Wayne's History of the Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain Railroad and Coal Company                    Page Two

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Huntington & Broad Top Motor Car # 39 Photo from Dave Seidel Collection

In an article in Trains Magazine  1947, a story written by A. M. Rung Jr., he mentions an elegantly finished Huntingdon and Broad Top business car, number 24, that boasted of mahogany woodwork. The car was sold to a private person that moved it to a site near the Raystown river and used it as a summer cottage. I remember seeing it along the river when I was about 13 years old. My family had a cottage along the river near the Entriken bridge. I spent my summers there and had a lot of chances to see the trains go through Entriken. One time my father took me to Saxton and we got to go into the stone roundhouse. I remember seeing cold engines inside waiting to be repaired. Outside the roundhouse was a stub track where the wreck train was parked. In my memory I can still see the steam derrick that was parked there. The number 24 business car was probably destroyed when the new Raystown Dam was built. The area where the car was is now under water. With the railroads close proximity to the Raystown recreation area I wonder if the railroad would have been saved, what kind of a tourist line it could have become.

Locomotive number 38 of the H & B T removes a load of rail from Hope Well on March 26,1954. This was her final trip to the Broad Top coal fields.The rails were taken up and sold for scrap, thus ending over 100 years of service to the Broad Top.

Photo on the left is of H & B T Cabin #15 used for a summer cottage near Huntingdon, Pa. Photo on the right is of H & B T Cabin #16 on the Everett Railroad.

Dudley, Pa.

About midway between Saxton and Broad Top City the line passed through the town of Dudley,Pa. Visitors passing through Dudley will see a water tank and a station in the Dudley Rail Park.

The water tank and station are original H & B T buildings.The old engine on display is not H & B T.

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This February 2004, I had the pleasure of making a new Internet friend. Don Brumbaugh had found my Huntingdon & Broad Top web pages and we started to talk about his life when he lived in the Huntingdon, Pa. area. Although he now lives out of state, Don will tell you that he clings to his roots in central Pennsylvania area. In his correspondence to me, Don expressed the importance of his memories. I want to thank Don for sharing his photos and memories of his family and the old railroads (Huntingdon Broad Top and East Broad Top) that at one time was a big part of life in the Broad Top area. Don's family lived in Huntingdon but in the summer he spent a lot of time at his Aunt Teen Rogers home in Dudley. Roy Rogers and his wife Teen lived right across the road from the H & B T water tank where the train would stop every morning for water.

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H.&.B.T. Water Tank and Roy and Teen Roger's home in Dudley. Photos from Don Brumbaugh's family album.

Cap Sellers and Bill Lloyd were engineers on the Huntingdon Broad Top railroad. Bill Lloyd was a cousin of Roy Rogers. Bill Lloyd would blow the whistle to alert Teen Rogers that it was time to put the coffee on because Bill would soon be coming over for his daily morning coffee. Roy Rogers owned a mechanic garage in Dudley just two buildings past his house. Don related how Cap Sellers would blow the whistle "so we kids could get out of bed to see the train". He stated that he just loved watching the coal miners go into the mines and come back out in the afternoon and watching the trains roll up and down the tracks."They were some of the best times in my life". Don had some family members that worked for the H & B T and some that worked for the E. B. T. Calvin Cattie Kough, Don's grandfather was a station agent for the East Broad Top in Robertsdale, Pa. He also worked as a conductor / ticket taker on the trains. Calvin Kough and his wife, Eva Morgan rented a company house in Robertsdale.

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Fannie Morgan's Grocery Store.Robertsdale, Pa.

In the earley 1900s,this store was operated by Fannie Morgan. In the photo from left to right are, Cora Lane, a little girl, (name unknown) that helped around the store, Tom Morgan, Fannie Morgan, and Eva Morgan. Fannie Morgan was Don Brumbaugh's great-grandmother with Eva being his grandmother. Note the sigh above the window advertising Oysters. Photos and passes from The Don Brumbaugh family album.

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After the H & B T was scrapped, the Everett Railroad was started up using the H & B T track between Mt Dallas and Everett. The Everett operated an excersion train until the Bedford branch was scrapped.

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Everett Station & Gift Car.   Everett Train on old H & B T track.

Two photos of several Ex B & O Wood Passenger cars that were stored on the old main line near Tatesville.The cars were burnt.

Remnants of the Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain Railroad.

On the morning of Monday,June 11 2001, I drove to Tatesville near Everett, Pa. to try to get a photo of the old H & B T bridge over the Raystown River. I found the old road that the fisherman use to access the river. The road passes under the end of the bridge with the river. It was a very peaceful place with no noise other then the wind and the birds.

My first view of the bridge

My first impression was of how beautiful the structure must have been when it was in use. It is a three span deck truss iron bridge which has the superstructure under the track bed. The piers are made of cut stone with only the upstream ends pointed. The pier that stands in the river shows a lot of mortar erosion between the stones on the upstream point. This was caused by so many years of spring high water run off. There are two trees of fair size growing out of the top of the pier up past the iron part of the bridge which if allowed to continue to grow,the root structure will seriously compromise the integrity of the pier. As the trees grow larger, the greater the chance of a high wind toppling the trees and the root structure doing significant damage to the pier.

I walked under the bridge and looked up through the structure to see if the rails were still there. I saw one tie still in place, a sentinel desperately holding the running rails and the center guard rail suspended in space.Through the ravages of time all the other ties rotted away and fell into the river.

Trees growing out of the top of the center pier hiding the next span. The bridge stands between two mountains and juts out of the folliage on a fill with a beautiful cut stone abutment,crosses the river on two center piers and disappears into the trees on the other side.

View of the second span with the third span lost in the trees.The bridge stands today as a silent monument to the men that worked to erect it so many years ago. This structure cries out to be protected as a National Historic Landmark as this the last surviving bridge of the Huntingdon & Broad Top that crosses the Raystown River. Although the railroad was torn up many years ago, this bridge has the benefit of still having the rails on it along with the leads on both ends. I believe that if the bridge was stabilized and saved, it would become a tourist attraction with the addition of a look-out point at one end.

A view of the bridge down river from the highway bridge. As I am a member of the National Railway Historical Society, and a fan of the history of the H & B T, I am wondering what would be needed to start the process of saving the bridge before more time takes its toll. I wouldat least like to see the two trees removed from the pier before the roots cause more damage. When I visited the location the leaves were out,I took several photo from ground level. Being there all alone was very nice. The air was rich in the fragrance of wild blossoms with only the trickle of water and the sounds of birds. In my mind, I thought that I heard the sound of a distant steam whistle but it was only wishful thinking.Now that I know how to get to the bridge,I would like to go back in the fall when the leaves are off the trees and try to shoot the whole bridge.

Huntingdon Broad Top highway crossing at Cypher, Pa. The cypher bridge is at the camera man's back. On the left at the tree trunk the cement base for the crossing mast can be seen. Photo taken summer 2004.

Huntingdon Broad Top bridge at Huntingdon, Pa. Photo looking toward Huntingdon. Photo taken summer 2004.

Huntingdon Broad Top bridge approach at Huntingdon, Pa. Photo looking toward Rt.22 bridge overpass. Photo taken summer 2004.

Huntingdon Broad Top track at Huntingdon, Pa. Photo looking toward Rt.22 bridge overpass. Photo taken summer 2004.

This bridge was on the Pennsylvania line between Bedford and Mt. Dallas.The bridge is now dismantled.

Some new H & B T photos from Frank Givler & Dave Seidel .

Number 32 on Turntable. Photo taken by Kaye Treese circa 1950            Number  30 4-4-0

Mixed train Engine # 37 at Huntingdon, Pa. Feb 14.1953. From the Dave Seidel Collection

Old Water Tank at Broad Top, Pa.

Hummel Station - 1950

Riddlesburg, Pa.  Photos from the Dave Seidel Collection.

Two photos of main street Riddlesburg, Pa. with station.

Dudley Car H & B T          General Store Riddlesburg, Pa. H & B T M R R Tracks.

C M Johnson Economy Store Entriken Pa. Photo by Judith Burket, February 24. 2002. The C. M. Johnson Economy Stores appearance today is much like it was when the H & B T operated past the front door. The tracks were on the opposite side of the road and crossed the road just north of the store. The crossing was protected by a warning bell on a post which was located just to the right of the photo.

I regret that some where in my notes, I lost the credits for several of the passes and some photo that were sent to me. If you recognize your donation, please E-mail me so I can give the proper credits where due.

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Two Pass From Dave Seidel's Collection.

Everett Train on bridge, Photo by Harley Burket

Everett Diesel # 56 at the Everett Station. Photo dates back to about April 1954

Photo extracted from a book titled The Railroads of Pennsylvania by Roger B. Saylor 1964

Print from Model railroader, April 1969, Page 46

Huntingdon Broad Top Railroad pass. From the Dave Seidel's Collection.

I want to thank David Seidel, Jim Eschenmann, Don Brumbaugh, and Kaye Treese for the use of their photos. Anyone looking at this page and has photos of the old H & B T and would like to post them on this site is welcome. I would like to find some station photos.

This site built and maintained by Harley Burket.                   waynestrains@aol.com

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This site updated December 17, 2006