RAILWAY PRESERVATION IS CHALLENGING ENOUGH WITHOUT GETTING LAWYERS INVOLVED.

The Northeast's last narrow-gauge coal railroad, East Broad Top, ceased common carrier operations in 1956, but the owners never sold it for scrap, perhaps contemplating catering to tourists in the manner of Rio Grande's Silverton Branch.  The owning family ultimately conveyed the railroad to a foundation dedicated to preservation although with only a short stretch of track in excursion service.

At the north end of the railroad is an interchange with the former Pennsylvania Railroad complete with standard gauge track, and that section had a short line promoter interested.

A Huntingdon County judge this week heard arguments in a dispute over the prospective sale of the northernmost 4.7 miles of the 33-mile long East Broad Top Railroad -- the section connecting the EBT with the Norfolk Southern mainline at Mount Union.

Larry Salone's East Broad Top Railroad Preservation Association wants to sell that section of the line to Stephen Lane's Juniata and Aughwick Railroad LLC for $2 million -- a deal the East Broad Top Foundation, which owns the rest of the EBT, is willing to match, based on its right of first refusal, but only if the offer is "arms-length" and legitimate, according to the court proceedings.

Salone and Lane asked the court to let the sale go through, as the deadline for the foundation to exercise its right of first refusal has long passed and as the foundation may be simply trying to sabotage the deal, according to the pair; while the foundation maintains that its right of first refusal remains valid pending the court's determination that Lane's offer is legitimate and not a ploy to extort the foundation, according to testimony at the hearing.

Headquartered in Orbisonia and named a National Historic Landmark in 1964, the EBT "is the last surviving original narrow-gauge railroad east of the Rocky Mountains that remains in its original unaltered state," according to a "5th Year Report to Stakeholders" from the foundation.

The foundation wants to acquire the northern segment to complete its ownership from Robertsdale, in the Broad Top coalfields, to Mount Union, so the line is whole, and so that it can be used for economic development, according to the report.

It is his hope that the line will ultimately be one, "together, like a full body," said Joe Kovalchick, co-defendant with the foundation, whose father Nick bought the EBT in 1956 to scrap it, but decided instead to preserve it.

"My client wants to make this railroad whole," said Huntingdon attorney Lawrence Newton, who is representing Kovalchick and the foundation.

Lane has provided documents to the attorneys representing his side, showing that he has the funds through an investor to buy the northern end of the EBT, but he "wishes for the investor's name to remain anonymous, due to the hostile nature of the sale," according to a motion for declaratory judgment filed by Lane and Salone, the plaintiffs.

The dual-gauge section in question has been out of service since 1956, with trees growing through the tracks in places, and the Kovalchick family did sell the northern section, with a right of first refusal involving subsequent sales, to the Preservation Association.

As of Tuesday, it appears as though the preservation foundation will be able to keep that full body intact.

Huntingdon County Judge Ray A. Ghaner on Tuesday, Oct. 13, turned down a motion by the Juniata & Aughwick Railroad to reconsider his ruling declaring that the EBT Foundation, Inc., has the right to buy a disputed 4.7-mile segment of the historic narrow-gauge East Broad Top Railroad. [See “Judge rules that EBT Foundation can buy Mount Union, Pa., property,” Trains.com, Oct. 1, 2026.]

The judge’s action affirms the EBT Foundation’s right to buy the property from the East Broad Top Railroad Preservation Association and its president, Larry Salone of DuBois, Pa., blocking entrepreneur Stephen D. Lane from acquiring clear title to the land for his J&A, a proposed short line connecting with Norfolk Southern’s Pittsburgh Line.

J&A and EBTPA have 30 days to appeal the ruling.

The foundation on Oct. 7 matched J&A’s $2 million offer and exercised its right of first refusal to purchase the land. [See “EBT Foundation exercises right …,” Trains.com, Oct. 8, 2026.]

In a 12-page order, Ghaner agreed with the plaintiffs that his initial ruling lacked some specifics. He reaffirmed the right of the foundation to demand proof of the legitimacy of Lane’s offer before matching it, especially since it was substantially more than a previous foundation offer that fell through.

J&A claimed that the fact that Ghaner declined the foundation’s request for a public review of its financing in open court meant that the foundation’s time for exercising right of first refusal had expired. His review determined it was valid. “JARR misapprehends this Court’s prior findings,” Ghaner wrote. “To an extent, this is understandable, as the Court did not state its findings therein as clearly as it should have. … What it should have said is that it finds, with respect to the financial means only [judge’s emphasis], that JARR’s offer is in fact, a bona fide offer.” Still, he wrote, that was “only a component of [the] determination, not the whole of it,” and he reaffirmed his decision for the foundation.

Principals to the lawsuit declined further comment to Trains.  Both parties hope to revive and restore the entire railroad, presumably using the narrow gauge trackage for tourism.  The dual gauge at the north end does have potential for short line operation, that is, once somebody takes care of those trees.