A century-old Philly steam-engine rides again at a historic railroad station

They call it Locomotive No. 16.

Built in Philly more than a century ago, at Baldwin Locomotive Works, then the largest producer of steam engines in the world, it was a workhorse, hauling iron and coal. Then diesel trains took over, and for decades the historic locomotive gathered dust in a rail yard.

But now it rides again, thanks to the East Broad Top Railroad Foundation in Huntingdon County. The nonprofit that operates the station has restored the historic train to its original splendor.

Starting in May, passengers can buy tickets to sit in one of Locomotive No. 16′s plush vintage cabooses or restored open-air coaches, as it rolls and whistles, huffs and chugs, along a nine-mile ride through the South Central Pennsylvania countryside.

There is no train ride like a steam-engine train ride, said Jonathan Smith, a spokesperson for East Broad Top, sounding like the true train enthusiast he is.

“It’s like a living breathing machine — that’s the only way to describe it,” he said. “It stimulates all the senses. You smell it. You feel the engine move. You get coal on your face. It is truly a sensory experience.

Locomotive 16 came to its final stop in 1956, when East Broad Top shuttered its rails. The historic railroad company had laid its track narrow — only three feet wide, and nearly two feet smaller than standard tracks — to navigate the sharp curves and steep hills of the mountainous south-central Pennsylvania terrain. It continued on as a tourist attraction, before closing in 2011. In 2020, the nonprofit reopened the historic railroad site, which has preserved much of its original equipment and trains.

The station and railroad, located in Rockhill, Huntingdon County, is a national landmark as the only surviving narrow-gauge railroad east of the Rocky Mountains.

Locomotive No. 16 was one of six narrow-gauge steam locomotives the company purchased from Baldwin between 1911 and 1920. None of the engines was in any condition to run, Smith said.

Restoring Locomotive 16 was a feat that took three years.

“They had to strip it down to its bare bones and put it back together again,” Smith said, adding that East Broad Top plans to restore the other trains in the fleet.

Locomotive No. 16 will be one of only a few steam engines running in the state, and the only steam engine operating on an original narrow gauge anywhere in the East Coast, according to Smith.

Passengers will notice that the trains are a little smaller than present-day ones, with smaller doors and seats. And the train will sway and rock a bit on the narrow tracks. But the real thrill — the one always captured in the movies — comes when the train sounds its arrival and departure and, with smoke belching out of its smokestack, chugs into station.

“Everybody loves a steam train whistle,” Smith said.

Tickets start at $20 for adults and $15 for children. Rockill is about a three-hour drive from Philadelphia. For more information, go to https://eastbroadtop.com/ride/train/