes of activities at Colgate Grove. Children's tickets include a pumpkin. The event is scheduled for October 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25, and 31, with four departures daily.
A Living Archive
Heritage railroads exist across the United States, but few preserve an entire industrial ecosystem. The East Broad Top's machine shop still contains the tools used to repair locomotives in the 1920s. The roundhouse still turns engines on a manually operated turntable. The coal tipple, where ore cars once dumped their loads, stands at the edge of the property.
The railroad was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964, recognition that helped prevent it from being scrapped. For decades it operated sporadically, opening for short seasons before closing again. The 2021 restoration brought it back as a year-round operation, with winter excursions and holiday trains supplementing the busy fall schedule.
Autumn remains the busiest season, when the Aughwick Valley's hardwood forests turn red and gold. The trains move slowly enough that passengers can watch individual leaves fall. The coal smoke smells different in cold air. The narrow gauge makes the whole experience feel slightly off-kilter, as if the present hasn't quite caught up with the past.
Advance reservations are recommended, particularly for weekend departures in October. The railroad's schedule includes special events nearly year-round, from a February Winter Spectacular to December holiday trains, but the fall foliage season draws the largest crowds.
