Reading Terminal

Every year when I was a kid, my mom, my sister, and I took the train to the city to go Christmas shopping. The train ride ended in Reading Terminal. As a kid, I was very impressed by the sheer size of the place. Thirteen tracks under one huge roof. It was always dark and gloomy inside, and was filled with silver, green, or blue trains constantly in motion. I loved it!

Today, The Reading Terminal trainshed is part of the Pennsylvania Convention Center. It has been beautifully restored and it is filled with light. I am still impressed with the sheer size of the place (there is a free standing building inside of it!). Thirteen pairs of stainless steel bands are embedded in the floor where the tracks once were. The Reading Terminal headhouse now contains the Hard Rock Cafe, and has been restored to it's pre-1948 glory.  The upper floors are now part of the Marriott Hotel.

	The Reading Company extensively remodeled the Terminal in 1948. One of the highlights was a new ticket counter.  Featuring the latest word in Streamlined stainless steel design.
You might want pick up a schedule...
	The waiting room  was looking pretty thread bare by the time the Terminal was closed.  The original dark wooden benches are quite a contrast to the "modern" ticket counter.
	The entrance to the Art-Deco style cafe-bar on the train concourse.  The three interior photos were taken the evening of the Last Run, November 6, 1984.
	A Reading diamond still graces the face of Silverliner IV 9023. The 9000 series Silverliners were acquired in the early 1970's and were actually owned by SEPTA.  January, 1982.
	An interior shot of detraining passengers.  This and the previous picture were taken on trip to my favorite record store in the city, The Funk-O-Mart, during winter break of my junior year in college. January, 1982.
	A Blueliner in that awful SEPTA paint scheme.  The Blueliners were a group of the original 1931 cars thoroughly rebuilt and modernized by the Reading Shops in 1964.  Some even had air conditioning.  About a dozen of these cars worked into the 1990s.  December, 1983
	A close up of a Blueliner.  The Reading mu's had some unique features:  Taylor Flexible trucks and the power bus cable and contacts on the roof.  December, 1983
	Photography using existing light was all but impossible inside the Terminal, but I tried. December, 1983
	December, 1983
	A moody night shot of a train arriving at the Terminal in December, 1983.
	A line up of  the three active types of Reading mu's.  Back to front: Silverliner II (Budd Car), Blueliner, Silverliner II, and Silverliner IV.  June, 1984.
	A closer look at a 9000 series SilverLiner IV.  Delivery of these cars led to the retirement of all of the un-rebuilt Bethlehem Shipbuilding cars from 1931.  June, 1984.
	June, 1984.
	June, 1984.
	Blueliner 9117 in the classic Reading Company blue and white paint.   That's more like it.  June, 1984.
	June, 1984.
	Getting on the train.  June, 1984.

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