READING COMPANY MAINLINE
This page will follow the route of the original Reading mainline from Philadelphia to Reading and then north into the coalfields.
The local commuter line passenger service will be covered on another page soon, so this page will be largely beyond the immediate Philadelphia area.
The Reading had two different freight lines that lead to a direct connection with the Baltimore and Ohio in South Philadelphia. One line came down from West Trenton and New York, while the other followed the Schuykill River west to Reading, PA. This was the original Philadelphia and Reading main. It carried quite a bit of anthracite coal to the Philadelphia waterfront through the years, but by the 1970's much of that was long gone. It should be noted that even today the Reading and Northern still carries anthracite coal in trainloads to the old PRR ore dumpers in South Philadelphia.
We will begin with a shot of an eastbound freight heading along the Schuykill River enroute to the B & O connection.
Across the river from Norristown is the town of Bridgeport. Here is the freight station.
A classic Reading structure.
Just west of Bridgeport is the point where passenger trains crossed the river and joined the freight main heading west toward Reading. The tower at this junction is called Norris.
The passenger line is to the left and the freight line to Philly
is to the right, looking east. 1989
The Reading built a yard west of 'Norris' called Abrams. After many of the inner city yards were abandoned, Abrams began a main classification point.
3611 and others in 1976. 
An early Conrail pic of former 3607 at Abrams.
The first passenger station stop west of 'Norris' is Port Kennedy next to Valley Forge park.
A typical train with a pair of RDC cars stops enroute to Reading in 1976.
At Perkiomen Junction, near Oaks, PA, a branch north toward Allentown swung off.
A picture from 1985 shows the station is obviously privately owned.
Phoenixville has a large station which is now a restaurant.
West of Phoenixville the railroad tunneled through a hill to avoid a sharp bend in the river.
An eastbound train enters the single track for the tunnel while crossing the
Schuykill River. 1976
Royersford, PA. 1985
The next stop is Pottstown. A large stone station exists here and a local worked from the small yard.
1976 looking east. 
1506 sits out the rainy weekend in 1976.
Next stop is the town of Birdsboro. A line which crossed the river to by pass downtown Reading is here and also across the river from this station was another station and a line that headed south to Wilmington, Del.
Click here to go to the Wilmington and Northern Page
The bypass swings off to the right in front of the station, which is now long
gone.
'Bird" tower controlled movements at this junction at one time. This
tower does remain standing today !
Passenger trains from Philadelphia to Reading stopped at Franklin Street station located downtown. Another station in Reading was called Outer Station which was built for trains running from Harrisburg through to Allentown. Reading is basically at the crossroads of the Reading Company.
The two car train from Philadelphia meets the single car "Pottsville
Express". Franklin Street.
This service lasted until the early 1980's when Septa elected to eliminate all
non-electrified service. These trains were a great way to spend a sunny
Sunday, as you will see.
Reading was the center of the system and the main shops were located here. Although the local railroad police were not always accommodating to railfans, I did manage to get a number of good shots of old first generation engines sitting in the yard.
Click here to see the Reading shops pictures.
The 'RN' train ( Reading-Newberry Jct. ) was the main through freight north of Reading in the later days and carried a few assorted box cars in addition to the coal hoppers.
GP-40-2 3671 gets ready to head north on November 23, 1975.
3672 is also in the train. The Reading had 5 GP-40-2's used primarily on
the Johanna ore processing train. These units had special low speed
gearing to allow in motion loading. They all went to Conrail on C-day,
4-1-76.
North of Reading the first stop is Leesport. Today it is home to the excellent Reading Technical and Historical Society's collection of former Reading equipment. Well worth a visit!
In 1975, it was just business as usual. The 'Pottsville Express' makes its station stop.
The station is no longer there.
Train RN-16 seen above is following the Budd cars north tonight.
The next station stop is Hamburg.
Coming and going from the Budd car. Sadly, this station is gone now.
About one mile further north is the junction point of the two lines into anthracite country. This is Port Clinton. Today it is the home yard for the Reading and Northern. In the late 1970's, this was where the double track ended and the point where the line to Pottsville and the lines to Tamaqua, Mahanoy City and points north split.
In this view, looking north, the line to Pottsville goes to the left and the
other main to the right.
We will follow the Pottsville line first. Following the Reading main through the Schuykill River valley was a branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad. At several points the two lines crossed.
Here, near Auburn, the long abandoned PRR
line crosses over the Reading.
The next station stop is Auburn.
One of the larger towns in the area is Schuykill Haven. A beautiful station exists here and currently serves as the local police headquarters.
At Schukill Haven a line swung off to Cressona and Minersville while the
mainline continued north to Pottsville. First, lets finish our ride on the Budd
cars to Pottsville.
"MJ" tower is at the junction of the line to Palo Alto, Frackville and
Tamaqua.
The midday Sunday train laid over in Pottsville for about 90 minutes. Time
enough to get lunch and explore the town. Just across the river was a long
abandoned PRR yard. The tall coaling tower stood above the trees for
years. Is it still there?
In a photo dated 1962, this I believe was
the PRR Pottsville roundhouse. Photographer unknown.
On snowy February 1976 visit, 2780 waits out the weekend in Pottsville.
Before we continue north lets go over about a mile west to Cressona, PA.
February 1976
Cressona was a modest yard in the area for assembling hoppers brought in from the coal mines west of Pottsville.
Just north of Cressona is Minersville. The branch to Tremont and Good
Spring swings off to the left.
Tremont, PA
Now, lets go back to the line that headed off from 'MJ' tower.
This line went in an easterly direction through a valley and eventually went to Tamaqua. Just east of Pottsville is the very small town of Palo Alto. Here was a junction for the line north to Frackville. Frackville is at the top of the mountain and a yard was there for the Mahanoy planes. Cars would go down or up the planes to the other line from Mahanoy City to Ashland. Sounds confusing, doesn't it? I didn't build it, just trying to tell it as it was. I'm afraid I'm not 100% on this area, but if anyone can supply some feedback, please do so. Anyway.......
There was a full wye at Palo Alto. Given the number of towers in this
area, it must have been very busy at one time. Today, Frackville yard is
covered with stores and roads, so very little remains.
Way back at Port Clinton the direct line to Tamaqua via New Ringgold swung off. This line was used by all through trains to Catawissa, Mahanoy City, Ashland, Shamokin and Newberry Jct.
Tamaqua had a fair size yard, had an engine terminal for pushers used on the
Locust Summit grade and was an interchange point with the Lehigh and New
England.
The beautifully restored GP30 5513 and C630 5308 team up on an excursion at
Tamaqua in 1991.
This is East Mahanoy Jct. ( photos 1985 ). The main to Mahanoy City,
Ashland and Shamokin went straight, while the line via Catawissa swung off to
the right. The through freights to Newberry Jct. operated via the
Catawissa branch to avoid the steep grade to Locust Summit. Conrail abandoned
the Catawissa branch shortly after their takeover.
The station here was moved about 100 feet and was restored into a private
residence.
A photo dated 1965 shows the original station location and the brick water
tank. The picture was taken looking south. The track in the
foreground is the Catawissa branch. Note the direction in which the signal
is facing. A very sharp curve behind the photographer is the reason for
the unusual signal alignment. Photographer unknown.
More to come!!!