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1972 Reading Company Freight Schedule

Written by Conductor


Reading freight led by a pair of GP-30s heads west on through Wyomissing Junction.  Dale Woodland Photo.

By 1972, the Reading was in bankruptcy, and the Penn Central merger had dramatically altered freight operations through loss of a significant portion of the road's interchange traffic.  Nevertheless, the Reading soldiered on, continuing to strive to serve its customers and work with "friendly" roads like the Western Maryland and the B&O, who had a significant amount of trackage rights over the Reading, which by this time was somewhat of a ward of the Chessie System.

The information presented here is transcribed directly from the official Reading Company freight schedule effective September, 1972. This may be useful as a guide to planning freight operations on your layout to decide which trains are most appropriate to model. The online edition of the 1954 Reading Company Freight Shippers Guide can help you determine an appropriate mix of freight traffic by providing information about the specific industries served at the destinations listed in the schedule.

The freight train symbols listed below generally indicate the abbreviation of the origin and destination of each train, or the initial and final terminal. The numbers following the symbol letters indicate the departure time of the train, expressed in military time (24-hour clock) to the nearest hour. For example, train NH-17 would be Newberry Junction to Harrisburg (Rutherford Yard), departing at 1700 (5:00 pm).

Here is a key to the symbols for the origin and destination terminals, though some letters may have multiple designations (e.g., "E" for "Erie-Lackawanna," i.e. Rupert):

A Allentown, PA B Bethlehem, PA
C Lancaster, PA D Darby Creek, PA (Chester)
E Eastside, PA (Philadelphia) G Gettysburg, PA
H Rutherford, PA (Harrisburg) J Jersey City, NJ
K Haucks, PA L Lurgan, PA
M Manville, NJ N Newberry Junction, PA
O Maybrook, NY P Philadelphia, PA
R Reading, PA S Port Reading, NJ
T Tamaqua, PA V St. Clair, PA (Pottsville)
W Wilmington, DE X Abrams, PA (Bridgeport/Norristown)
AJ AlphaJet CSD Central States Dispatch

A consolidated system map showing principal connections and terminals on the Reading system can be found here. The image will open in a new window.

Click on a a train symbol in the table below to bring up details regarding that train's schedule, classification and connections. When viewing a schedule, the connecting train information is also linked; selecting those links will open the connecting train's schedule. Clicking on one of the LOCAL links at the bottom of the table will bring up a schedule for local freight service on either the Philadelphia or Reading Division. 

XB-23

Abrams - Bethlehem

XE-11

Abrams - Darby Creek

XM-6

Abrams - Manville

NE-87

Allentown - Park Jct.

AH-2

Allentown - Rutherford

AH-9

Allentown - Rutherford

AP-15

Allentown - Port Richmond (Phila.)

EP-24

Rupert (EL) - Port Richmond

NETS-W

Rutherford - Hagerstown

BX-3

Bethlehem - Abrams

BH-15

Bethlehem - Rutherford

DP-18

Darby Creek - Port Richmond (Phila.)

ES-3

Eastside - Port Reading

EX-15

Eastside - Abrams

NE-84

Eastside - Allentown

GH-4

Gettysburg - Rutherford

AJ-2

Hagerstown - Rutherford

NE-94

Hagerstown - Rutherford

NE-96

Hagerstown - Rutherford

AJ-12

Hagerstown - Philadelphia

EAST COASTER

Chicago - Elizabethport

CHICAGOAN

Jersey City - Park Jct.

EC-96

Chicago - Port Richmond

681

Elizabethport - Eastside

682

Chicago - Elizabethport

685

Jersey City - Park Jct.

RD-96

Cumberland - Rutherford 

RD-97

Rutherford - Cumberland

CR-17

Lancaster - Reading

MX-13

Manville - Abrams

JH-1

Elizabethport - Rutherford

NH-17

Newberry Jct. - Rutherford

MANHATTAN TRAILER JET

Park Jct. - Jersey City

NEW YORKER

Park Jct. - Jersey City

SE-21

Port Reading - Eastside

PE-20

Port Richmond - Rupert (EL)

PA-6

Port Richmond - Allentown

PR-14

Port Richmond - Reading

AJCD-1

Port Richmond - Hagerstown

PAJ-1

Port Richmond - Hagerstown

PN-21

Port Richmond - Newberry Jct.

PH-20

Port Richmond - Rutherford

PD-13

Port Richmond - Darby Creek

RPC-3

Port Richmond - Rutherford

PT-3

Port Richmond - West Falls Turn

PT-5

Port Richmond - Eastside Turn

WC-97

Port Richmond - Chicago    

RC-2

Reading - Lancaster

RW-5

Reading - Wilmington

RP-16

Reading - Port Richmond

RH-24

Reading - Rutherford

N&W-18

Roanoke - Rutherford

HB-6

Rutherford - Bethlehem

RR-1

Rutherford - Conway(PC)

RR-2

Conway - Rutherford (PC)

HA-15

Rutherford - Allentown

HR-22

Rutherford - Reading

HA-17

Rutherford - Allentown

HG-20

Rutherford - Gettsyburg

HN-20

Rutherford - Newberry Jct.

HJ-2

Rutherford - Jersey City

HN-23

Rutherford - Newberry Jct.

HP-1

Rutherford - Port Richmond

NW-17

Rutherford - Hagerstown

PCR-4

Rutherford - Port Richmond

HP-11

Rutherford - Port Richmond

WR-20

Wilmington - Reading

Today's Image

Did You Know?

December 5, 1833
The Philadelphia and Reading (P&R) Railroad began operations.

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