If that is really how selling Parts of a Non-Profit are to go.

How has EBTPA got away with Selling off Parts in Mount Union?

0.40 Acres to Bricktown Senior Center for $16000.00
0.79 Acres to a neighbor(PRR spur to Tie Plant) for $1.00
0.50 Acres to Hardware store for $175000.00 (2021)
0.50 Acres to hardware store for $175000.00 (2023)
the Locomotive $300000.00?

Where did all this money go? it definitely did not go toward preserving anything during that time.

Paying down loans, grant splits, contractors, utilities, taxes, payroll if any, etc.

Procedures for dissolution or mergers of nonprofits are dictated by the IRS.

Words matter, nameless keyboard warrior.

Just because people are old, does that make them right?

https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/run ... orporation

And Pennsylvania Law - TITLE 15 CORPORATIONS AND UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATIONS; Part 2/Article B/Chapter 59
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/L ... /15/15.HTM

The plot thickens…

https://www.facebook.com/groups/AOTTORC ... 528141911/

Slightly off topic from the initial discussion but I do feel it’s relevant if you pay attention to the details of said post.

Not a great move by the EBTF here based on the optics. But I also have to wonder that, based on said details that such a move is politically motivated. Not against the Rockhill trolley museum but far more about other things (if you need a clue, check the Facebook comments of the release from Rockhill trolley museum.)

For those not on Facebook:

Rockhill Trolley Museum would like to extend a sincere apology to our valued visitors for an upcoming change to our operating schedule.
Beginning July 1, 2026, East Broad Top Railroad will be operating standard-gauge rail bikes on our trolley line Monday through Thursday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Friday through Sunday from 8:00 AM to 12:30 PM.

Due to the change being out of our control, we are required to limit trolley rides to Friday through Sunday with departures at: 12:45 PM, 2:00 PM, 3:15 PM, and 4:30 PM. Museum store hours are being finalized and will be announced as soon as they are updated.
Purchasing trolley tickets can still be done in our museum store or online at rockhilltrolley.org and are valid for unlimited rides on the date they are redeemed. Please note our tickets are no longer available through East Broad Top Railroad at the station or online.

We understand schedule changes can be disappointing, and we sincerely regret any inconveniences. Your continued support is greatly appreciated as our volunteers continue to provide a welcoming and educational visitor experience. We look forward to seeing you this season!

What's happened is that RTM never had a formal agreement with the Kovalchick Family to own the land they create dtheir museum on and also re-laid a postion of the former EBT Shade Gap Branch for operating trolleys on, in standard gauge.

Although they already operate narrow-gauged railbikes out of Roberstdale, I guess they feel the need to maximize their money and will be using the Standard Gauge railroad to operate standard-gauged railbikes on now too.

They operated narrow-gauge railbikes in Robertsdale, but the museum isn't open as often as the trains are running. Plus, visitor traffic at the regular EBT is much higher, and they can do combination tickets easier in Orbisonia. Finally, standard-gauge railbikes are more readily available than narrow-gauge ones, I believe.

Reviewing this, I think this looks a lot worse than it actually is.

On the Rockhill trolley website they have their listed days as Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (so the rail bikes operating on that line, theoretically, wouldn’t interfere with the trolleys anyway as they wouldn’t be operating).

For their June bookings, they have 5 rides per day on those 3 days.

For July, when the supposed rail bikes operations are to be undertaken, they have 4 rides on those 3 days. The 11:15 trip no longer exists, and the other trips are pushed back 15 minutes. And on so

I won’t make any broad claims because I’ll avoid slander… but i find that very interesting.

Would the Admins please Lock or Close this topic, the slander involved has gone far enough

"Inconvenient truths" =/= "slander."

For what it's worth, the gentleman behind the sale dispute is the one who shared the RTM's post to the AOTT Facebook group, and is being very active in comment threads about the topic...

Before this get too far (we've been here before)....
Slander is a form of defamation. No slander here as slander is verbal. You might be thinking of libel, the written form of defamation, but this discussion fails the first test: A false statement purporting to be fact. This discussion has a lot of musings and opinions, but no facts about the "sale" or participants other than the quotes reported and vetted by the media and other trusted sources. Thus, no libel.

I'm still wondering how you can "sell" a nonprofit organization. Can't be done without getting certain body parts caught in the IRS wringer. Reference my previous post. Not to mention that if the "sale" goes through somehow, they'd be operating a nonprofit as a for-profit business and will lose the nonprofit status. Somebody please 'splain that to me.

There have been plenty of precedents for "non-profits" operating a "for-profit" enterprise under its wing. There have been non-profit excursion/heritage operations that have set up subsidiaries to operate a for-profit, such as excursion lines having a freight-operating subsidiary separate from its excursion or preservation enterprises. One example was, and probably still is, the Wilmington & Western Railroad, which operated what little freight it had under a corporate entity separate from the Historic Red Clay Valley, Inc. that ran the line's steam excursions under the W&W banner. I believe there are other such operations to be found, but I can't remember who they are just now.

This in no way defends anything happening with the EBT situation, just hopefully explains how a non-profit can run a for-profit......

And slander/libel is actually quite hard to prove in the US (relative to, say, the UK) due to our commitment to "free speech". I personally see nothing wrong with this thread, and it certainly is an important topic for preservation.

You're correct but you missed my point. Lane cannot sell his nonprofit. He can dissolve and donate any proceeds, or merge it into another nonprofit including all assets, liabilities and cash, not profiting either way, or go bankrupt.

On the flip side, a for-profit company cannot buy or own a nonprofit. You can have seats on the BoD and provide funding via donations but that's about it.

The only way I see that this works is if Lane incorporates a nonprofit, purchases J&A railroad, EBTPA merges into the new nonprofit and a benefactor to the nonprofit donates to pay off the liabilities. Everything between the nonprofit and for-profit must remain at arms length - they're separate corporate entities and commingling of funds is not allowed.

Things remain speculative as we don't know how their deal is structured.