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1970 Reading Company Freight Schedule

Written by Conductor

On March 5, 1976, a few weeks before the advent of Conrail, a pair of GP-35s hauls train RW-5 along the Reading's Wilmington & Northern Branch at Valley, PA, just north of Coatesville.  The hi-cube boxcars contain auto parts for the GM plant in Wilmington.  Photo courtesy of Richard W. Jahn.

The information presented here is transcribed directly from the official Reading Company freight schedule effective October 1, 1970. 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-21 would be Newberry Junction to Harrisburg (Rutherford Yard), departing at 2100 (9:00 pm).

Here is a key to the symbols for the origin and destination terminals:

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-24

Abrams - Bethlehem

XD-6

Abrams - Darby Creek

XM-6

Abrams - Manville

NE-87/AE-3

Allentown - Park Jct.

AE-7

Allentown - Park Jct.

AH-2

Allentown - Rutherford

AH-9

Allentown - Rutherford

AP-13

Allentown - Port Richmond (Phila.)

NETS-W

Rutherford - Hagerstown

BX-3

Bethlehem - Abrams

BH-15

Bethlehem - Rutherford

DP-18

Darby Creek - Port Richmond (Phila.)

ES-3

Eastside - Port Reading

EA-15

Eastside - Allentown

NE-84

Eastside - Allentown

GH-4

Gettysburg - Rutherford

AJ-2

Hagerstown - Rutherford

RFD-94

Hagerstown - Rutherford

NE-96

Hagerstown - Rutherford

AJ-12

Hagerstown - Philadelphia

POTOMAC

Jersey City - Park Jct.

CHICAGOAN

Jersey City - Park Jct.

CHICAGO-ST. LOUIS JET

Jersey City - Park Jct.

ST. LOUISAN

Jersey City - St. Louis

99

Jersey City - Cumberland

685

Jersey City - Park Jct.

CR-17

Lancaster - Reading

MX-13

Manville - Abrams

NP-19

Newberry Jct. - Port Richmond

NH-21

Newberry Jct. - Rutherford

HUDSON

Park Jct. - Jersey City

NEW YORK JET

Park Jct. - Elizabethport, NJ

MANHATTAN TRAILER JET

Park Jct. - Jersey City

NEW YORKER

Park Jct. - Jersey City

86

Potomac Yard - Jersey City

NEW YORK 88

Cumberland - Jersey City

SE-21

Port Reading - Eastside

PH-1

Philadelphia - Rutherford

PA-6

Port Richmond - Allentown

PR-14

Port Richmond - Reading

ADVANCE AJ-1

Port Richmond - Hagerstown

AJ-1

Port Richmond - Hagerstown

PN-21

Port Richmond - Newberry Jct.

PH-22

Port Richmond - Rutherford

RC-2

Reading - Lancaster

RW-5

Reading - Wilmington

RP-16

Reading - Port Richmond

HB-6

Rutherford - Bethlehem

HP-8

Rutherford - Port Richmond

HC-12

Rutherford - Hagerstown

HA-18

Rutherford - Allentown

HG-20

Rutherford - Gettsyburg

HN-20

Rutherford - Newberry Jct.

HJ-21

Rutherford - Jersey City

HP-22

Rutherford - Port Richmond

WR-20

Wilmington - Reading

LOCAL-PHL

Local Service -Philadelphia Division

LOCAL-RDG

Local Service -Reading Division

Today's Image

Did You Know?

December 1, 1953
The last Hall "banjo-style" signals are removed from service, and are replaced with color-light signals.

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