The museum complex consists of two historic buildings on the west side of Robertsdale's Main Street (Pennsylvania Highway 913) at the crossing of the tracks of the East Broad Top Railroad. These structures are two of the four "company square" buildings erected by the Rockhill Iron and Coal Company (RI&C) and the East Broad Top Railroad in the center of Robertsdale. The FEBT museum site includes the EBT Depot and the Old Post Office. The other two buildings are the stone Company Store (razed in 1997) and the Company Office Building, located on the east side of Main Street.
In its operation of the Robertsdale museum complex, FEBT has four goals, all directly related to its organizational mission:
At present the FEBT museum complex is operated by staff volunteers on weekends from June through mid-October; hours are 10 AM to 5 PM Saturdays and 1 to 5 PM Sundays.
Also in Robertsdale is the Broad Top Coal Miners Museum. A short walk from the FEBT museum, The Coal Miners Museum presents a large exhibit on the coal mining heritage of the Broad Top Mountain coal field. The museum is housed in the restored Reality Theater.
The FEBT museum is about 1/2 hour from the operating portion of the EBT.
For questions or Comments about the FEBT Museum or collection including artifact donations:
From the EBT/Rockhill Furnace: Follow PA 994 west (away from Orbisonia) approximately 14 miles (through Three Springs and over Sideling and Wrays Hills) to Cooks, where a sign marks the left turn to Robertsdale. Make this left turn on PA legislative route 3019 and proceed 2.3 miles to the stop sign at PA 913. Turn left on PA 913 (Main Street) and look for the EBT tracks! The FEBT Museum will be on your right.
From Huntingdon: Follow PA 26 south approximately 15 miles to the junction with PA 994 at Entriken (marked by flashing traffic lights). Turn left and follow PA 994 east approximately 13 miles to Cooks, where a sign marks the right turn to Robertsdale. Turn right on PA legislative route 3019 and proceed 2.3 miles to the stop sign at PA 913. Turn left on PA 913 (Main Street) and look for the EBT tracks! The FEBT Museum will be on your right.
From Breezewood: Follow US 30 east approximately 5 miles to its junction with PA 915 north. Turn left and proceed on PA 915 north approximately 5 miles to Wells Valley Road. Turn right on Wells Valley Road and continue approximately 5 miles to the stop sign at New Grenada, its junction with PA 913. Make the sharp left turn on PA 913 west and continue approximately 3 miles up Broad Top Mountain to the stop sign in Robertsdale. Continue to the right on PA 913 west (Main Street), crossing Trough Creek. The FEBT Museum will be on your left.
From Fort Littleton: From the I-76/Pennsylvania Turnpike exit, follow US 522 south approximately 1 mile to its junction with PA 475 north. Continue approximately 4 miles on PA 475 north to Hustontown. Instead of turning right to follow PA 475, continue straight to PA 655 north, following the "to Saltillo" signs. Continue on PA 655 north approximately 7 miles to its Y-junction with PA 913 at Waterfall. Bear left and follow PA 913 west approximately 4.5 miles (through New Grenada) and up Broad Top Mountain to the stop sign in Robertsdale. Continue to the right on PA 913 west (Main Street), crossing Trough Creek. The FEBT Museum will be on your left.
The other structure in the Roberstsdale musem complex is the East Broad Top Railroad Depot. Erected circa 1917, it is a single-story building also constructed of cast concrete block made to resemble stone. The basic structure is rectangular, measuring approximately 26 feet wide and 44.5 feet long. An operator's bay (40 inches wide and 13.75 feet long) projects from the south wall, facing the adjacent EBT tracks. Lintels and sills are cast concrete, and original doors and windows are wood. The shallow wood-frame hip roof is covered with metal roofing and extends over the exterior walls to provide a wide protective eave around the entire station. The station office housed a scale indicator for the track scales immediately outside, upon which hopper cars loaded with coal were weighed before they made the trip to Mount Union. After railroad operations ceased in 1956, the scale mechanism was removed and the scale pit filled in. In subsequent years, the building saw intermittant use as a general store; during this time gasoline pumps were installed in the concrete platform at the east end of the station.
In 1987 FEBT learned that these two buildings were available for sale or lease as part of another property transfer between the owners of the EBT and a third party. With funds donated by an anonymous benefactor, FEBT purchased the Old Post Office in fee simple and negotiated a 50-year lease on the EBT Depot. During the next several years volunteer work crews began rehabilitating the two structures. The Depot has been partially restored, and in 1991 it was opened to the public (on a limited basis) as the temporary location of FEBT museum exhibits, museum shop, and visitor information center. During the past several years FEBT has operated the Depot facility on Saturdays Sundays from Memorial Day to mid-October. Substantial rehabilitation of the Post Office was undertaken beginning in 1996, using funds donated by FEBT members and grants and loans awarded to FEBT by the Sounthwestern Pennsylvania Heritage Preservation Commission and the Potomac Chapter, National Railway Historical Society. During this phase of work on the Old Post Office, extensive repairs were made to the roof, gutters and drainpipes, chimney, second-floor, first-floor, crawl-space, balcony, stairs, exterior and interior walls, and doors and windows. Significant drainage improvements were made both within the building and to the site to prevent surface and underground water from entering the structure. An electrical service connection, rough plumbing, insulation, and independent heating and air conditioning systems for each floor were also installed. All work conforms to the Secretary of Interior's standards for rehabilitation of historic buildings, and all work was reviewed and approved in advance by the Pennsylvania Bureau for Historic Preservation. In 1998 FEBT member-volunteers continued work on exterior repairs and repainting, while some additional contracted work including the installation of an interior ventilation duct and finishing and painting the new wood first floor was completed in late 1998 and early 1999.
When development of the museum complex is complete, it will consist of the restored EBT Depot and museum exhibits, visitor information center, and museum shop located on the ground floor of the rehabilitated Old Post Office. EBT artifacts acquired by FEBT or loaned by FEBT members will be exhibited, together with historic photographs and other interpretive displays. The focus of the museum will be the employees of the railroad and their lives and work. FEBT member volunteers and paid museum staff will provide interpretive guided walks around the Robertsdale "company square" to museum visitors, distribute visitor information concerning Robertsdale and the EBT, and supervise the museum shop. A portion of the upper floor space in the rehabilitated Post Office will be used for safe storage and use of FEBT archival and research collections related to the EBT. Access to this material, now stored in scattered locations, will be provided by appointment to FEBT members and qualified researchers.
