EBT – 1870’s Shops Steam Engine – First run in over 50 years – Part 2
This 1870’s single cylinder steam engine came to the East Broad Top Railroad in 1882, reportedly from the Rockhill Iron and Coal Company iron furnace nearby. It resides in the Machine Shop near the boilers. This engine supplies the power to all the overhead line shaft and belt system that extends throughout the EBT shops complex. The line shafts powered over thirty five machines, for machining, wood working, blacksmithing and forging. It was last used over fifty years ago when the shops last ran under coal power. This was shortly after the East Broad Top shut down as a coal hauler in the spring of 1956. Since then the limited operation of section of the line shaft system has been via electric motors mounted in those section, disconnected from the rest of the system. In the late 70’s or early 80’s the building had settled too much, throwing the shafts out of line and causing their bearings to overheat in a short time. Since then the shafts too have been silent. In the early 1990’s the roof structure above the engine had deteriorated to the point it had rotted out the large main beam supporting the Boiler House and Machine Shop roof where they meet. Wood cribbing had to be erected atop the engine to hold the roof structure up. In 2002 Friends of the East Broad Top restoration crew members first stared working on the Boiler House and Machine Shop where the engine resides. Over the following seven years work has progressed, culminating in the installation of a replacement main beam and removal of the cribbing. At the same time key parts of the engine were removed and rehabilitated in the hopes it could be returned to service. In 2009 that hope came true. In the Spring of that year restoration crew members freed up the engine mechanisms and reinstalled the rehabilitated components. Using compressed air rather than steam, on July 19, 2009 the engine made its first run shown here. The run lasted over 10 minutes. Later that day the engine made two more shorter runs before being covered. The shops engine is the third of many machines in the EBT shops that Friends of the East Broad Top hopes to bring back into operating condition. Visit us at www.febt.org for more information on our mission, the preservation and restoration of the East Broad Top Railroad. – Part 2
Duration : 0:9:4