Rail Park

Rail Park. . , In Pennsylvania's rolling hills lay the resources to fuel the Industrial Revolution. Coal and iron ore rode the rails to factories, foundries and faraway cities. Philadelphia became the "workshop of the world," sending products to Delaware River ports for shipping around the globe. The Pennsylvania Railroad and the Reading Company, each with headquarters in Philadelphia, were once the largest private companies in the world, and both transformed transportation and industry across America., Early 1900s Reading Company trains: Crusader to Jersey City . King Coal to Shamokin . North Penn to Bethlehem . Schuylkill to Pottsville . Wall Street to Jersey City . Interstate Express to Syracuse . commuter trains to suburbs, 1890: The City allowed Reading Company to consolidate operations in a grand terminal on Market Street , In exchange, Reading developed a plan to remove grade crossings in Center City., You are here. , 1893 - 1903: A viaduct was built to connect the City Branch west of Broad to the terminal., 1894 - 1900: The City Branch was depressed into a channel, with sidewalks and streets bridging over them. This helped pedestrians, horses, carts and trolleys, but created challenges for adjacent businesses that relied on the rail lines., Baldwin Locomotive Works and other factories built ramps and lifts to move equipment, supplies and even freight cars from the depressed channel up to street level., Mid-1800s: The City Branch was the primary route into Philadelphia for the Philadelphia-Columbia Railroad (P&C) and the Reading Company. By the 1880s, the P&C had been purchased by the Pennsylvania RR, the world's largest corporation, and the Reading Co. had become the world's largest carrier of coal.