map]]
The , usually called the '''Reading Railroad''', and officially known as the '''Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road''' and then the '''Philadelphia and Reading Railway''' until
1924 , operated in southeast
Pennsylvania and neighboring states. Until the decline in
Anthracite loadings in the
Coal Region after
World War II , it was one of the most prosperous corporations in the United States. However, the reduced coal traffic, coupled with
Highway competition and short hauls, forced it into bankruptcy in the
1970s . The Reading Company's railroad was merged into
Conrail in
1976 , but the corporation lasted into
2000 disposing of real estate holdings.
Since the railroad served
Atlantic City, New Jersey , ''Reading Railroad'' is also a property in the popular board game
Monopoly .
The was chartered
April 4 ,
1833 to build a line between its namesake cities,
Philadelphia and
Reading , alongside the
Schuylkill River . The part 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 on the west side of the
Schuylkill River , from which it ran east on the P&C over the
Columbia Bridge and onto the city-owned
City Railroad to a depot at the southeast corner of
Broad and
Cherry Street s.
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. On
May 17 of that year, 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, the only company that would continue using the old route.
The
Lebanon Valley Railroad was chartered in
1836 to build from
Reading west to
Harrisburg . 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 the first time competing directly with the
Pennsylvania Railroad , which would turn out to be their 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 Street s, north of 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 Springs east to Reading. The Reading leased it in
1870 .
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 , which opened in
1871 .
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The Reading leased the
North Pennsylvania Railroad on
May 14 ,
1879 . This gave it not only a line from Philadelphia north to
Bethlehem but the valuable
Delaware And Bound Brook Railroad , the descendant of the
National Railway project, giving it a route to
New York City in direct competition with the
Pennsylvania Railroad 's
United New Jersey Railroad And Canal Company . On the New York end it used the
Central Railroad Of New Jersey 's
Jersey City terminal.
map of the
Pennsylvania , Reading and
Lehigh Valley Railroads, soon after the Reading acquired the CNJ]]
On
May 29 ,
1883 the Reading leased the
Central Railroad Of New Jersey . The Reading eventually bought up a majority of the CNJ's stock as well.
The
Port Reading Railroad was chartered in
1890 and opened in
1892 , running east off a junction from the New York mainline near
Bound Brook to a new port -
Port Reading - on the
Arthur Kill near
Perth Amboy .
The
Lehigh Valley Railroad was leased on
December 1 ,
1891 , but that lease was cancelled on
August 8 ,
1893 .
The Reading Company was forced to file for bankruptcy protection in 1971. The bankruptcy was a result of dwindling coal shipping revenues and strict government regulations that denied railroads the ability to set competitive prices, required high taxes, and forced the railroads to continue to operate money-losing lines. To further complicate matters, the Reading was forced to continue paying its debts to the
Penn Central Railroad , however, Penn Central (also in bankruptcy at the time) was not required to pay its debts to the Reading Company.
On
April 1 ,
1976 the Reading Company sold its current railroad interests to the newly formed
Consolidated Railroad Corporation (Conrail), leaving it with 650
Real Estate assets, some coal properties, and 52 abandoned
Rights-of-way . It had sold 350 of the real estate tracts by the time it left bankruptcy in
1980 . In the early
1980s a
Los Angeles lawyer named James Cotter gained control of the corporation through his
Holding Company , the Craig Corporation, and liquidated the rest of its assets to finance his
Cinema chains in
Australia and
New Zealand . The company sold its last railroad-related asset, the
Reading Terminal Headhouse, in
1993 . In
1996 Cotter reorganized the company as
Reading Entertainment . The Craig Corporation merged in
2001 with Citadel Holding Corporation, another Cotter company, and became Reading International, Inc.
The presidents of the Reading were as follows:
