Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company Records
name: label: Creator
content: Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Co.
label: Names
content: Atlantic City Railroad
label: Names
content: Mine Hill & Schuylkill Haven Railroad
label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.).  Division of Transportation
label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Engineering and Industry
label: Names
content: Reading Belt Railroad
label: Names
content: Bines, William H.
label: Names
content: Boggs, George B.
label: Names
content: Buckholz, Charles W.
label: Names
content: Byers, Charles E.
label: Names
content: Chamberlain, E.C.
label: Names
content: Davis, N.M.
label: Names
content: Gowen, Franklin B.
label: Names
content: Jamison, Robert
label: Names
content: Keim, George DeB
label: Names
content: Lorenz, William
label: Names
content: Manning, Charles P.
label: Names
content: Nichols, Henry K.
label: Names
content: Rice, George
label: Names
content: Richardson, F.E.
label: Names
content: Royers, John H.
label: Names
content: Steele, J. Dutton
label: Names
content: Thompson, J.W.
label: Names
content: Whitney, E.S.
label: Names
content: Wilson, H.T.
label: Names
content: Wootten, John E.
label: Names
content: Yarington, T.O.
label: Names
content: Zacharias, H.C.
place: label: Place
content: Lackawanna County (Pa.)
label: Place
content: Luzerne County (Pa.)
label: Place
content: Cressona (Pa.)
label: Place
content: Harrisburg (Pa.)
label: Place
content: Norristown (Pa.)
label: Place
content: Philadelphia (Pa.)
label: Place
content: New Jersey
label: Place
content: Sumerton (Pa.)
label: Place
content: Cheltenham (Pa.)
label: Place
content: Sunbury (Pa.)
label: Place
content: Reading (Pa.)
label: Place
content: Trenton (N.J.)
label: Place
content: Schuylkill County (Pa.)
label: Place
content: Pennsylvania
topic: label: Topic
content: Railroad accidents
label: Topic
content: Railroad engineering
label: Topic
content: Railroads -- New Jersey
label: Topic
content: Railroads -- Buildings and structures
label: Topic
content: Coal mines and mining -- Pennsylvania
label: Topic
content: Coal -- Pennsylvania
label: Topic
content: Railroad companies -- Pennsylvania
label: Topic
content: Engineering
label: Topic
content: Engineers
label: Topic
content: Railroad engineers
label: Topic
content: Coal -- Transportation
label: Topic
content: Anthracite coal industry
label: Topic
content: Railroads -- Surveying
label: Topic
content: Railroad tracks
label: Topic
content: Railroads -- Maintenance and repair
label: Topic
content: Railroads -- Signalling
label: Topic
content: Transportation
label: Topic
content: Railroads -- Pennsylvania
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Collection donated by the Reading Company, Philadelphia, Pa., 1960s.
creator: label: Creator
content: Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Co.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company Records
abstract: label: Summary
content: Collection of engineering reports and correspondence from the Engineering Department of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company.  The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad was most used for the transportation of anthracite coal within Pennsylvania from 1833 through the early 1970s.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: This railroad was chartered in 1833 to provide low-cost transportation from the Schuylkill and Mahanoy anthracite coal fields in eastern Pennsylvania to Philadelphia. Main line from Philadelphia to Pottsville opened 1842. Reading expanded by acquiring other railroads, and by 1869 had monopoly of coal traffic from Schuylkill anthracite region.

Expansion accelerated when Franklin B. Gowen became president (1869) and attempted to dominate entire anthracite trade. Purchased Schuylkill Canal (1870) to eliminate competition for coal trade; then organized the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company in 1871 to purchase and operate coal mines; secured over 40 percent of U.S. anthracite reserves, but debt incurred led railroad to bankruptcy and receivership (1880). Gowen's reckless style drove the Reading into second receivership (1886), and he was forced to resign.

Gowen's Successor, Archibald A. McLeod, tried to increase company control over anthracite trade (1892-1893), then control of several New England railroads. The Reading went bankrupt again and McLeod was ousted. In a reorganization (1896), the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad and the Coal & Iron Company became properties of the Reading Company, a holding company. Later additions to system were infrequent and largely confined to short branches and improvements inalignment. Due to anti-trust proceedings, company divested mining subsidiary (1923) and merged wholly owned railroad companies into an operating company. Acquired Lehigh & Susquehanna Railroad 1963, went bankrupt in early 1970s, and conveyed portions of its lines to Conrail (1976). The reorganized Reading Company retains real estate and other non-rail holdings.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 18 Cubic feet (78 boxes, 2 map folders)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1860-1936
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Tracings transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Transportation (now Division of Work and Industry), June 12, 1986. Other material transferred from the Division of Engineering and Industry (now Division of Work and Industry), August 1986.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0208
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Right of way deeds
label: Type
content: Reports
label: Type
content: Letterpress copybooks
label: Type
content: Mechanical drawings
label: Type
content: Estimates
label: Type
content: Financial statements
label: Type
content: Circular letters
label: Type
content: Bills
label: Type
content: Accident reports
label: Type
content: Correspondence
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is divided into five series. 

Series 1: Letterpress Copybooks, 1866-1870

Series 2: Chief Engineer Standard Plans, 1904-1942			
 
Series 3: Construction Reports, 1901-1913	

Series 4: Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) Valuation of Railroads, 1913-1922

Series 5: Reports and Miscellaneous Papers, 1860-1936
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Cheryl Megerdigian, 1989
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Right of way deeds
label: Genre/Form
content: Reports
label: Genre/Form
content: Letterpress copybooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Mechanical drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Estimates
label: Genre/Form
content: Financial statements
label: Genre/Form
content: Circular letters
label: Genre/Form
content: Bills
label: Genre/Form
content: Accident reports
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence -- 1930-1950
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Primarily outgoing correspondence from the Engineering Department of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company, the remainder being engineering reports and other miscellaneous papers.

Series 1: Letterpress Copybooks consists of 219 volumes from various engineers, each with own index (1865-1892): were generated by Chief Engineer, Assistant Chief Engineer, various resident engineers, other lower-level engineers, and the Chief Road-Master. Bulk of copybooks created by William H. Bines and Henry K. Nichols during long careers with the Philadelphia & Reading. Other volumes contain letters and reports by Charles W. Buckholz, Charles E. Byers, William Lorenz, and others. Correspondence covers all aspects of the engineering operations of the railroad, much of it at highest levels, being addressed to the Presidents of the Reading. Also includes one letterbook from John E. Wooten (1865), Superintendent.

Series  2: Reports of Chief Engineer to Auditor, 1908-1910; structural design calculation notebooks, 1901-1935; right of way deeds, 1903; and tracings of assorted machine parts.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Hagley Museum & Library, Manuscripts & Archives Department, P.O. Box 3630, Wilmington, Delaware 19807.