Friends of the EBT Fundraising Campaign

Classic Trains General Discussion
1

To mark this fourth year of our campaign, we will provide one of our full-color, authorized reproductions of this original John H. Coker painting to acknowledge each tax-deductible contribution of $50 or more which we receive before August 31, 2005. The resources we obtain during this campaign will be used for the following purposes:

  • To support our restoration program, which currently incorporates work at Robertsdale and Rockhill Furnace
  • To perform the repairs and improvements needed to set up our car restoration shop in the EBT paint shop building in Rockhill Furnace, where we can work on our historic EBT passenger cars and other equipment
  • To support further development of our museum and its collections
  • To retire debt we assumed for the first phase of our rehabilitation of the old Robertsdale post office and to “bring home” East Broad Top Railroad passenger cars 18 and 29

For more information about the goals of this campaign, we invite you to visit our Internet web site. All contributions (please make checks payable to Friends of the East Broad Top or FEBT) should be mailed to the following address:

Friends of the East Broad Top
Restoration Fund Treasurer
513 Shady Avenue, No. 12
Pittsburgh PA 15206

John H. Coker was a brakeman, fireman, and engineer on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad and the Durango & Silverton Railroad before becoming a full-time painter.

His work appears frequently on book jackets and the covers of railroad and railroad modeling magazines. He has been a member of Friends of the East Broad Top since 1995. We are also grateful to the East Broad Top Railroad for the cooperation extended to us for our use of reproductions of this painting as part of our fund-raising campaign.

Friends of the East Broad Top, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational and historical society dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the East Broad Top Railroad. Friends

2

I have worked with the FEBT Restoration Crew at Rockhill Furnace and I must say, the work we have accomplished so far is unbelievable. For several years before we came to agreement with the EBT Management, I visited regularly and was dismayed at the continuing deterioration of the entire property. After the first two years on the job, the difference in the railroad’s physical plant was showing that even a crew of determined volunteers can make a big difference. To quote our restoration director, Lee Rainey, “We went from hospice care of the railroad buildings to showing a true improvement.” We have them much more stable and even usable for their original purpose. There is much more work to be done. Money raised through this campaign buys us the materials and tools we need to do this very much needed work. Come to the railroad and see our progress. Join the FEBT and join us for a work session.