Grants
In just its first few years, the EBT Foundation has been honored to receive a variety of public and private grants that quickly made tremendous progress possible.
State Grants
Private donors led the initial effort to acquire the railroad from its longtime owners, the Kovalchick Family, but the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania soon took up the challenge. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission provided a matching grant to begin work on a fire-suppression system, and the Office of the Budget has awarded Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program funds that, once matched, will pay for beginning to reopen parts of the railroad out of service since 1956. The Department of Community and Economic Development has offered Marketing for Tourism grants that also have helped overhaul steam locomotives. And the federal government’s Appalachian Regional Commission made a major contribution toward the railroad’s master plan.
Private Grants and Funding
Meanwhile, the Allegheny Foundation, of Pittsburgh, provided a significant grant for work on the Colgate Picnic Grove. The John H. Emery Rail Heritage Trust has provided two grants for work on the EBT’s one-of-a-kind 1927 gas-electric unit, the M-1. And a private donor has made several grants to help launch the archives program, while others have contributed equipment — machine tools, a bucket truck, map drawers, and even a vintage standard-gauge boxcar.
Critical to the foundation’s preservation efforts has been the continuing support of members of the all-volunteer Friends of the East Broad Top, which began working on EBT buildings in Rockhill Furnace in 2002 and has been invaluable since. Friends volunteers have stabilized or helped stabilize multiple key buildings, in addition to rebuilding several freight cars and a caboose. In addition, the Friends have proven to be fundraising champions, collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars for various EBT preservation projects.
