The Little Schuylkill Navigation, Railroad and Coal Company

Prologue

Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania in the 1820s was a hotbed of entrepreneurial speculation. Anthracite coal had been discovered in what was the Southern (or First) Coalfield, running from near the Lehigh River in Northampton (now Carbon) County through Tamaqua, Pottsville and further west. More importantly scientists and industrialists were beginning to understand how to utilize this "hard" coal making it a necessity more than a curiosity.

The coalfields were about 90 miles from Philadelphia and part of the speculation was building transportation infrastructure to get the coal easily and cheaply to market.  The Schuylkill Navigation Company was chartered in 1815 to build a series of navigation improvements (a canal) in the Schuylkill River from Philadelphia to near Pottsville.  This improvement was actually not built to transport coal at first but rather as a general trade route to transport lumber and farm produce to Philadelphia and finished goods from Philadelphia up the Schuylkill Rive to Reading and further north to near Pottsville. But as coal production increased during the decade, it would become the primary resource transported.  The Schuylkill Canal began operations in 1825. The initial configuration completed in 1827, was a waterway of 108 miles linking Philadelphia to Port Carbon.  

The other part of the puzzle was to build transportation from the mine locations to the Canal. Initially the overriding  concept was to build feeder canals along Schuylkill River tributaries to the Schuylkill Canal. The Schuylkill West Branch Canal was chartered on March 29, 1819, The Schuylkill East Branch Navigation Co., was chartered on February 20, 1826, The Schuylkill Valley Navigation Company was incorporated March 20, 1827 and the Norwegian Creek Slackwater Company, on April 14, 1827. However, in the years between 1826 and 1829, the transportation model shifted from canals to railroads.  Stephen Girard advocated a railroad to the Susquehanna River and helped to secure a charter for the Danville & Pottsville R. R., in 1826. The Miners Journal, of March 26, 1826, carried Strickland's illustration of the inclined railroad at Hetton, England. William Strickland had visited Great Britain in 1825 on behalf of the Pennsylvania Society for the Promotion of Internal Development. There was considerable debate in Pennsylvania then regarding the choice between canals or railroads and as a result of his visit to Britain, he returned to enthusiastically support the cause of the railroad which further fueled debate. The editor of the Journal in 1827, riding horseback to Mauch Chunk because there were no roads, reported the opening of Pennsylvania's first railroad, the Summit Hill Mauch Chunk Switchback (an inclined railroad). 

Mines near the Schuylkill Canal soon extended short wooden railroads from their mines to the canal, enabling a man to load a one-ton car of coal directly into a canal boat. Other owners, such as the North American Coal Company, by November 3, 1827, constructed their mine railroads to highways, to ease their land transportation problems. 

An example of this transition to railroads is exemplified by Abraham Potts, a coal land owner near Port Carbon, terminus of the Schuylkill Canal after 1827.  He opened a half-mile railroad before August, 1828, from his mine to the canal. Potts' railroad, all of wood, was not intended to be capped with strap rail. One horse drew 50 to 75 cars of coal a day, or ten 12-ton cars in a single trip. When Managers of the Schuylkill Navigation Canal visited Potts' railroad in 1830, they witnessed 13 cars drawn by a single horse. However Potts' prediction that a long railroad would carry coal to Philadelphia within a decade amused them. Potts had also equipped his cars with wheels fitted on axles and for bottom dumping by 1830.

Within two years all proposed feeder canals and navigations in Schuylkill County re-emerged as railroad companies:

• Mill Creek & Mine Hill Navigation and Railroad Co., incorporated on February 7, 1828, remained as such,
• Schuylkill West Branch Canal became the Mine Hill & Schuylkill Haven R. R., on March 24, 1828,
• Schuylkill Valley Navigation Company became the Schuylkill Valley N. & R. R. Company, on April 14, 1828,
• Schuylkill East Branch Navigation Co.became the Little Schuylkill Navigation, Railroad & Coal Co., April 14, 1828, and 
• Norwegian Creek Slackwater Company, of April 14th, 1827, became the Mt. Carbon R. R., April 29th, 1829.

This history looks at the Little Schuylkill Navigation, Railroad & Coal Co. (LSRR).  This railroad ran from Tamaqua (my hometown) and is the catalyst behind its development, which in many ways tracked the American Industrial Revolution.

History

As noted, the LSRR began as a canal company in 1826 - Schuylkill East Branch Navigation Co. The charter originally did not provide for the company to own and operate coal lands but that was remedied later in 1826 by supplement which allowed the company to own up to 2,000 acres.  Initially investor interest was lacking and the company did not do anything to advance the work authorized by the charter. However, the investment boom occurring in Schuylkill County attracted a German emigrant living in Reading in 1825, Georg Fredreich List. He traveled from Reading to Pottsville to do his own research on the matter. Recognizing that the coal bed at Pottsville stretched to the northeast, he followed its course to the Little Schuylkill River, approximately 16 miles from Pottsville. In an area where the borough (town) of Tamaqua is located today, he uncovered a rich anthracite coal bed that equaled or surpassed the deposits of Pottsville and they were even closer to the market in the city of Philadelphia. He later purchased this and additional land and became actively engaged in developing and exploiting the coal resources.

List who had been exiled from Germany (1823) had visited England. There he saw the first attempts at employing railroads in the coal areas. From time to time he wrote articles on the present development and future possibilities of railroads as he saw the possibilities in developing the anthracite coal business if it could be gotten to the markets. He, similarly to William Strickland, believed in the use of a railroad as a means of transportation. Consequently, he urged the dormant Schuylkill East Branch Navigation Co. to have its charter amended to allow for the construction of a railroad. The company was thus transformed in 1828 to the Little Schuylkill Navigation, Railroad and Coal Company. 

List persuaded a Reading physician and capitalist (and nephew of the former Governor Heister) to support the project.  Dr. Isaac Hiester became President of the Company with List as Vice-President and member of the original board of managers.  No sooner was the charter granted for the railroad than List began to promote actively the development of both the railroad and the coal lands.  List and Hiester developed idea of building the then longest railway (21 miles) in Pennsylvania. From the beginning, List’s plan was to move the rail wagons not with human or animal labor, but with steam engines.

Most of the coal land owned by the Company was being conveyed to it by individuals who had taken title to the land at the time the "boom" developed. Since they could not develop the resources individually they were willing to transfer the title to the corporation and become investors. List's tract, along with ten other tracts (in and around Tamaqua) to which he took title from individual owners, were transferred to the LSRR on November 7, 1829.

The company began searching for a capable engineer who would be in charge of construction. List and Hiester recruited Moncure Robinson. The ground-breaking ceremony took place on June 1, 1829. By May, 1830, Reading papers indicated that all stock had been taken and that the company began to develop two towns that would be the terminus points, Tamaqua  (where the coal lay) and Port Clinton (on the Schuylkill Canal). The LSRR's Tamaqua maps showed "Dutch Hill" as the focus of the town (away from the lowland and swampy areas near  the river.  In fact one of the buildings (as a hotel) constructed by the railroad (at Mauch Chunk and Market Streets) still stands. List also unsuccessfully tried to induce banker and financier Stephen Girard to invest.  To this end he had promised to re-name Port Clinton as Port Girard.

The first hotel built by the LSRR ca. 1828, still standing at the corner of Market and Mauch Chunk streets.

Also in 1829, the LSRR amended its charter to allow it to expand the railroad from its original terminus at Port Clinton downriver to Reading.  The LSRR attempted to get Stephan Girard to support this expansion which appeared to indicate that the LSRR was looking to compete with the Schuylkill Canal in reaching the anthracite coal market via the lower Schuylkill River. Girard died in 1831 and subsequent financial unrest in the business world led the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Co. (which had friendly relations with the LSRR) to receive the charter to expend its route from Reading to Mt. Carbon (near Pottsville) after the LSRR relinquished its right to expand to Reading.  There was some speculation that even if the LSRR had extended its tracks to Reading the Philadelphia and Reading was poised to operate both lines as a single through route.

Railroad Construction and Completion

Construction progressed rapidly. To eliminate six bridges, the company changed the course of the Little Schuylkill River at three places. Workers also had to reclaim land seventeen times from a torrential river in order to construct the rail bed.  Smith's 1832 description told of strap iron rails, 5-in. x 9-in. rails of high-priced Carolina heart pine; 2-in. x .4-in. iron costing $3,062 per mile of single track; and white oak ties, 11 inches in diameter, on eight-foot centers. The route of the railroad has very many curves, including some with 400-foot radii. The entire drop in elevation to the Schuylkill totals 401 feet, or 20 feet per mile on average. The maximum gradient is 35 feet per mile, or 1 in 151. The roadbed had been built for a double track but only had a single track constructed.

The railroad opened on Friday, November 18, 1831. The two horse-drawn cars, containing freight and approximately 60 persons each, had been built by Richard Imlay of Baltimore, Maryland. They left Port Clinton at 10 o’clock and arrived in Tamaqua at 1 o’clock p.m., where 15 cars were waiting, heavily laden with Tamaqua coal. 

List was not present to see the opening of the railroad. By this time he had become a US citizen, helped Andrew Jackson get elected President and been appointed as US consul in Baden (1831–1834), Saxony (1834–1837), and Württemberg (1843–1845). He left the US in 1832 and never returned. 

In his opening speech, Hiester commemorated List’s pioneer work by saying: “In tendering my sincere acknowledgement for the flattering manner in which my name has been mentioned, I have to regret the absence on this joyous occasion, of one who is entitled to a full participation in the compliment with which I have been honored. The gentleman to whom I allude is Professor List, whose enterprise and public spirit are well known, and who is now on his homeward voyage from Europe, where he has, at his own expense, spent the last year, for the purpose of introducing the American anthracite. Associated as he was with me from the commencement, in designing and accomplishing the preliminary arrangements of the Little Schuylkill improvement, I take great pleasure in acknowledging how much the successful result of our labors is indebted to his talents, ingenuity and perseverance.”

Hiester then offered a toast: “To Professor List—his efforts to introduce anthracite to the European markets deserve our thanks.” 

Six days later, on November 23, regular service began when the first coal car was transported over the railroad to Port Clinton. Weighing three tons each, the first cars were driven by George Shoemaker and Henry Ray. Isaac Hinkley drove the first passenger coaches. 

The company's outlays for the actual railroad totaled $335,665 ($12,883,290 in 2026) . The costs for parcels of land and other properties far exceeded that. The stock capital consisted of $500,000, in addition, a loan of $300,000 at 6% was obtained. As of January 1, 1838, the short-term debts were likewise in excess of $300,000. 

Becoming a Steam Powered Railroad

Upon arrival at Port Clinton, the coal and passengers were transferred to barges for the trip to Philadelphia. During the first year of operation the coal-filled wagons were pulled by mules and horses. Horse power was the initial mode of propulsion but the decision was made to use steam shortly thereafter. Five locomotives, 2 from England, 2 from Baldwin and one from Garrett & Eastwick,  plus 360 coal cars (each weighing 2,250 pounds and designed to load three 2,000-lb. tons), had been procured to operate the railroad.  It was not until the winter 1833 that the first locomotives “Comet” and “Catawissa”, which the railroad company had ordered from Edwin Bury Company in Liverpool England, finally arrived in Philadelphia.

They arrived when the Schuylkill Canal was frozen and the engines had to be hauled by horses to Port Clinton. When transported, the “Comet” and “Catawissa” were evidently taken off their wheels as an old cash book indicates separate charges for their transportation. These engines were of the 0-4-0 type and weighed less than eight tons. The “Catawissa” (and Comet) was purchased for $5,000 (each). 

The locomotives were apparently accompanied by two Bury engineers. Of the two engineers, one returned to Great Britain shortly after the locomotives were placed in operation. The other, George Mann never returned, but worked many years on the Little Schuylkill between Port Clinton and Tamaqua.

The "Catawissa" was first used on February 27, 1833 for a trial run. A newspaper correspondent mentioned that the engine left Tamaqua at ten o’clock and returned from Port Clinton in the evening. Of the six railroads in operation in Schuylkill County by the close of 1831, the Little Schuylkill was the first to use steam as a means of motive power.  

The Catawissa locomotive built in 1832, shown ca. 1850,,.from the digital collection, Railroads: Photographs, Manuscripts and Imprints, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University 

Speeds of ten miles per hour were attained, with fifteen three-ton cars making two trips a day, which brought 90 tons daily to Port Clinton. However, the engines soon proved too heavy for the wooden track and were removed from service. However, the steam locomotive service for a time made the LSRR the fifth railroad in America to have regular locomotive service, albeit for only a short period.  The other railroads using regular locomotive service (in order of start date for locomotive use in revenue service) were the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company, the Baltimore and Ohio, the Mohawk and Hudson, the Philadelphia Germantown and Norristown Railroad. The LSRR was the eleventh railroad in operation in America.

On the next Catawissa trial trip on March 9, the engine ran off a turnout and piled up the thirteen cars it was hauling. The Catawissa was towed back to Tamaqua and repaired.  The Comet also left the track on its maiden voyage. This tendency was problematic in the first locomotives. Early on the wheels were attached, rigidly, to the locomotive and had a tendency to derail if the curvature of the track exceeded the wheel placement. This was solved when "bogies" were introduced, first on the locomotive "Experiment" built by the US manufacturer, West Point Foundry. 

Both engines were placed into regular service on April 9, 1833. Animal power continued to carry about one third of the tonnage. The locomotive was able to transport coal (or passengers) between Port Clinton and Tamaqua (22 miles) in 2.5 hours. Samuel P. Parsons, the Superintendent at Tamaqua, advertised round-trip passenger service from Port Clinton, in Reading papers on March 30, 1833. By mid-century the company provided two passenger round-trips daily.

This early success led LSRR to order two more locomotives - the Tamaqua and the Tuscarora.  These were built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia and delivered in 1836.  There is evidence that another 0-4-0 locomotive was purchased in 1837 from Garrett & Eastwick in Philadelphia, called the Anthracite.  Garrett & Eastwick pioneered the design of an anthracite-burning locomotive. The Anthracite remained in service until 1839 when the LSRR returned completely back to animal power. The Anthracite was sold to the Buck Mountain Railroad in 1840.

LSRR Returns to Animal Power

Notwithstanding this, as locomotives ran, they caused damage to the strap iron rails as indicated above. All the locomotives were too heavy and crushed the underlying wood rails. The LSRR removed the locomotives from service on November 25,  1838 and returned to animal power. The Jones Scrapbook Volume 5, page 35 (Historical Society of Berks County mentions "four engines rusting at Tamaqua in 1840". This was reported by a canal-and-railroad hitchhiker as he walked through the town. 

From the start the steam engines attracted the interest of other Pennsylvania railroads. The 1833 Philadelphia & Reading (not yet operational) Annual Report noted an account of the annual expenses to operate the machine.  The expenses for a ten day period were $169.56 for fuel (wood), salaries, repair and maintenance costs, and miscellaneous costs such as interest and allowance for the repair of the railroad bed itself.  The report noted that, "During the above period there were taken to Port Clinton from the Tamaqua Mines 732 tons, being at the rate of about 23 1/4 cents per ton."

However, tonnage over the Little Schuylkill line was disappointing. Reaching 41,000 tons in 1835, this amount was not exceeded until 1844.  In 1845, locomotives returned to service with the installation of steel T-rail, and a bridge across the Schuylkill linked the line with the Philadelphia & Reading. 

In 1847 the railroad completed the "Wabash Branch" a 3.6 mile extension to the west of Tamaqua to mines at Reinhart's Run.  The railroad also operated on the "Greenwood Branch", 2 miles east of Tamaqua, although they did not own this track.

The operation of the railroad utilized one horse to hauls 3 loaded coal cars down the line and brings them back upgrade empty, covering 40 miles per day. The rate of travel is usually only 2-1/2 miles per hour. In 1838 (up to November 25), locomotives made 350 trips back and forth in 170 work days. They carried 12,592 tons of coal in 5,120 cars. So the distance covered was 14,000 miles. Only 3 locomotives were used on these runs, and the operating expenses were: for motive power, maintenance of cars, repairs in the shops, etc., $6,632.09; for maintenance of way, $5,713.45; and for administrative expenses, $1,600.00. The total was $13,945.54. 

Thus, a mile of travel by a locomotive with its train cost $1. An average of 15 cars were hauled per trip, and the average load was 40 short tons. But because the locomotives had to bring the cars back empty, each 20-mile run yielded only 20 tons of load, and therefore the transportation costs per ton per mile came to 5 cents.  The company transports coal from its own mines and sells it at the transfer landing at Port Clinton. In 1839 its price was $2.50 per ton. 

If the railroad's maintenance costs are added in to operational costs (animal power), including cars, salaries of Officials, and office expenses, one ton of coal costs $1.50 to deliver to Port Clinton. Each ton produced and transported over the road yields a profit to the company of $1.

In 1838, when steam power was still being used, it cost $1 to transport one short ton of coal to Port Clinton.  If one reckons the transport costs according to the data to be an additional 86 cents, then a long ton costs $1.98, and the remaining profit is only 52 cents. This suffices to explain why operation with locomotives was not continued. However, the bigger factor was the tracks.  The extent to which the track, which was too lightly built, suffered from steam locomotives is demonstrated by the outlay in 1838 of $5,713 for maintenance of way, which was 40% of all operating expenses. In 1836 it was necessary to replace 2,200 rails on the 17-1/4-mile stretch on which the strap rails were only 0.44 inch thick. Meanwhile, on the remaining 2-1/4 miles where there were 0.6-inch-thick strap rails, only 15 new ones were needed. This affords the evidence that the thinner rails were much too weak for locomotive operations.

LSRR Expands

The LSRR expanded slowly.  In 1838, the railroad had an agreement with the Little Schuylkill & Susquehanna Railroad (Catawissa) to connect at Tamanend (about 6 miles away) with them.  This extension was not completed at that time as the Banking Panic of 1837 lingered on. However in 1854 this connection was finally established with the now renamed (Catawissa, Williamsport and Erie - CW&E) railroad.  This opened up Tamaqua to markets in western NY and the mid-west, primarily Buffalo and Chicago. This route was quite ad hoc; from Philadelphia the traffic would move to Port Clinton via the Philadelphia & Reading, thence to Tamanend through Tamaqua on the Little Schuylkill, thence via the CW&E to Milton, next on the Sunbury and Erie to Williamsport, then via three railroads – Williamsport & Elmira, Canandaigua & Elmira and Canandaigua & Niagara Falls – to north Tonawanda and the Niagara Falls Bridge as well as the main lines of the Erie and New York Central.  For the purposes of the through line the railroad was managed by the CW&E but the coal and freight business was with the LSRR.

With the appearance of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company (P&R) into Port Clinton (and beyond to Port Carbon and Pottsville) in 1842, the P&R had still had a keen interest in the LSRR.   The LSRR and P&R had the same individuals on the Board of Directors by this time.  The P&R required the feeder railroads to be compatible with its track and operating standards. Thus upgrades (iron T-rails) to the LSRR track began in the late 1840s.  This brought the dormant locomotives back into service and the LSRR authorized the fabrication of four new locomotives - the General Taylor and General Scott from Baldwin in 1847, the Port Clinton from Norris a short time later and the Schuylkill from Baldwin in 1857.

In 1857 it also built a roundhouse in Tamaqua, housing 21 steam locomotive and a railway turntable.  The size of this facility indicates the involvement of the P&R as the LSRR did not have near that many locomotives. 

In 1858 the LSRR guaranteed at 6% interest the cost of the East Mahanoy Railroad.  This railroad included the 3,400 feet Mahanoy Tunnel (and another 900 feet tunnel - Tamaqua Tunnel) which then connects to the LSRR prior to Tamanend. This outlet opened up the East Mahanoy coal fields to the LSRR.  The LSRR leased the East Mahanoy in 1860. 

P&R Runs the Railroad

By April 1, 1863, the P&R began actually operating the railroad. Several months later the P&R began service between Ashland and Tamaqua using another railroad's tracks (Mahanoy & Broad Mountain) and the East Mahanoy connection. Five years later, July 7, 1868, the P&R took a 93-year lease of the line at an annual cost of $185,227. 

Port Clinton, the termination point of the LSRR transporting coal from Tamaqua to the Schuylkill Canal

After the P&R began operation, six additional locomotives were ordered and placed in service although several of the earlier locomotives were sold or scrapped.  The Catawissa, however, remained in service until 1871. The fate of its sister, the Comet, remains a mystery.

Tamaqua Railroad Landmarks

In 1873, the original wooden Tamaqua railroad station located where the railroad QA office was located on the south side of the West Broad St. crossing, was destroyed by fire. ("QA" are Tamaqua's call letters on the telegraph system).  The next year, the present historic passenger station was built to replace the original station. The railroad excavated the hillside to the rear of the station, removing tons of rocks to create a flat area for the station to be built. The new station was a much larger Italianate Victorian styled structure made of red brick and natural brownstone. It was topped off with 6 ornate chimneys protruding from the roof and a flagpole. The station featured a T-shaped floor plan with a two-story central concourse, restaurant, men's and women's waiting rooms, ticket office and restrooms. Very few train stations were built with restaurant facilities for the convenience of passengers so this was posh. The size, style and amenities of the new Tamaqua station reflected the importance of Tamaqua as a major railroad hub of the coal regions.

Tamaqua Roundhouse (back) and Passenger Station (front)

Another branch of the LSRR extended its Wabash Branch on July 10, 1865 west from Tamaqua about a mile and a half, connecting with the Mountain Link railroad (which connected to the Schuylkill Valley Railroad at Tuscarora).  Other short branches on this line were constructed to different collieries (i.e. Newkirk and Reevesdale) along its course. By November 27, 1865, two daily trains linked Ashland with Philadelphia via this route, a service which ended passenger service over the Gordon Planes and the Mine Hill & Schuylkill Haven Railroad. Soon there were five tracks in front of the Tamaqua Station giving an idea of the importance of the town in the P&R rail system.

In 1881, the railroad and the borough built a park adjacent to the station known as Depot Square Park. Depot Square Park featured gardens, a water fountain, chestnut trees, sprawling lawns and a decorative fence surrounding it. The station and park was the centerpiece of downtown Tamaqua and a showplace of the railroad and the borough for decades.

The P&R also constructed an ornate crew dispatch and telegraph office on the south side of West Broad St. crossing. The building was known as the QA office. The ornate building is believed to have been designed by famous railroad architect, Frank Furness. Across the street, in the corner of Depot Square Park, stood a miniature version of the QA office which served as a shelter for the crossing watchman who operated the crossing gates. The building was nicknamed as the 'little Swiss cottage'. 

In 1896 the original roundhouse was torn down and replaced by a larger facility (Reading shops) at the same location between Pine and Railroad Streets across the tracks from the train station. It served the same purpose; that structure stood for an additional 65 odd years, when, it, too, was razed.  About that same time a freight station and offices were constructed west of Railroad Street opposite the train station. Again these lasted about 65 years until the building was demolished.

During its peak years, more than 40 passenger trains daily stopped at the Tamaqua station. Popular destinations included Mauch Chunk, Williamsport, Philadelphia, Reading, Atlantic City, New York, Niagara Falls and Chicago.  They were as routine as trolleys.  If you missed one, you could simply wait for another. In fact, local housewives were known to ride trains into Philadelphia for a day of shopping and then get back home in time to put supper on the table.  There were five pairs of train tracks between the passenger station and the freight building.

Five sets of tracks crossing Broad St in Tamaqua at the QA Office

Successor Railroads

The LSRR formally merged with the then Reading Co. in 1952.  But the heyday of Tamaqua's railroad was rapidly ending.  Most local mines closed in 1954. In 1961, the Reading Co. ended the year with a $6 million deficit. It was the railroad’s first operating loss since 1902.  The Tamaqua station was closed but passenger service continued.  In 1962, lost post office and railway express contracts prompted further cuts in passenger service and on June 28, 1963, regular passenger service in Tamaqua ended.

Reading Co. entered bankruptcy for the fourth (and final time) in November 1971. With about 6,700 employees and 1,200 miles of track in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, the company blamed the bankruptcy on its debt of more than $11 million.  Then on April 1, 1976, Reading Co., along with five other bankrupt northeastern railroads, was folded into the government-backed Consolidated Rail Corp. or Conrail. 

Although there is no regular passenger railroad service today, Tamaqua remains linked with a regional railroad that runs freight and a scenic (passenger) railroad service - the Reading, Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad (RBM&N).  By 2010 the RBM&N was the largest (privately owned) railroad in Pennsylvania.  The enterprise still runs anthracite coal trains moving coal for export to markets in the Ukraine and China. The company's scenic passenger service is its most visible tie to Tamaqua running service from Reading through Port Clinton to Jim Thorpe (Mauch Chunk) and other runs (occasionally) to the Hometown High Bridge.  It also had a service from Reading to Tamaqua for a Ride and Dine experience.

  Bibliography 

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