While most people may have memories of Reading Railroad being a property in the game Monopoly, Reading Railroad was an important part of history on the East Coast. The Reading Railroad was part of a larger operation, and in 1833 it carried the name of The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, also known as P & R.
It was first and mostly used for distributing and moving coal along the tri-state area of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, though was involved in other aspects as well such as iron making. Prior to the railway, barges transported the coal, but with technology came faster alternatives.
