Reading Division

The Reading Division is a rail line owned and operated by the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The line runs from Reading, Pennsylvania north and east to Packerton, Pennsylvania along former Reading Company and Central Railroad of New Jersey lines. At its south end, it connects to the Norfolk Southern Railway's Reading Line; its east end is at Norfolk Southern's Lehigh Line which parallels the R&N's Lehigh Division.

History

The piece from Reading north to Port Clinton, Pennsylnvania was opened by the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road in 1842.^[1] At Port Clinton, it connected with the Little Schuylkill Navigation Railroad and Coal Company, opened in 1831 past Haucks, Pennsylvania to Tamanend, Pennsylvania (near Quakake, Pennsylvania). The piece from Haucks east to Nesquehoning Junction near Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania opened in 1870 as the Nesquehoning Railroad, and the final piece from Nesquehoning Junction southeast to Packerton Junction was part of the 1868 extension of the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad.

The line from Port Clinton to Haucks was part of the Reading Company, while from Haucks to Packerton was part of the Central Railroad of New Jersey. The lines were taken over by Conrail in 1976, and the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad bought them in 1990.^[2]

References