Main Line (Reading Company)

The northern end of the line was in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. From there it ran due south, following the Schuylkill River, to Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Railroad's Schuylkill Branch ran parallel most of the way and crossed the main line at several points. In Reading, Pennsylvania, it interchanged with the Lebanon Valley Branch with service west to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and the East Pennsylvania Branch with service east to the Lehigh Valley. Another major interchange point was at Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, which featured a junction with the Pennsylvania's Schuylkill Branch and the Reading Belt Branch and Wilmington and Northern Branch of the Reading. Most passenger services diverged from the main line at Norristown, Pennsylvania, using the Norristown Branch to reach the Reading Terminal. The southern end of the line was at East Falls, Philadelphia, at a wye meeting the City Branch and Richmond Branch.[2]

The oldest section of the eventual main line was the 1.25 miles (2.01 km) between Mount Carbon, Pennsylvania and Pottsville. The Mount Carbon Railroad completed this line in 1831.[3] Philadelphia and Reading Railroad (P&R) leased the line in 1863 and consolidated the company in 1872.[4]

The P&R opened the section between Reading and Pottstown, Pennsylvania, on May 1, 1838.[5] On July 16, the company extended the line further south to Bridgeport, across the Schuylkill River from Norristown and the northern terminus of the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad.[6] The P&R completed the southern portion of its main line on December 5, 1839, when it connected with the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad at the Columbia Railroad Bridge.[7][8] The line was extended north to Mount Carbon, on January 1, 1842, establishing the connection with the Mount Carbon Railroad.[9]

The P&R completed the Richmond Branch in 1842, extending from the main line at Schuylkill Falls to Port Richmond, Philadelphia, where the Reading had built a major port for handling coal. A further change came in 1851 when the Reading acquired the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad's line into Philadelphia, including the Columbia Railroad Bridge.[10] The section from the junction with the Richmond Branch, continuing across the Schuylkill, would later be called the City Branch.[2]

The line remained within the Reading system through multiple reorganizations until 1976, when it was one of many Reading lines conveyed to Conrail.[11] Conrail split the line, combining the section from Philadelphia to Reading with the Lebanon Valley Branch to form the Harrisburg Line. The section north of Reading was designated the Pottsville Line; Conrail later sold most of the branch to the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad.

Aside from Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad excursion service, the former Reading main line hosts no scheduled passenger service. The last vestige of the Reading's passenger service on the line was SEPTA's commuter service between Reading Terminal and Pottsville. SEPTA discontinued the service, with its other non-electrified routes, on July 1, 1981.[12]

• Churella, Albert J. (2013). The Pennsylvania Railroad: Volume I, Building an Empire, 1846–1917. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-4348-2. OCLC 759594295.
• Gerstner, Franz Anton Ritter von (1997). Gamst, Frederick Charles (ed.). Early American railroads : Franz Anton Ritter von Gerstner's 'Die innern communicationen' (1842-1843). Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-2423-4.
• Holton, James L. (1989). The Reading Railroad: History of a Coal Age Empire : The Nineteenth Century. Vol. 1. Laury's Station, PA: Garrigues House. ISBN 0-9620844-1-7.
• Interstate Commerce Commission (1931). "Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States. Valuation reports". U.S. Government Printing Office.
• United States Railway Association (1975). Final system plan for restructuring railroads in the Northeast and Midwest region pursuant to the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973 (PDF). Vol. 1. Washington, DC. OCLC 2889148.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Williams, Gerry (1998). Trains, Trolleys & Transit: A Guide to Philadelphia Area Rail Transit. Piscataway, New Jersey: Railpace Company. ISBN 978-0-9621541-7-1.