East Broad Top Railroad No. 17, delivered in 1918, was a near duplicate of 2-8-2 Mikado #16 Nick. Its distinguishing mark from its siblings was it had angled number boards, then later a lack of numberboards.
As with its siblings it was a primary locomotive during the last years of operation. It had the dubious honor of pulling the last two freight trains on the EBT. #17 had a headlight unique among the mikes. When converted to an electric headlight it received angled number markers. Sometime between August 1941 (AEBT 214) and 1950 (AEBT 60) the numberboards were removed completely leaving a smooth cylindrical headlight, unlike the others that still have their flat number boards. Also unusual, during the 1937-38 (EBT 166, AEBT 147) area it did not have the usual E. B. T. lettering on its tender.
#17 was the last steamer to be reactivated, and was the only one of the big mikes to have been restored, returning to service by 1968. It was usually held in reserve since its size and weight is harder on the track. It had appeared at most all spectaculars, but its superheaters were a frequent maintenance pain.
At the 1996 Fall spectacular it derailed its tender near the roundhouse causing a leak. Near the end of tourist operation #17 had shown a lot of rod noises, and some suspect its wheels have lost their round. In addition, it popped a firebox fuse during the 1995 Spectacular.
Out of service since October 2001, #17 is currently stored, and is sometimes on static display for special events.
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