Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road: Difference between revisions

The Philadelphia & Reading Railroad (P&R) was one of the first railroads constructed in the United States, chartered in 1833. It opened in 1842 from Philadelphia along the Schuylkill River through Reading and Pottsville, Pennsylvania, having the distinction of being the first double track main line in the country. The purpose of the railroad was to carry anthracite from the mines in northeastern Pennsylvania's coal region to Philadelphia. Like many Eastern U.S. railroads, growth occurred by acquiring and leasing other roads. The P&R assisted construction of the Lebanon Valley Railroad from Reading to Harrisburg; in 1858 the Lebanon Valley was merged into the P&R. By 1869 the P&R had acquired the East Pennsylvania Railroad between Reading and Allentown, and in 1870 the P&R leased the Philadelphia, Germantown & Norristown Railroad (PG&N), which had built between 1831 and 1835 from Philadelphia to Germantown and along the east bank of the Schuylkill to Norristown.  

On its second attempt the railroad emerged from receivership, and Archibald A. McLeod became president on 1890. The P&R leased the CNJ (P&R had previously leased the CNJ between 1883 and 1887) and the Lehigh Valley Railroad (LV); the three railroads transported more than half of the country's mined coal at the time. The RDG supplemented its coal traffic with overhead traffic between the Western Maryland Railway at Shippensburg and connections at Allentown for New York and New England. To get a better grip on the New England coal market, the P&R acquired control of the Poughkeepsie Bridge route, the Boston & Maine, and the New York & New England. The P&R was reaching out for the Old Colony when it collapsed once again into receivership.