Grants & Institutional Partnerships
Preserving the East Broad Top Railroad for Future Generations
Foundation and government grants drive the restoration of the East Broad Top, the only original narrow-gauge railroad surviving intact east of the Mississippi. Discover our current priorities, learn from past partners, and find out how your institution can join this transformative journey.
Federal Grants
Archives National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) Preservation Assistance Grant
$10,000
Featured Opportunities
The East Broad Top Railroad Archives and Special Collections
American Rescue Plan Act 2022 Grant (ARAP)
$500,000
Featured Opportunities
Locomotive Restoration and Marketing
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.
PA Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program 2020 Grant (RACP)
$1.4 Million
Featured Opportunities
East Broad Top Railroad Phase I Development
PA Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program 2021 Grant (RACP)
$1.1 Million
Featured Opportunities
East Broad Top Railroad Restoration Milepost 6.5 to Milepost 19.5
PA Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program 2024 Grant (RACP)
$1.6 Million
Featured Opportunities
Pogue Bridge Stabilization
PA Department of Community & Economic Development 2021
$900,000
Marketing to Attract Tourism
Featured Opportunities
East Broad Top Railroad Phase I Development
PA Department of Community & Economic Development 2022
$630,000
Marketing to Attract Tourism
Featured Opportunities
East Broad Top Railroad Phase I Development
PA Department of Community & Economic Development 2023
$600,000
Marketing to Attract Tourism
Featured Opportunities
East Broad Top Railroad Phase I Development
PA Department of Community & Economic Development 2025
$250,000
Marketing to Attract Tourism
Featured Opportunities
East Broad Top Railroad Phase I Development
Keystone Historic Preservation Grant 2021
$100,000
Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission
Featured Opportunities
Machine Shop and Roundhouse Fire Suppression Installation
Private Grants and Funding
Thank you to private donors who have helped 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.
Foundation for Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
$22,577
Featured Opportunities
ADA Golf Cart, Sensory toolkits (e.g., weighted lap pads, noise-cancelling headphones, etc.), Door ramps, and Social Story Software
John H. Emery Rail Heritage Trust 2022
$15,000
Featured Opportunities
Gas Electric M-1 traction motor and truck work.
Friends of the East Broad Top Railroad 2022
$81,500
Featured Opportunities
Archives, Track Work, and the Coal Tipple
National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) Heritage Grant 2022
$4,990
Featured Opportunities
East Broad Top Railroad Archives and Special Collections
Allegheny Foundation 2021
$100,000
Featured Opportunities
Colgate Grove Track and Site Rehabilitation
John H. Emery Rail Heritage Trust 2021
$15,000
Featured Opportunities
Gas Electric M-1 Roof replacement and painting
Friends of the East Broad Top Railroad 2021
$120,000
Featured Opportunities
Carpenter Shop and Storehouse Structural Stabilization and Restoration