Nostalgia & History > Reading Trailways Question.

I just pick-up a 1955 Reading Trailways bus timetable. The District Passenger Agent in Philadelphia was a Mr. W.S. Cooke.  Checking my Reading Railway for the same period a Mr. William S.Cooke appears once again.  The Philadelphia address for the both Mr. Cookes is the same, Reading Terminal.  Was Reading Trailways which was owned by the Reading Transportation Co. part of the Reading Railway System?

Thank-you in advance for any information.

Gerry Gaugl
Ottawa ON

The Reading Company owned the railroad as well as Reading Transportation Co. There are articles in the trade press from the 1930's describing Reading Transportation Cos. expansion of their bus and truck operations in the territory served by the Reading RR. In many ways this was an effort to provide cheaper service (LCL and LTL) than regular train ops. could provide in those areas.


In the mid 1960's I was an employee of the Reading RR Engineering Dept. and all our vehicles were leased and maintained through the Reading Transportation Co. If a vehicle needed repairs, you contacted Rdg. Trans. first for a P.O. and then had the work done. The vehicles (cars, trucks, & busses) were leased from several local firms that dealt in commercial vehicle leasing (one such being Berman from Pottstown, PA.).  

On a number of occasions, I was at a repair facility and needed a P.O. to get the work started expeditiously. Unable to get through to the person at Rdg. Trans. I soon discovered that if I gave the repair facilty a P.O. number using the digits of my office phone number that repairs could get started right quick. I never heard any feedback about an out of sequence "funny looking" P.O. number even after using the same number several different times at the same car dealer!

The Reading Company also had their own real estate company (Eastern Real Estate) and the communication lines along the RR were owned and maintained by the Philadelphia, Reading, & Pottsville Telegraph Co. 

Hope this all answers you original question,.

Dennis Tiley

 

I once rode a Reading Trailways bus from Pottsville to Philadelphia on my New York Central pass!

Reading Trailways dates to 1928 when the Reading Company set up Reading Transportation in 1928 to compliment its existing railroad passenger service.  In 1955, Reading joined the National Trailways System.  Nine years later, its routes were sold to four other carriers.  Additional information and three photos can be found in the following link (scroll about 3/4 the way down the page).

History of Reading Trailways and successor carriers

Here's a photo of a Reading Company Flxible bus with Trailways lettering in Harrisburg, PA.  The PRR Station is in the background (upper right corner).

Reading Company Bus

A color photo of a General Motors Reading Company bus.

Reading Company Bus 2

Thanks, Gerry, for posing the question.  As someone with a minor interest in intercity bus history and as a Pennsylvanian, I enjoyed learning about this carrier.
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/15 16:56 by RuleG.