Reading Company photographs 1974.330 This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on September 14, 2021. Description is written in: English. Describing Archives: A Content Standard Audiovisual Collections PO Box 3630 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 [email protected] URL: http://www.hagley.org/library Reading Company photographs 1974.330 Table of Contents Summary Information .................................................................................................................................... 3 Historical Note ............................................................................................................................................... 3 Scope and Content ......................................................................................................................................... 4 Administrative Information ............................................................................................................................ 4 Related Materials ........................................................................................................................................... 5 Controlled Access Headings .......................................................................................................................... 5 Collection Inventory ....................................................................................................................................... 5 Elevating of tracks ....................................................................................................................................... 5 Subject Files ................................................................................................................................................ 7 Right of Way ............................................................................................................................................ 7 Bridges ...................................................................................................................................................... 9 Stations .................................................................................................................................................... 11 Buildings and Facilities .......................................................................................................................... 12 Locomotives and Rolling Stock ............................................................................................................. 14 People/Personnel ..................................................................................................................................... 16 Other Railroads, Scenic Views, Maps, Incidental Construction ............................................................ 16 Miscellaneous .......................................................................................................................................... 17 Construction of Pennsylvania Avenue (Phila.) Subway and Tunnel ........................................................ 17 Activities of Reading Co. Employees ....................................................................................................... 18 Oversize ..................................................................................................................................................... 29 Right of Way .......................................................................................................................................... 29 Bridges .................................................................................................................................................... 31 Stations .................................................................................................................................................... 31 Buildings and Facilities .......................................................................................................................... 31 Locomotives and Rolling Stock ............................................................................................................. 32 Miscellaneous .......................................................................................................................................... 32 Canals and Dams .................................................................................................................................... 32 Philadelphia & Reading Railway, Sectional Maps of the Philadelphia Division ..................................... 32 - Page 2 - Reading Company photographs 1974.330 Summary Information Repository: Audiovisual Collections Creator: Reading Company Title: Reading Company photographs ID: 1974.330 Date [inclusive]: 1873-1945 Physical Description: 20 Linear Feet General Physical 4932 photographic prints : b&w ; 16 x 20 in. or smaller. ; 1229 Description note: negatives : b&w ; 4 x 5 in. ; 129 items : blueprints ; 45.5 x 78 cm. ; 18 photographic prints : stereograph ; 8.5 x 17 cm. ; 12 prints (postcards) : 9 x 14 cm. or smaller. ; 1 item : printing plate ; 21.5 x. 28.5 cm. Language of the English . Material: Abstract: The Reading Company, chartered in 1871, became the holding company for the system of railroads, canals and coalmines assembled between 1833 and 1896 by its predecessor, the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company. The collection consists of photographs [negatives, blueprints and other graphic materials relating to the Reading Company and its predecessor, the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company. ^ Return to Table of Contents Historical Note The Reading Company, chartered in 1871, became the holding company for the system of railroads, canals and coal mines assembled between 1833 and 1896 by its predecessor, the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company. The Reading Company owned, leased or held a controlling interest in rail lines throughout southeastern and central Pennsylvania, with branches stretching as far north as Scranton and as far west as Williamsport and Shippensburg. The company also held a controlling interest in the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey, giving its lines access to New York City. As a result of anti-trust proceedings, the Reading Company divested itself of its mining subsidiary in 1923. After bankruptcy in the early 1970s, viable portions of the Reading's rail network were conveyed to Conrail on April 1, 1976. The reorganized Reading Company retains real estate and other non-rail assets. - Page 3- Reading Company photographs 1974.330 ^ Return to Table of Contents Scope and Content The collection consists of graphic materials relating to the Reading Company and its predecessor, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company. The bulk of the photographs in the Reading Company collection show views along trackage and work being done on the tracks, views of stations, bridges, buildings owned or utilized by the company and assorted locomotives and rolling stock. Right of way images from within Philadelphia focus on construction projects, as do the majority of the images taken along the company's main line and branches outside the city. Notable among these are photographs of the Manayunk elevated construction, the construction of the low grade freight line in Wayne, and the change of alignment of the Schuylkill River at Port Clinton, change of alignment on the Catawissa Railroad, eliminations of grade crossings at Soderton and Sellersville Photographs of bridges, stations and other Reading Company buildings and facilities (for example, coal yards, freight yards, grain elevators) are included. These photographss include structures in New Jersey as well as those along the Reading's lines in southeastern and central Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Notable among these are construction views of the Kaighn's Point Terminal in Camden and the North Broad Street Station in Philadelphia. Trains are included incidentally in all of these categories. Another file in the collection, however, consists of about 100 undated photos of specific locomotives and rolling stock, some of which did not, in fact, operate on the Reading Company's lines. Also part of the collection are a small number of employee photographs, as well as miscellaneous images including dams, the Schuylkill Canal, Hog Island, and properties owned by other railroads. Lastly, there is a small group of stereographs including a dozen views from Cape May. These images represent only a fragment of the Reading Company's activities and property holdings during this period. The company's photo archive has been lost or scattered through dispersal. ^ Return to Table of Contents Administrative Information Publication Statement Audiovisual Collections PO Box 3630 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 [email protected] - Page 4- Reading Company photographs 1974.330 URL: http://www.hagley.org/library ^ Return to Table of Contents Related Materials Related Material Reading Company records (Accession 1520), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library Reading Company photographs (Accession 1975.430), Audiovisual Collections and Digital Initiatives Department, Hagley Museum and Library ^ Return to Table of Contents Controlled Access Headings • Railroads. • Railroads -- Rolling stock • Railroads -- Buildings and structures • Railroads -- Right of way • Railroads -- Employees • Construction projects Collection Inventory Elevating of tracks, 1906-1920 Scope and Content Consists of detailed images of street scenes in Philadelphia surrounding the the