Reading Railroad
Heritage Museum
Visit us to see original Reading Railroad locomotives, freight and passenger cars, indoor exhibits, and an interactive switch tower replica.
The Reading Railroad Heritage Museum is the education center of the Reading Company Technical & Historical Society, which is dedicated to preserving the history of the Reading Railroad.
Admission
Adults $9
Seniors (65+) $8
Children (5-12) $3
Children 4 and under free
RCT&HS Members free
Group Tours available for 10 or more on weekdays outside of normal Museum hours. Cost is $7 per person. Must be arranged at least two weeks in advance. Call 610-562-5513 or email us to schedule.
Hours
Saturdays 10AM – 4PM
Sundays 12PM – 4PM
Closed for winter:Jan 15 – Mar 1
Open starting: March 7
Yard Tours
Saturdays
10:30 • 11:30 • 12:30 • 1:30 • 2:30
Sundays
12:30 • 1:30 • 2:30
What you’ll see and experience during your visit to the Museum:
Orientation Video
Upon entry into the Museum, visitors will view a 15-minute video entitled “The Reading Shaped Communities.” Professionally produced and including interviews with Museum personnel, the video provides an overview into the history of the Reading, as well as highlighting ways in which businesses, lives and culture were influenced by the existence of the railroad.
Outdoor Display Yard
Throughout its 50-year history, the Reading Company Technical & Historical Society has acquired the largest collection of railroad rolling stock dedicated to a single railroad in the United States. Comprised of over 70 freight and passenger cars and locomotives, the Society’s collection includes several historically significant examples of rail equipment, including the first production model of the General Motors GP-30 diesel-electric locomotive, #5513, shown at left. When you visit the Museum, you will have the opportunity to take a walking tour of our outdoor display yard with a Museum docent, during which you will learn about how the Reading had a leading role in the development of railroad technology. You’ll also gain an appreciation for the challenges faced by the men and women who worked for the railroad.
History Up Close
The Museum’s main Exhibit Hall contains a variety of artifacts from the Reading Railroad that showcase the impact the Reading had on the communities it served. The highlight of the Exhibit Hall is our 1930s Station Agent’s Office, shown below at right. Before the paperwork and “business” aspects of railroading were taken over by computers and electronic technology, most stations along the Reading Railroad had an Agent who was responsible for keeping track of freight traffic and delivering orders from the dispatcher to passing train crews. Step back in time and see what life was like for railroad personnel outside of the locomotive cab – our replica office is a realistic depiction of a typical Reading station office from the early part of the 20th century, from the gate-arm telephone to the countless pieces of paperwork that had to be completed to keep the freight moving!
“I’ve been working on the railroad, all the live-long day!”* Visitors will continue to learn what it was like to work on the Reading Railroad by viewing our sizable collection of railroad artifacts. From tools to signs to the bass drum from the Reading Shop Band, we have a broad variety of artifacts on display that tell the story of life on the railroad, and how the Reading influenced everyday life – whether by bringing coal to heat homes in the early part of the 20th century, to the famous Reading Terminal Market – built by the Reading under its main passenger terminal in Philadelphia in order to increase business for the railroad. After exploring the exhibits at the Museum, you’ll begin to see that the Reading Railroad is so much more than a space on the MONOPOLY board!
* Traditional American Folksong, first appearing as “Levee Song” in the 1894 edition of Carmina Princetonia, a book of Princeton University songs.
