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74-518: The Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines (PRSL) had its Broadway station near the site. The Philadelphia Rapid Transit Bridge Line opened on June 7, 1936, with an underground Broadway station as its Camden terminus. After Camden Terminal closed in 1953, Broadway was the Camden terminus of the PRSL. PRSL service to Camden ended in 1965. The Bridge Line was temporarily closed on December 28, 1968 for conversion into

148-809: A few years after the Penn Central. As a result, Conrail took over the P-RSL on April 1, 1976. Effective May 4, 1896, the Pennsylvania Railroad consolidated all of its railroads and several smaller properties in South Jersey into the West Jersey and Seashore Railroad . The WJ&S had lines coming from its Federal Street Terminal in Camden. The "Main Line" ran to Atlantic City and to other shore points via Winslow Junction , and its line via Woodbury to Millville . It

222-615: 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,

296-520: 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,

370-505: 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

444-476: Is served by several New Jersey Transit bus routes 313 , 315 , 316 , 317 , 400 , 401 , 402 , 403 , 404 , 405 , 406 , 407 , 408 , 409 , 410 , 412 , 413 , 418 , 419 , 450 , 451 , 452 , 453 , 457 and 551 . It is also served by Greyhound Lines and a South Jersey Transportation Authority shuttle to the Pureland Industrial Complex . The station is within walking distance of

518-483: Is the planned northern terminus of the Glassboro–Camden Line , an 18-mile (28.97 km) diesel multiple unit (DMU) light rail system projected for completion in 2028. In October 2021, NJ Transit announced plans to replace the facility with a new one, awarding a contract to conduct conceptual design, preliminary and final engineering and construction assistance services to HNTB . The transportation center

592-734: 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

666-766: 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,

740-471: The Delaware River , connecting Philadelphia and Camden. Car, truck, and bus usage increased as the state built roads in the 1920s and 30s next to the railroads going from Camden to the shore, cutting into profits. On March 4, 1931, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) ordered the two companies to join their southern New Jersey lines into one company. The Consolidation Agreement decreed that

814-524: 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

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888-499: 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

962-562: The PATCO Speedline . The Lindenwold–City Hall segment, including Broadway, reopened on January 4, 1969. The surface-level bus transfer center opened on May 17, 1989 as Camden Transportation Center and was renamed in 1994 for Walter Rand , a former New Jersey State Senator , who specialized in transportation issues while serving in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature . River Line service began on March 15, 2004. The station

1036-621: 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

1110-402: The South Jersey seashore were major seaside vacation destinations for Philadelphia area residents. The popularity of South Jersey's seashore was made possible by rail transport , which provided inexpensive and fast service between the Philadelphia area's population centers and shore points. There were two competing railroad companies connecting Camden and, by ferry , Philadelphia, with

1184-478: The South Jersey seashore. Competition was fierce and by its height in the 1920s competition between the West Jersey and Seashore Railroad (WJ&S), owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad , and the Atlantic City Railroad , owned by the Philadelphia and Reading Railway , was so intense that at one time both lines boasted some of the fastest trains in the world. Trains often raced one another so as to be

1258-562: 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

1332-496: 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

1406-651: 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

1480-506: 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

1554-611: 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

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1628-464: 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

1702-618: 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,

1776-583: The P70s that carried its name. They were leased from the WJ&;S. The passenger cars of the PRSL were painted Tuscan Red. This is a brick-colored shade of red. Philadelphia and Reading Railway 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

1850-408: The PRSL did not gain ownership of any ACRR-RDG locomotives. Additional locomotives were leased as needed from PRSL's parent companies, PRR and RDG. Beginning in the 1950s the PRSL purchased a rather modest fleet of its own diesel locomotives to replace its steam engines for passenger and freight services. When additional power was needed for the busy summer tourist season engines were borrowed from

1924-462: The PRSL was in need of more powerful and more reliable locomotives and turned to industry-leader EMD to supply 10 new second generation diesel electric locomotives. PRSL inherited the following from the WJ&S: Additional passenger cars were leased as needed from PRSL's parent companies, PRR and RDG, and sometimes from the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ). The PRSL did not own any of

1998-428: The PRSL was more apt to lease its motive power from either of its parent railroads as it completely lacked any heavy passenger locomotives (like 4-6-2 Pacifics ). As its parent railroads began to replace steam with diesel locomotives, the PRSL became a haven for steam locomotives during their final years of operation. The 0-6-0 type was assigned class B, and was used in switcher service. The 4-4-2 "Atlantic" type

2072-529: The Pennsylvania Railroad had two-thirds ownership, and the Reading Company had one-third ownership. Following World War II , the rise of automobile use, the completion of the Atlantic City Expressway , and growing popularity of air travel led to a reduction in rail use. Increased air travel also led some to abandon Atlantic City for more exotic vacation destinations, including Florida . By

2146-520: 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

2220-583: The Philadelphia and Reading Railway consolidated all of its railroads in Southern New Jersey into the Atlantic City Railroad (ACRR). The ACRR, a subsidiary of the Reading Company , had one line from its Kaighn's Point Terminal going to Winslow Junction with lines splitting off to Atlantic City, Ocean City , Wildwood , and Cape May. Branch lines included the Gloucester Branch to Grenloch, and

2294-563: 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

Walter Rand Transportation Center - Misplaced Pages Continue

2368-483: 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

2442-517: 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

2516-523: 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

2590-544: 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

2664-718: 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

2738-458: 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,

2812-530: 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,

2886-725: The Willamstown Branch from Willamstown Junction (on the Atlantic City Main) to Mullica Hill to the south, and Atco to the north. On July 15, 1933, The WJ&S was leased by the ACRR, and changed its name to Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines , as the Consolidation Agreement had decreed. The 21 steam locomotives owned by the PRSL were from the PRR subsidiary WJ&S. They all consisted of PRR classes. Before dieselization

2960-761: 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

3034-424: 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

Walter Rand Transportation Center - Misplaced Pages Continue

3108-529: 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

3182-569: 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

3256-522: 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

3330-850: 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

3404-724: 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

3478-471: 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

3552-528: The first to arrive at their destination. Racing was encouraged by the fact that in many areas, the two lines were only several hundred feet apart. On the Cape May lines, the trains were in sight of each other for 11 miles between Cape May Court House and Cape May . Over the last 5 miles into Cape May, the tracks were only 50 feet apart. On July 1, 1926, the Benjamin Franklin Bridge opened, spanning

3626-555: 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

3700-401: The following notable places: Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines The Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines was a railroad that operated in South Jersey in the 20th century. It was created in 1933 as a joint consolidation venture between two competing railroads in the region: the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Reading Company . In the early 20th century, Atlantic City and

3774-650: 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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3848-462: 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 ,

3922-552: 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

3996-431: The late 1960s, the surviving former Camden and Atlantic City Main Line was reduced to a commuter service funded by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) running trains of Budd RDC railcars operating from a small terminal at Lindenwold PATCO station and Atlantic City. While the P-RSL did not enter bankruptcy, its owners, the Penn Central , successor to the Pennsylvania, did. The Reading filed bankruptcy

4070-489: 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

4144-428: The locomotives were painted in black referred to as "True Black." By the late 1960s, the original Baldwin diesels were beginning to suffer reliability problems, which was exacerbated by the fact that Baldwin had gone out of business some 10 years before and could no longer provide spare parts or maintenance. With the new powerplant being constructed at Beesley's Point ready to consume several 90 car coal trains per week

4218-526: 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

4292-399: 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

4366-445: 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

4440-408: 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

4514-400: The parent corporations (usually the PRR) as was true previously with the steam locomotives. To further supplement its small fleet the PRSL made increasing use of run through power on certain freight trains to large customers that did not require classification at the PRSL's Pavonia yard. The first generation of PRSL diesel locomotives were all from the nearby Baldwin Locomotive Works , which

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4588-405: 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

4662-403: 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

4736-490: Was electrified with 650 volt DC third rail and overhead lines , with branches going to Salem , and Deep Water Point from Woodbury, and Bridgeton from Glassboro . While the WJ&S line via Woodbury was a pioneering example of railroad electrification, electric multiple unit (MU) service between Newfield and Atlantic City ended September 26, 1931. The PRSL only inherited the electrified Millville–Camden commuter rail service from WJ&S. Effective April 1, 1889,

4810-413: 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

4884-447: Was assigned class E. and was used in passenger service. The 4-6-0 "Ten-Wheeler" type was assigned class G. and was used in passenger service. The 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type was assigned class H, and was used in freight service. The 4-6-2 "Pacific" type was assigned class K. and was used in passenger service. Since the Consolidation Agreement had decreed that the PRR Mechanical Department would oversee equipment policy decisions,

4958-459: 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

5032-400: 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

5106-412: 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

5180-414: 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

5254-485: 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

5328-534: 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

5402-474: 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

5476-400: Was the vendor of choice for the parent PRR in both the steam and early diesel era. The PRSL's diesel locomotives were almost all painted in what is commonly referred to as Brunswick Green which was so dark it seemed almost black. The paint scheme was borrowed from its PRR parent and with the company's official name for this color being DGLE (Dark Green Locomotive Enamel). The undercarriage of

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