You know, I'd pay money to the restoration to see those kinds of updates, just for the sake of rifling feathers

Ordinarily, I'd be as patient as the Pope regarding the steam engine at EBT, but some of us are signed up for charters on the Western Maryland Scenic in early February, and EBT was supposed to be an element of that trip. We're rapidly closing in on the 30-days-till point, when travel prices typically start to escalate. We're going to need to hear something pretty soon as folks are going to be up against the wall to commit on travel dates, rental cars, hotels, etc.

Why is it the EBT threads always go down a rabbit hole? A while ago I posted a photo of one of the EBT engines getting test fired with the simple question of "any news of how the test fire went?". That post turned into a 6 page circus of people ripping each other apart because someone posted a picture of a steam engine that was fired up in the middle of a town. Not sure if #16 is the engine in question here, but I suppose it is.

I also received private (as far as rypn goes) threats of harm for making the post among a slurry of other insults, offers of bribes to disclose the origin of the photo, and threats for not disclosing the origin of the photo. In several rail fan Facebook groups I found members of the shops (especially the CMO) trying to hunt down the origin themselves with intentionally vague answers on what'd they'd do should the find the photographer.

That type of behavior is why I stopped supporting EBT financially among every other regard. If they are going to act that way when people show interest and post their own photos, they don't deserve public support at all. Especially since they are a publicly funded 501c.

The main concern is obviously, as the EBTF themselves have said, fearing they may make promises they won’t be able to keep. Which I absolutely understand given a certain mallet locomotive in nearby Maryland had these sorts of promises that were not able to be kept. 2016 photo charters anyone? I remember.

But it seems to be a bit too secretive, as if information about #16 is supposed to be top secret. Some people like the idea obviously, some people think it’s a bit extra as they say, or that withholding really any information kinda limits excitement for its return.

I would agree to an extent. I agree with the idea of not keeping timelines and promises with dates you can’t keep without rushing the job, but I do think that some information should be given every now and again just to keep people interested.

A friend sent me Trains special issue on the East Broad Top. It is an amazing restoration of an entire railway. Oh man! The work involved.
I am hoping to be in the area next summer, so the EBT is definitely on the list of places to see.
Best of luck to all those involved with the project.

East Broad Top has been making a series of teaser posts on Facebook that hints at the #16 being close to ready. No clue how to upload/hotlink photos on here though. But on January 17th there was a photo of them moving the #16, sans tender, with the M-6. The #16 is fully painted, cab is on, boiler jacketing is on, looks pretty complete. Then January 24th, they posted a quick video of them operating the valve gear. Two days ago they posted a video of them illuminating the headlamp with the dynamo (being run on compressed air). And then the same day the posted a photo of them washing down the new boiler jacket.

This morning, at about 07:30 Eastern, they posted another tease--a 4 second clip of the shadow of 16 on the roundhouse door, under steam.

It seems that initial testing is imminent (likely today or tomorrow) and that this year's Winter Spectacular (Feb 18-19) more likely than not will be her debut.

They've definitely hinting at the debut of the #16 at the Winter Spectacular in some of the wording of their posts and replies. The photo of the #16 being moved around by M-6 had the caption of "What a spectacular winter evening in Rockhill Furnace" Now maybe that's reading into it a bit much, but then when someone said "Can't wait until the steam locomotives are up and running in the snow!", the EBT's reply was "If you can't wait, then don't wait. See you see soon."

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The turn around in the messaging has been quite dramatic. A great improvement.

That quite literally seems to be the case. All social media posts from the locals are deleted almost as soon as they're posted. From what I've been seeing, several locals (my family included) are unhappy with how the railroad's staff have been treating them, including one being told to clean up their yard because people do not like to look at eyesores. Almost all the big names that were crucial to keeping the place standing before purchase have left or been pushed out due to current management. The people running that railroad think they run and own the entire town of Orbisonia and are getting the locals steamed up in all the wrong ways.

I don’t know Orbisonia/RF to make a concerted valid judgement on this. But I would imagine it’s kind of a two way street.

Anything I’ve gotten from the EBT on social media in this regime has told me they very much want to control their own narrative, if you could call it that. Don’t let someone else break the stories when that’s what they want to do. And that sometimes can be a bit controlling or even obsessive, I certainly understand why people would be upset about that.

On the other hand, I don’t know the locals (or how many) who were upset or for what reasons. In a vacuum, a request made to clean garbage or junk from a yard doesn’t seem unreasonable to me, especially if you are indeed receiving plenty of visitors whom they want to give a good impression toward.

I won’t bother trying to think of things relating to the “previous maintenance people” bc I just don’t know much of anything about the potential politics regarding that.

I don’t think you need to be a Facebook member to see the video, but #16 is officially moving under steam for the first time in many many years… https://fb.watch/iqxzfNfupI/?mibextid=l066kq

In talking with locals, it sounds like a dose of humility and some collaboration would go a long way to rebuilding community at Orbisonia. PR is the most important aspect of any such business.

Now that No. 16 is running, how will this operation be sustainable? It's important to remember that steam was in full operation when the EBT shut their doors over a decade ago. What has changed? Obviously, new enthusiasm and big pocketbooks will make a difference, but for how long? I'd like to see the sustainability aspect that draws people to spend time and money at Orbisonia that lasts long after it's saviors are gone. There isn't much surrounding infrastructure for food, lodging, etc. The current ride isn't exactly the most scenic. It's a rural area and there isn't a lot of draw yet. Orbisonia and the EBT are a sacred place to most of us, but at the end of the day, it doesn't have the same recipe for success (yet) as Durango, Cass, Strasburg, Chama, etc. Therefore, it will be interesting to see their plans and how it unfolds.