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  • Could the Reading have survived to the present day?

  • Discussion Related to the Reading Company 1833-1976 and it's predecessors Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway.
Discussion Related to the Reading Company 1833-1976 and it's predecessors Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway.

Moderator: Franklin Gowen

 #572723  by rrfoose
 
I searched the forums but saw no similar topic, so I'll start one here!

Could the Reading have survived on its own into the present day? Considering how heavily Conrail and now NS use the line from Harrisburg-Allentown, and the fact that Reading & Northern has turn things around on their lines, it seems that the core of the Reading has remained profitable despite the loss of substantial coal traffic. On the downside, I don't see the Gov't letting the Reading go it alone - but there was a proposal for a RDG-CNJ-LV system to compete against CR. Also, surviving until the 1980s when deregulation would have allowed the Reading to shed those unprofitable branchlines seems like a bit of a stretch. It'd be cool to model a modern day Reading...but it seems the cards are stacked against plausibility on this one. Anyone else have thoughts on this topic? Thanks!
 #584680  by KillerB
 
After anthracite traffic dropped off, Reading would have needed to depend upon its connections for traffic, and its haul just wasn't long enough.

Had it merged earlier with other members of the "Alphabet Route" when it was a wealthier company, it might have worked. Particularly, the Western Maryland comes to mind.
 #647678  by jadebullet2
 
I actually thought about the same thing a little while ago, and did a reskin of a locomotive in Trainz Railroad simulator 2009. Basically in my alternative reality version of the Reading, rather than consolidating into Conrail, the Reading managed to aquire the ailing Penn Central along with alot of their equipment. This allowed them to have a longer haul and slowly brought them out of the red. The lack of funds, and the large amount of locomotives that were aquired meant that it would be very costly to repaint all of the engines in Reading colors. Rather than just patching them, the Reading then came up with what would be known as the bumble bee scheme, a hybrid between a simple patch, and a repaint.

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