66-643: The Main Line of the Reading Company was a railway line in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania . The 88-mile-long (142 km) main line ran from Philadelphia to Pottsville, Pennsylvania , following the Schuylkill River . Following the Reading Company's bankruptcy in the 1970s, the line was conveyed to Conrail . The physical line continues to exist but is no longer administered as a single unit. Conrail split
132-615: A freight branch from West Falls to Port Richmond on the Delaware River north of downtown Philadelphia opened. Port Richmond later became a very large coal terminal. On January 1, 1851, the Belmont Plane on the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, just west of the Reading's connection, was abandoned in favor of a new bypass, and the portion of the line east of it was sold to the Reading,
198-520: A machine shop. In 1902, the Reading Shops were materially expanded and overhauled into new property on the north side along the Reading yards and North 6th Street, facilitating the maintenance and construction of a greater locomotive and rolling stock fleet. The shops were completed four years later; with their imposing brick architecture, they were among the largest railroad shops in the US. Unlike most railroads,
264-505: A speed record. It ran the 55.5 miles in 43 minutes at an average speed of 77.4 mph. The 29.3 miles between Winslow Jct and Meadows Tower (outside of Atlantic City) were covered in 20 minutes at a speed of 87.9 mph. During the short segment between Egg Harbor and Brigantine Junction, the train was reported to have reached 115 mph. The Reading operated an extensive commuter network out of Reading Terminal in Philadelphia . In
330-676: The Central New England Railway and the Boston and Maine Railroad . Amid the turmoil of the Panic of 1893, Joseph Smith Harris was elected president. Under his leadership, the Reading Company was formed and the P&;R was absorbed into it on November 30. Also in 1893, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad built its most famous structure, Reading Terminal in Philadelphia, which served as the terminus for most of its Philadelphia-bound trains, and also
396-766: The Columbia Bridge and onto the city-owned City Railroad to a depot at the southeast corner of Broad and Cherry Streets in Center City Philadelphia . An extension northwest from Reading to Mount Carbon , also on the Schuylkill River, opened on January 13, 1842, allowing the railroad to compete with the Schuylkill Canal . At Mount Carbon, it connected with the earlier Mount Carbon Railroad , continuing through Pottsville to several mines, and would eventually be extended to Williamsport . On May 17, 1842,
462-524: The Delaware and Hudson Canal Company . The company's heavy investment in anthracite coal paid off quickly. By 1871, the Reading was the largest company in the world with $ 170,000,000 in market capitalization (equal to $ 4,323,666,667 today). It may have been the first conglomerate in the world. In 1879, the Reading gained control of the North Pennsylvania Railroad , which provided access to
528-511: The Great Depression curtailed plans to extend electrification up the main line. Electrification and multiple unit operation permitted more frequent service to Norristown. At the end of the 1970s service operated at 30 minute headways , compared to seven round-trips per day to Reading or Pottsville. When Amtrak was forming in 1970–1971, the Reading determined that its longer-distance trains qualified as commuter trains and stayed out of
594-499: The Lehigh Valley Railroad , Central Railroad of New Jersey , and the Boston and Maine Railroad . The Reading almost achieved its goal of becoming a trunk railroad, but the deal was scuttled by J. P. Morgan and other rail barons who did not want more competition in the northeastern railroad business. The Reading was relegated to being a regional railroad for the rest of its history. The Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road
660-665: The Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad at the Columbia Railroad Bridge . The line was extended north to Mount Carbon, on January 1, 1842, establishing the connection with the Mount Carbon Railroad. The P&R completed the Richmond Branch in 1842, extending from the main line at Schuylkill Falls to the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia, where the Reading had built a major port for handling coal. In 1851,
726-621: The Reading Railroad and logotyped as Reading Lines , the Reading Company was a railroad holding company for most of its existence, and a single railroad in its later years. It operated service as Reading Railway System and was a successor to the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company , founded in 1833. Until the decline in anthracite shipments from the Coal Region in Northeastern Pennsylvania following World War II , it
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#1732876942894792-562: The 1870s, it still was a very profitable and important railroad. From the turn of the 20th century to the outbreak of World War I, the Reading was among the most modern and efficient railroads. In keeping with the standards of much larger railroads, The Reading embarked on many improvement projects which typically were not attempted by smaller railroads. This included triple and quadruple tracking many of its major routes, improving signaling and track quality , as well as expanding system capacity and station facilities. The Reading invested in
858-496: The 2102 is in active tourist service with the Reading, Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad . The Reading built or bought numerous smaller 4-4-0s , 2-8-0s and switchers for its fleet. The Reading Company did not operate extensive long-distance passenger train service, but it did field several named trains, most famous of which was the streamlined Crusader , which connected Philadelphia and Jersey City, New Jersey . Other trains in
924-651: The British precedent, but in December 1871 the P&R replaced all the names with numbers. The Port Kennedy Railroad, a short branch to quarries at Port Kennedy , was leased in 1870. Also that year, the Reading leased the Pickering Valley Railroad , a branch running west from Phoenixville to Byers, Pennsylvania, which opened in 1871. On December 1, 1870, the Reading leased the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad , thereby gaining that company's route along
990-506: The C&;A for 24 years, they established the Philadelphia and Atlantic City Railway (P&AC) on March 24, 1876. A 3-foot-6-inch narrow gauge was selected because it would lower track laying and operating costs. Work began in April 1877, and the track work was completed in a remarkable 90 days. On July 7, 1877, the final spike was driven and the 54.67 miles (87.98 km) line was opened in time for
1056-611: The Central Railroad of New Jersey. The Reading eventually bought a majority of the CNJ's stock in 1901. On April 1, 1889, the Philadelphia and Reading Railway consolidated the Philadelphia and Atlantic City Railway, Williamstown & Delaware River Railroad, Glassboro Railroad , Camden, Gloucester and Mt. Ephraim Railway , and the Kaighn's Point Terminal Railroad in southern New Jersey into The Atlantic City Railroad . The Port Reading Railroad
1122-464: The First World War with the release of the Reading from government control, they decided to streamline their corporate structure. For twenty years the Reading Company, the holding company created for the P&R and the P&R Coal and Iron Company, only controlled the P&R after the sale of the P&R Coal and Iron Company. To simplify corporate structure, the P&R ceased operation in 1924 and
1188-618: The P&R main line on the west (south) bank of the river with the Manayunk/Norristown Line on the opposite side, allowing passenger service to Norristown and a bypass of the old main line, known as the West Side Freight line. The Ninth Street Branch —the main thoroughfare into Reading Terminal—was also improved. Between 1907 and 1914 the old double-track and street-level route was replaced by an elevated quadruple-track route that offered greater capacity and safety. In 1901,
1254-584: The Pennsylvania Railroad's United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company . At the New York end, it used the Central Railroad of New Jersey's Jersey City Terminal from which passengers could board ferries to Liberty Street Ferry Terminal , Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal , and West 23rd Street in Lower Manhattan . The Reading Terminal opened in Philadelphia in 1893. On May 29 the Reading leased
1320-563: The Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh branch, or PH&P to Shippensburg, Pennsylvania where trains connected with the Western Maryland Railroad to continue westward. This route became known as the Crossline, and the Reading started to pool locomotive power between its connecting railroads to provide a more seamless transfer of freight and passengers. Even though the Reading was never again to regain its powerful position of
1386-631: The Reading Company took over operating the railroad. Pottsville Line The Pottsville Line was a commuter rail service in the Delaware Valley , connecting Pottsville , Reading , and Pottstown with Philadelphia . It was the last vestige of passenger service on the former Reading main line . The service lasted into the SEPTA era and was discontinued in 1981. SEPTA continues to operate Manayunk/Norristown Line commuter trains between Philadelphia and Norristown. Trains originated at Pottsville , at
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#17328769428941452-483: The Reading Shops were able to fabricate locomotives, freight cars, and passenger cars in addition to regular overhauls and repairs. The locomotive department employed an average of 2,000 workers, featuring a machine shop containing 70 erecting pits, while the car department employed an additional 1,000. Other car shops were kept busy at Wayne Junction (Philadelphia), St. Clair/Pottsville, Tamaqua, Newberry Junction (Williamsport), and Rutherford, outside of Harrisburg. Most of
1518-594: The Reading acquired the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad's line into Philadelphia, including the Columbia Railroad Bridge. The section from the junction with the Richmond Branch, continuing across the Schuylkill, would later be called the City Branch. The line remained within the Reading system through multiple reorganizations until 1976, when it was one of many Reading lines conveyed to Conrail . Conrail split
1584-517: The Reading and ensured track rights over the Reading and Central New Jersey to Jersey City . To the north, the New York Short Line was completed in 1906, and was a cut-off for New York City-bound trains through freights and the Baltimore and Ohio's Royal Blue . The first locomotive and car repair shops were built in 1850 at Reading, Pennsylvania , consisting of two enclosed roundhouses and
1650-523: The Reading established a subsidiary, the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company , which set about buying anthracite coal mines throughout the Coal Region. This vertical expansion gave the P&R almost full control of the region's anthracite coal market, including both its mining and transport, allowing it to compete successfully with competitors such as the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company and
1716-544: The Reading gained a controlling interest in the Central Railroad of New Jersey, allowing the Reading to offer seamless, one-seat rides from Reading Terminal in Philadelphia to the Central New Jersey's Jersey City Communipaw Terminal by way of Bound Brook onto the Central New Jersey mainline. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was also looking for access to the New York City market, and in 1903 it gained control over
1782-718: The Reading looked at dropping the mail and in 1961 notified the government that it intended to stop mail service on its passenger trains. On July 1, 1963, the post office let them out of the contracts, which were valued at $ 2,137,000, equal to $ 21,267,796 today, and the railroad switched to Budd RDC self-propelled cars, instead of locomotive hauled passenger trains, to save money. Camden-Atlantic City speed: On July 20, 1904, regularly-scheduled train no. 25, running from Kaighn's Point in Camden, New Jersey to Atlantic City with Philadelphia and Reading Railway class P-4c 4-4-2 (Atlantic class cab over boiler) locomotive No.334 and 5 passenger cars, set
1848-458: The Reading's motive power fleet. The M1s were the first Reading locomotives to include a trailing truck, and the first engine with the cab behind the Wootten firebox . Engines with the name "lessor" in its title meant some steam power was owned by a second party and leased to the P&R. The G1s were the first Reading passenger locomotives with three-coupled driving wheels . Between 1945 and 1947,
1914-515: The Reading's passenger service on the line was SEPTA 's commuter service between Reading Terminal and Pottsville . SEPTA discontinued the service, with its other non-electrified routes, on July 1, 1981. Reading Company The Reading Company ( / ˈ r ɛ d ɪ ŋ / RED -ing ) was a Philadelphia -headquartered railroad that provided passenger and freight transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states from 1924 until its acquisition by Conrail in 1976. Commonly called
1980-530: The Schuylkill River Valley and extended westward and north along the Susquehanna River into the southern portion of the Coal Region. In Philadelphia, the Reading built Port Richmond , the self-proclaimed "largest privately-owned railroad tidewater terminal in the world", which burnished the P&R's bottom lines by allowing anthracite coal to be loaded onto ships and barges for export. In 1871,
2046-761: The burgeoning steel industry in the Lehigh Valley . The Reading further expanded its coal empire into New York City by gaining control of the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad in 1879, and building the Port Reading Branch in 1892 with a line from Port Reading Junction to Port Reading, New Jersey on the Arthur Kill . This allowed direct delivery of coal to industries to the Port of New York and New Jersey in North Jersey and New York City by rail and barge instead of
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2112-424: The city. After the militia and Coal and Iron Police went to retrieve a train carrying coal that was blocked in a railroad cut, they fired on rioters and protesters, killing at least 10 and wounding more than 40. After the Panic of 1893, and the failure of Archibald A. McLeod's efforts to turn the Reading into a major trunk line , the Reading was forced to reorganize under suspicions of monopoly . The Reading Company
2178-529: The company took 30 class I-10 2-8-0 locomotives and rebuilt them at the 6th Street facility into the modern T1 class 4-8-4 locomotives for 6 million dollars. This was a move to offset the fact that EMD FT diesel locomotives (the first choice of Reading management) were very hard to obtain, but the Reading needed faster, up-to-date modern power. The steamers never ran long enough to pay back this major investment, and had some major problems, but it did keep men employed. As of 2023, four examples have survived, and
2244-569: The company's headquarters. On July 22, 1877, after the crushing of strikes and unions by the Philadelphia and Reading Railway , and following in the path of the Great Railroad Strikes of 1877 , vandalism of the Reading's financial interests in Reading, Pennsylvania began. The subsidiary that owned mining interests in the area, the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company, not the government, called up militia and Coal and Iron Police to put down riots and protests that had broken out in
2310-527: The construction of new cut-offs, bypasses and connections, much like the Pennsylvania Railroad's low-grade lines and the Lackawanna Cut-off . The completion of the Reading belt line in 1902, a 7.2-mile westerly bypass of downtown Reading, alleviated the heavy rail congestion in the busy city. In Bridgeport, a new bridge was constructed over the Schuylkill River in 1903. The bridge connected
2376-797: The east bank of the Schuylkill from Philadelphia to Norristown , as well as its branch to Chestnut Hill. In 1873, the P&R extended its reach southward by leasing 10.2 miles of track from the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad . Dubbed the Philadelphia & Chester Branch, the line extended from the Gray's Ferry Bridge across the Schuylkill River in West Philadelphia to Ridley Creek in Ridley Park in Delaware County . The segment included 4.9 miles of double track and 16.7 miles of single track, including sidings and turnouts. The segment
2442-589: The end of the 1970s. Most trains ran with Budd Rail Diesel Cars ; SEPTA also had three EMD FP7 locomotives and a set of coaches. The Pottsville service faced several challenges: A change in Pennsylvania state law, effective at the start of 1981, significantly reduced the subsidy for SEPTA services outside the five-county area. SEPTA estimated the combined shortfall for the Bethlehem and Pottsville trains at $ 2 million. Berks and Schuylkill counties refused to subsidize
2508-724: The expanding role of the Reading as a bridge route. This included its important role on the Alphabet Route , from Boston and New York City to Chicago with traffic from the Lehigh Valley Railroad and Central Railroad of New Jersey entering the Reading System in Allentown , traveling over the East Penn Branch to Reading , where trains then traveled west over the Lebanon Valley Branch to Harrisburg and then onward over
2574-471: The first time to compete directly with the Pennsylvania Railroad , which became its major rival. In 1859, the Reading leased the Chester Valley Railroad, providing a branch from Bridgeport west to Downingtown . It had formerly been operated by the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad. A new Philadelphia terminal opened on December 24, 1859, at Broad and Callowhill Streets, north of
2640-555: The fleet included the Harrisburg Special (between Jersey City and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania ), King Coal (between Philadelphia and Shamokin, Pennsylvania ), North Penn (between Philadelphia and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania ), Queen of the Valley (between Jersey City and Harrisburg), Schuylkill (between Philadelphia and Pottsville, Pennsylvania ), and Wall Street (between Philadelphia and Jersey City). The Reading participated in
2706-650: The former Reading shops still stand today in non-railroad use. Larger steam locomotives were introduced to haul the increasing traffic, including the massive N1 class 2-8-8-2 (Chesapeake) Mallet , and Reading made one M1 class 2-8-2 freight hauler; Baldwin Locomotive Works built the rest. Big freight haulers were the massive K-1 2-10-2 locomotives; some were built in Reading from the Mallets; others were built by Baldwin. The G1 class 4-6-2 were passenger locomotives. These classes were an important break of tradition of
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2772-580: The joint operation of The Interstate Express with the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, with service between Philadelphia and Syracuse, New York . Reading also offered through passenger car service with the Lehigh Valley Railroad via their connection at Bethlehem . Like most railroads, the Reading had contracts with the U.S. Post Office to haul and sort mail en route. After World War II ,
2838-836: The late 1920s, most of the suburban system was electrified (the first lines electrified were the Ninth Street Branch , New Hope Branch as far as the Hatboro station and extended to Warminster station in 1974, the Bethlehem Branch as far as Lansdale , the Doylestown Branch , and the New York Branch to West Trenton ). Reading ordered 150 electric multiple units from Bethlehem Steel which were supplemented by twenty unpowered coach trailers converted from existing coaches and electrified services began on July 26, 1931. After
2904-456: The line in 1863 and consolidated the company in 1872. The P&R opened the section between Reading and Pottstown, Pennsylvania , on May 1, 1838. On July 16, the company extended the line further south to Bridgeport , across the Schuylkill River from Norristown and the northern terminus of the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad . The P&R completed the southern portion of its main line on December 5, 1839, when it connected with
2970-548: The line, along with some connecting track, its Philadelphia and Chester Branch; southbound trains reached it via the Junction Railroad , jointly controlled by PW&B, Reading, and PRR, and continued on to the connecting Chester and Delaware River Railroad. During 1875, four members of the Camden and Atlantic Railroad board of directors resigned to build a second railroad from Camden, New Jersey , to Atlantic City by way of Clementon . Led by Samuel Richards, an officer of
3036-779: The line, combining the section from Philadelphia to Reading with the Lebanon Valley Branch to form the Harrisburg Line . The section north of Reading was designated the Pottsville Line ; Conrail later sold most of the branch to the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad . The northern end of the line was in Pottsville . From there, it ran south, following the Schuylkill River , to Philadelphia . The Pennsylvania Railroad 's Schuylkill Branch ran parallel most of
3102-448: The line, combining the section from Philadelphia to Reading with the Lebanon Valley Branch to form the Harrisburg Line . The section north of Reading was designated the Pottsville Line ; Conrail later sold most of the branch to the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad . Aside from Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad excursion service, the former Reading main line hosts no scheduled passenger service. The last vestige of
3168-526: The longer trip by ships from Port Richmond around Cape May . Instead of broadening its rail network, the Reading invested its vast wealth in anthracite and its transportation in the mid-19th century. In 1890, however, Reading president Archibald A. McLeod concluded that expanding the company's rail network and becoming a trunk railroad would prove more lucrative than anthracite mining. The following year, in 1891, McLeod began attempting to seize control of neighboring railroads and successfully gained control of
3234-588: The main line at Norristown, Pennsylvania , using the Norristown Branch to reach the Reading Terminal . The southern end of the line was at East Falls, Philadelphia , at a wye meeting the City Branch and Richmond Branch. The oldest section of the eventual main line was the 1.25 miles (2.01 km) between Mount Carbon, Pennsylvania and Pottsville. The Mount Carbon Railroad completed this line in 1831. Philadelphia and Reading Railroad (P&R) leased
3300-399: The mines of the Coal Region in Northeastern Pennsylvania to Philadelphia . The original P&R mainline extended south from the mining town of Pottsville to Reading and then to Philadelphia. The right of way needed only gentle grading to follow the banks of the Schuylkill River for nearly all of the 93-mile (150-km) journey. From its founding in 1843, the original Reading mainline
3366-531: The northern end of the Reading main line and 93.6 miles (150.6 km) from the Reading Terminal in Philadelphia . Major intermediate stops included Reading , Pottstown , and Phoenixville . At Norristown , trains left the main line and crossed the Schuylkill River , joining the electrified Norristown Branch . Pottsville trains skipped most intermediate stops, stopping only at Norristown-De Kalb and North Broad Street before reaching Reading Terminal. The Reading's electrified territory ended at Norristown;
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#17328769428943432-445: The old one at Cherry Street. The Reading and Columbia Railroad was chartered in 1857 to build from Reading southwest to Columbia on the Susquehanna River . It opened in 1864, using the Lebanon Valley Railroad from Sinking Spring east to Reading. The Reading leased it in 1870. The early Philadelphia and Reading Railroad named all of its locomotives with names such as Winona or Jefferson , as did most American railroads following in
3498-408: The only company that continued using the old route. The Lebanon Valley Railroad was chartered in 1836 to build from Reading west to Harrisburg . Reading financed the construction of the Rutherford Yard to compete with the PRR's nearby Enola Yard . The Reading took it over and began construction in 1854, opening the line in 1856. This gave the Reading a route from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, for
3564-405: The remainder of the corporation was renamed Reading International . The Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road (P&R) was one of the first railroads in the United States. Along with the Little Schuylkill , a horse-drawn railroad in the Schuylkill River Valley, it formed the earliest components of what became the Reading Company. The P&R was constructed initially to haul anthracite coal from
3630-439: The service, and SEPTA initially planned to truncate service at Pottstown, the last station within the five-county area. Through operation to Philadelphia would be replaced by a rail shuttle to Norristown. A final attempt to preserve service, with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) providing subsidies and the Berks Area Reading Transportation Authority (BARTA) acting as operator, foundered when BARTA rejected
3696-403: The summer tourism season. However, on July 12, 1878, the P&AC Railway slipped into bankruptcy; on September 20, 1883, it was jointly acquired by the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) and the Philadelphia and Reading Railway for $ 1 million. The name was changed to Philadelphia and Atlantic City Railroad on December 4, 1883. The first major task was to convert all track to standard gauge, which
3762-413: The system. Public subsidy of the trains began in the late 1960s. Conrail replaced the Reading as the operator of the service after the latter's bankruptcy. SEPTA subsidized operations within its five-county area; practically speaking, no further than Pottstown. Federal and state subsidies made up the difference. The Pottsville line was one of four diesel routes that were part of the SEPTA network at
3828-483: The way and crossed the main line at several points. In Reading, Pennsylvania , it interchanged with the Lebanon Valley Branch with service west to Harrisburg and the East Pennsylvania Branch with service east to the Lehigh Valley . Another major interchange point was at Birdsboro, Pennsylvania , which featured a junction with the Pennsylvania's Schuylkill Branch and the Reading Belt Branch and Wilmington and Northern Branch . Most passenger services diverged from
3894-413: Was a double track line. The P&R became profitable almost immediately. Energy-dense coal, known as anthracite , had been replacing increasingly scarce wood as fuel in businesses and homes since the 1810s, and P&R-delivered coal was one of the first alternatives to the near monopoly held by Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company since the 1820s. The P&R bought or leased many of the railroads in
3960-459: Was chartered in 1890 and opened in 1892, running east from a junction from the New York main line near Bound Brook to the Port Reading on the Arthur Kill near Perth Amboy . The Lehigh Valley Railroad was leased on December 1, 1891, under the presidency of Archibald A. McLeod, but that lease was canceled on August 8, 1893, when the Reading went into receivership , an event associated with the Panic of 1893 . The Reading also relinquished control of
4026-400: Was chartered on April 4, 1833, to build a line along the Schuylkill River between Philadelphia and Reading . The portion from Reading to Norristown opened July 16, 1838, and the full line opened December 9, 1839. Its Philadelphia terminus was at the state-owned Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad (P&C) on the west side of the Schuylkill River from where it ran east on the P&C over
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#17328769428944092-412: Was completed on October 5, 1884. The Philadelphia and Reading Railway acquired full control on December 4, 1885. The Reading leased the North Pennsylvania Railroad on May 14, 1879. This gave it a line from Philadelphia north to Bethlehem , and also the valuable Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad, the descendant of the National Railway project, providing a route to New York City in direct competition with
4158-414: Was created to serve as a holding company for the Reading's rail and coal subsidiaries: the Philadelphia and Reading Railway, and the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company, respectively. However, in 1906, with the support of the Roosevelt Administration, the Hepburn Act was passed. This required all railroads to disinvest themselves of all mining properties and operations, and so the Reading Company
4224-485: Was forced to sell the P&R Coal and Iron Company. Whether an actual monopoly or not, the company's history as the Reading Railroad over a century ultimately became immortalized as a featured property on the original Monopoly game board. Even though moving and mining of coal was its primary business, the P&R eventually became more diversified through the development of many on-line industries, averaging almost five industries per mile of main line at one point, and
4290-424: Was one of the most prosperous corporations in the United States. Enactment of the federally -funded Interstate Highway System in 1956 led to competition from the modern trucking industry. They used the Interstates for short-distance transportation of goods, which compounded the company's competition for freight business, forcing it into bankruptcy in 1971. In 1976, its railroad operations merged into Conrail, and
4356-425: Was part of the original 1838 line of the PW&B, which in 1872 opened a new stretch of track further inland to serve more populated areas and reduce flooding. On July 1, 1873, the PW&B agreed to lease the freight rights to the P&R for "$ 350,000 payable at the time the lease was made and $ 1 a year thereafter" for a term of 999 years with the stipulation that no passenger trains would use it. The Reading dubbed
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