By Justin Franz

ORBISONIA, Pa. — One of the special things about the East Broad Top is the sheer number of artifacts that have survived intact on site. It’s one of the reasons why its revival is so exciting for railroad preservationists. There are dozens of freight and passenger cars, six 2-8-2 steam locomotives, two unique gas motorcars, numerous buildings and structures, five cases of unexploded dynamite… 

Wait. What was the last one?

Last week, East Broad Top Foundation laborers who were working on stabilizing a historic building in the old EBT rail yard discovered five cases of unexploded dynamite estimated to be more than 100 years old. After evacuating the building, the railroad reached out to Specialty Professional Services Incorporated to do an in-depth analysis of the dynamite. The analysis found that the explosives were declared and posed no imminent danger to employees or the surrounding community. 

While the EBT Foundation is busying itself restoring much of the equipment at Orbisonia, it decided not to retain and restore the dynamite to operating condition and instead was having Specialty Professional Services Incorporated safely dispose of it.