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Friends of the East Broad Top has been working hard for seven years to preserve and restore the historic shops complex at Rockhill Furnace. In 2008 the fruit has begun to flower. This year two historic machines inside the shops have been returned to life. Tours of the historic shops will be provided this weekend as part of the EBT's annual Fall Spectacular and these two machines will be demonstrated. Also take a moment to visit our display at the Paint Shop (adjacent to the turntable) which details our many projects at the EBT.
This W. E. Shipley drill press resides in the Machine Shop of the East Broad Top Railroad in Rockhill Furnace, PA. It has probably been out of service since the railroad shutdown as a coal hauling railroad in 1956. That was the last time that the Coal boilers and the stationary steam engine that powered the tools in the shops were operated. The drill stands about eight feet tall. It has eight speeds and a Cincinnati Machine Tools power feed. Fortunately it was in very nice shape with little wear and no damage or abuse except for a few small drill craters in the table surface and a few chips out of the T-slots from normal use. It is using the original rejuvenated leather spindle belt relaced with new leather lace. It is being operated by a mobile power rig built by FEBT member Dave Richards, who also rehabilitated the machine. Being portable the rig has only a 1/4 HP motor so the machine is run in very slow speed. The rig is designed to step down the motors speed and convert the V belt drive to the leather flat belt drive that the machine used traditionally.
This 1906 William Sellers Co. locomotive wheel lathe resides in the Machine Shop of the East Broad Top Railroad in Rockhill Furnace, PA. It was last used more than twenty years ago to turn some wheel sets for the nearby Rockhill Trolley Museum. At that time it was believed to be broken. The lathe is one of the largest tools in the EBT shops, being about fifteen feet long and face plates five feet tall. It is equipped with three speed drive, dual tool posts and an auto tool advance mechanism. The "broken" part turned out to be broken tooth corners on one faceplate. Upon further investigation the gears on the lathe were found to still be fully serviceable. The lathe was restored to operation by FEBT volunteer and machinist Dave Richards, who also built the mobile power rig which was operating the machine. The portable rig has rcently upgraded from a 1/4 HP motor to a 7.5 HP motor to turn the lathe at full speed. The rig is designed to step down the motor's speed and convert the V belt drive to the leather flat belt drive that the machine used traditionally.
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