Franklin Station: (Satellite)
Railyard: (Satellite)
Roundhouse: (Satellite)
The elevated tracks still exist, but the station is gone.
I remember recently writing about a station that had its platforms along curved tracks. It was the West Philadelphia Station. (Recently when I wrote these notes. I see it has set as a draft for over a month now.)
Robert Wanner posted two photos with the comment: "Central Railroad of New Jersey (Jersey Central Lines) Crossline Jersey City to Harrisburg, Pa. Train 193 departing covered platform #4 at the Reading, Pa. Outer Station in late 1940's behind Pacific #813, and again after diesels took over in May of 1952. Telltale ropes hanging for clearance at the end of the shedding. This Crossline service ended in 1964 and everything seen here has been removed thru the years. Photos by Robert Wanner."
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| Raymond Storey posted READING PA...OUTER STATION |
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| Robert Wanner posted Reading Company, Reading, Pa. Outer Station in 1952. Arrival of Train #194 from Harrisburg, Pa. about to enter Platform 3 on its evening run to Allentown and Jersey City. A Class T-1 headed freight train is waiting for clearance to head west. Looking from N. 5th Street overhead bridge. Photo by George W. Gerhart. |
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| Bob Ellis commented on Robert's post Outer Station In a earlier time |
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| History's Mirror posted In the early 1950s, Reading Company’s Outer Station in Reading, Pennsylvania, hummed with the rhythmic chaos of a railroad in its prime. From the vantage of Oley Street Tower, Paul Hartline’s lens captured a symphony of mid-century railroading: a westbound freight train curls to the right, while under the Lebanon Valley shed, a passenger train readies for its Harrisburg-bound journey. At center stage, a sleek G-3 class steam locomotive glides inbound, hauling a Pottsville/North passenger train into Platform #1’s shed on the Main Line side. Below, Baldwin VO660 switcher #61 chugs through Oley Street Yard, shuffling cars with diesel-era efficiency—a hint of the transition looming for steam’s dominance. Tracks fan out in all directions, a spiderweb of steel alive with purpose, as crews orchestrate the ballet of arrivals, departures, and yard work. This snapshot freezes a moment when Reading’s network pulsed as the lifeblood of industry and travel, connecting coal towns, cities, and markets across the Northeast. Hartline’s photo immortalizes the grit and grandeur of an era when steam and diesel coexisted, when towers like Oley Street still dictated movements with semaphore signals and human intuition. Today, the scene whispers of vanished infrastructure and the quieted thunder of an economy once propelled by rails—a testament to the fleeting zenith of American railroading. |
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| 1956 Reading Quad @ 24,000 |
The elevated tracks still exist, but the station is gone.
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| Street View, Aug 2019 |
A station a little further south has been remodelled into a brewpub. Why did RDG have stations so close to each other?
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| Street View, Oct 2018 |
I found the above station while looking for the freight house and Spruce Railyard.
Gregory D. Pawelski posted two photos with the comment: "Reading Company Spruce Street Yard and Freight House in Reading, Pa. - Then and Now"
Bob Gottschall: So the line is still dead?
Gregory D. Pawelski: I understand NS took the line OOS in February 2020 and the final move from Sealed Air was on January 24, 2020.
Gregory D. Pawelski also posted with the same comment.
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| Gregory commented on his second post Although, this is what it looked like. Aerial view of southwest Reading, Pa. c1925. (Library Company of Philadelphia) |
I could not find the above location on a satellite image. The station is too fancy on the inside to be a freight house.
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| Martita Polanco Cavarretta, Jun 2019 |
The Franklin Station is marked on the topo map along with the main station.
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| 1957 Reading Quad @ 24,000 |
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| Robert Wanner posted Reading Company, Reading, Pennsylvania in the 1930's. Just how huge was the Reading Company in Reading, Pa. in its hay day? This ariel view shows the extent of the facilities from Spring Street north to about Heister's Lane. Everything from North 6th Street on the right to North 9th Street to the left is trackage and complete facilities. Out of service locomotive on the bottom right and to the upper end of the Car Shop (center) and lack of smoke indicate this may be a Depression era photo. East Penn Hill Line trackage to the lower left. Robert Wanner shared Dennis DeBruler shared |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on his share We can still see the foundation of the outer wall, https://maps.app.goo.gl/qeeekvVajuUtF77fA. |
The above aerial is looking towards the South. This one is looking North.
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| Robert Wanner posted Excellent view of all the Reading Company facilities between North 6th on left and North 9th Street in center right north of the Reading Company YMCA in the lower left. Reading Company in its Hay days, as well as Northeast Reading as it appearing at that time. Can you picture it? Daylen Flight Photos about 1930-40's. |
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| Robert Wanner posted Reading Company, Reading, Pa. Pike Street. Mallet (2-8-8-0) locomotive drifts past heading to Oley Street Yard after pushing freight train up East Penn Hill Line to Blandon in early 1952. Last assignment for #1823 before final retirement a month later. South end Reading Car Shops in background with Hall Signals still in use at this location where the East Penn Branches off the Mainline to Pottsville. Photo by Robert Wanner. Bear Drury: Is that a true Mallet? Or just a simple articulated locomotive? Charlie Murphy: Bear Drury As-built with compound expansion would be a true Mallet. This is after conversion to single expansion. I guess technically just an articulated, but I believe they hung on to the Malley name regardless. |
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