Reading Railroad Christmas Ornament

The Reading Company (/ˈrɛdɪŋ/ RED-ing) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly called the Reading Railroad, and logo typed as Reading Lines, the Reading Company was a railroad holding company for the majority of its existence and was a single railroad during its later years. It operated service as Reading Railway System and was a successor to the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company, founded in 1833. Until the decline in anthracite loadings in the Coal Region after World War II, it was one of the most prosperous corporations in the United States. Competition with the modern trucking industry that used the interstate highway system for short-distance transportation of goods, also known as short hauls, compounded the company's problems, forcing it into bankruptcy in 1971. Its railroad operations were merged into Conrail in 1976, and the rest of the corporation is now known as Reading International. some information from Wikipedia® a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.