READING COMPANY
This page will be for photos in and around the Reading, PA area. Most were taken in the late 1970's. Reading was the central point of the Reading Company and their main locomotive and cars shops were located here. The large yard occupied a significant amount of real estate in the city of Reading. Today much of the yard is unused and most trains by pass the yard entirely via the cutoff and the Blandon low grade line north of town.
We will start at the most prominent structure in the terminal, that being the large concrete coaling tower.
By the late 1970's, most older Alco's and GP-7 units were retired from service and sitting in Reading. Several of the RS-3's went to a company in eastern Canada.
More retired units including a Baldwin switcher. 1974.
By early 1976, with Conrail almost a reality, all of the Alco's were stored due to a reduction in traffic.
FP7 903 waits out the weekend with a set of passenger coaches used during the
rush hour to Philadelphia. The RDC cars were used during the weekends.
A view from the street of the stored and out of service units. 11-23-75
At the north end of the yard, train RN-16 ( Reading-Newberry Jct, 16:00 hour departure ) gets ready to head north on November 23, 1975.
Return to the Reading-Philadelphia mainline page
Return to the Reading main page