Wow I have got to see those pics from '72!!! Plz post them. What was the main reason the yard was closed in '63? Why did the RDG pull the plug?
Railroad Forums
Moderator: bwparker1
RDGTRANSMUSEUM wrote:There were so many coal companys still open at the time,it would boggle your mind. 50 percent of the Readings revenue was still coal! That tells me the RR did just not care to serve them anymore. They had big export coal customers in at least 5 countries out of Port Richmond. Remember, St Clair yard sat at the foot of a horrible grade. I have at least 3 protest letters stating that the RDG Co. will loose the biz to trucks if they close St Clair. They would not listen.It's a balancing act. If the yard was costing them $1Million to operate, was the revenue from the coal companies enough to offset that? I suspect not. I don't have the accounting records to verify anything, but I doubt the business from the coal companies was enough to justify maintaining the infrastructure required to serve them.