A link to a historic photo from The Huntington Daily News; interestingly, the link this is from indicates it was part of a story on the East Broad Top.

https://www.huntingdondailynews.com/new ... 2896d.html



Back to the Historical Society, and two images by Roger Holmes, made in 1979--darn, I wish sometimes these things wouldn't come out so large!

If this place is still standing, and its condition is stable, it could become a jewel for Orbisonia. Let's hope someone gets to do this!

Facebook page for the Orbisonia-Rockhill Furnace Historical Society. It does not appear to have a current general web page.

https://www.facebook.com/ORFHS

Speaking of places to stay in Orbisonia-Rockhill Furnace, we have to put in a plug for the Iron Rail Bed and Breakfast, which is next door to the station and across the street from the roundhouse.

I'm VERY pleasantly surprised to see that it has survived the shutdown, and would be poised to become a real destination for rail enthusiasts.

General Internet page:

http://ironrailbandb.com/

The place looks to be in considerably better condition than what I remember. Also, it seems to have been downsized. The period photos show it being four windows by six windows, while the modern photos show two windows by six.

I stayed at the Iron Rail B&B and was very pleased with it. It's a short half block behind the EBT depot. The place was very clean, nice room with Queen bed, good sized bathroom, good shower with plenty of good hot water and very reasonable price.

Since the railroad started coming back to life 2 additional B&B 's have opened in the area and as demand grows I'm sure there will be more.

And if Orbisonia/Rockhill is too laid back for you then only a half hour away is Huntington with the chain motels, taverns, all kinds of eateries etc.

Saw some photos today of # 16 out on a test run 2 days ago and she sure looks like she just came off the Baldwin builders line. SWEET !!!

Ross Rowland

Here is what the hotel looked like in 2018, from the facebook page J3a-614 linked to, still called the Eagle Hotel, looks like they enclosed the balcony. It's funny, it looks like it has a steel roof and that tarpaper siding that looks like bricks that was popular 70 years ago (my grandfather's garage had it), both of those might be the reason the thing has lasted as long as it has:

The thing that dooms "vintage" lodging like this is usually state regulations covering lodgings that overtake the building in construction. Such issues as fireproof construction, sprinklers, emergency exits, ADA access, etc. conspire to doom old hostelries to extinction, or conversion to other uses. I just checked out a few older places I used to stay at either with my family or on my old outings, and almost all of them are now gone, with one in New Jersey being shown by the Google Street View having its first floor completely gutted to the vertical columns. The old Motel 22 in Mapleton, once the closest that passed for a motel on Rt. 22 to the EBT and a place my friends and I have crashed at, is now the site of self-storage sheds.

Much as a few of us would probably immensely enjoy a "vintage hotel" stay in something like "Victorian Seaside Resort" or the "Wild West Saloon," the vast majority of parties staying at such a place will go ballistic at the lack of wi-fi, let alone not having a private bath (yes, I've stayed at such places), vintage bedsprings/frames, decades of past cigarette smoke still impregnated in the walls, old phones, etc. And, sad to say, the design of most of those places make them firetraps.

I've stayed in one hotel that markets its vintage appeal and construction in a "Wild West" town--it marketed its rooms with themes, it had a craft beer and cocktail bar off the lobby, and if you looked discretely, you could find the compromises that had been built in when renovated some years ago--sprinklers, more wiring, old-looking-but-modern tubs and plumbing, additional emergency escape routes, etc. Nearby there was a 1940s-vintage "motor lodge" constructed adobe-style, perfect for Route 66 or the like. Both places, as I understood it, had some "historic preservation" waivers in place.

Orbisonia/Rockhill doesn't have the rental "worker's lodges" of Cass. But maybe such a concept could spring anew for B&Bs there? Lots of "campgrounds" these days also have prefabricated camping cabins for rent, and they're also springing up as AirB&B rentals nationwide...............

That would be Huntingdon which is located along highway 22 west of Mount Union. Population is about 6,800 and it is a county seat of Huntingdon County.

It's a bit of a stretch to say that Huntingdon has ample hotels / restaurants; by my count it has one "modern" chain hotel and zero chain restaurants. I know lots of people (myself included) like to avoid chain restaurants but for people with young kids they can be nice because you know more or less what to expect. Small local places can be good but they can also be intimidating for people from out of town.

I tried to stay at the B&B in Rockhill mentioned earlier when I went last summer. You can't book online; phone only, and if it's full they just ignore your message and don't call back to let you know.

I remember stying at a hotel in Iowa in the early to mid 50s. Emergency fire escape was a heafty rope tied to the radiator.

I can remember going to Cass for a Jim Boyd sponsored Railfan Spring Spectacular in 1976, and no place to stay - ended up in Marlinton at a nightmare motel. That was, and still remains, after 30+ years on the road, the single worst place I've ever stayed in my life. I think it had a lot to do with the sewer line backup in the middle of the night that wasn't discovered until morning..... WAY before the Snowshoe resort was built.

Same is true in West Virginia, but before you pooh-pooh Ross take a look at Elkins. If ever there was a railroad wasteland for tourists, that was it, and although the new motel development ate a lot of the yard area, it's kinda nice to just walk over to the depot, too.

You may not be able to pull it off in Orbisonia but I'd bet on Mt. Union, on 22 and 522. But remember in Cass you have the 'privilege' of the state-owned owned company housing, adequate but no luxury by any description. However you look at EBT, it still pales by comparison to Cass, particularly years back.

When I was doing the master plan for the EBT I remember having to stay....somewhere...at a 'bed and breakfast' (no breakfast) recommended by Stan with no one anywhere near, which didn't help when the car battery died and I had to walk out to civilization in the snow and hitch a ride to the railroad that morning. Even AAA couldn't find the place. Everybody that's ever tangled with the EBT has a story.

As an experiment, I went at exploring lodging in the Orby/Rocky region exactly as I would were I going someplace else I don't know--AOS in Ohio, Chama, Durango, Blowing Rock, etc. I looked up "the usual" websites--Expedia, Hotels.com, AirBnb, plus a few other tricks I have up my sleeve.

Huntingdon has two chain-affiliated motels--Fairfield and Comfort--two independent motels, and a nice "mansion" B&B and another B&B, plus there are other places from cabins to guesthouses to condos listed, seemingly targeting the hunting/fishing audiences of nearby Raystown Lake and game lands. B&B's are no longer the "cheap" option they traditionally used to be, but they at least offer a range of options besides sleeping in your car. As for food, I count six of the usual "national" chains along US 22, plus a BBQ place, a regional steakhouse chain outlet, a "Chinese buffet," a local pizza chain, a couple independent restaurants/cafes, AND A BREWPUB.

I figured out somewhat to my shock (but understandable since I always came the other way) that "Motel Central," Breezewood, famed for once being a total cluster of competing motels, was only 25 miles/45 minutes away--almost as close as Huntingdon. Unfortunately, the former major cluster of motels is down to about five or so plus a vintage 1788 inn.

The big alarm I can advise anyone of is that every autumn football game at Penn State creates tremendous demand for lodging anywhere in "central Pennsylvania." During any game weekend, lodging and campsites would be overwhelmed as far away as Williamsport, Altoona, Sunbury, Bedford, DuBois, and all places in between, even with "special event" price increases. I know one year I overheard fans at a Fall Spectacular at Orby grousing at the high prices and lack of availability of lodging. A couple were striving to suggest the EBT Fall Spectacular was THE event spurring price increases, and it fell to me, a relative "local" who had friends who were motel managers, to explain to them the concurrent Penn State game an hour and ten minutes' drive (plus any number of traffic jams there) away. Indeed, I had a friend who used to put up his fellow game-attending friends in his claustrophobic mobile home, an hour and a half away from the stadium, on a regular basis. Now, how bad the crowds are since Joe Paterno's passing, I can't say, but........

A quick search just turned up a bunch of convenient Airbnb's around, including one in a caboose.

I'm surprised THAT was available the upcoming weekend of the winter spectacular.

I have stayed at the Comfort Inn in Huntington several times over the years and it has been fine. You will hear the trains coming through as it is close to the old PRR mainline. As someone else has mentioned, everything gets booked up on the weekends when the Penn State football team is playing at home. There used to be a great restaurant in downtown Huntington, Mimi's Martini Bar. Unfortunately, the restaurant has changed hands and the quality left with Mimi.

My favourite place to stay years ago was Motel 22. I read someone's post that it is now a storage place. Perhaps it could be converted back to a motel if not oo far gone.

More local home owners may decide to try B&B for new travellers coming to EBT

Perhaps a joint effort with EBT to use caboose(s) standard gauge OK. Change trucks as per EBT practice for delivery. Could even be a package deal to ride in caboose for roundtrip and then spotted for the night as B&B RR style (make your own breakfast). Thinking outside the box some say. I say throw out the box!