After three years of planning and fundraising, the Friends of the East Broad Top and the EBT Foundation broke ground April 5 for a new East Broad Top Railroad station in Saltillo, Pa., the current goal of track-reopening efforts by the two organizations. Once complete, the new structure will look almost identical to the original Saltillo station, which was constructed in 1892 and demolished in 2004 after nearly 50 years of disuse.
Before it was razed, volunteers from the Friends took detailed measurements and removed a number of interior details, including the ticket window. A preservation architect and FEBT member, John Bowie, then made a series of drawings for the Library of Congress’s Historic American Engineering Record.
Bowie returned to draw up plans for the new station, which will meet current building-code and accessibility requirements while matching the dimensions and appearance of the original. It will also be in the same location, at the intersection of Railroad Street and Route 655.
The contractor for the new station is Jeff Swope of J.L. Swope Construction. His crews will complete the station’s exterior and make the building weathertight, after which FEBT volunteers will complete the interior. G&H Anderson Excavating has done initial clearing and grading work at the site.
The Friends work closely with the EBT Foundation, Inc., which acquired the railroad in 2020. Since then, membership in the Friends has ballooned to over 2,200, and the organization has achieved one fundraising success after another. The current year’s fundraising campaign, announced in October 2024, has already raised over $300,000 — $30,000 above its goal — with six months left to go.