Reading Co. Port Richmond (Defunct) (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

 railway, abandoned / shut down, railroad yard

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Port Richmond was the main marine transfer facility for the Reading Railroad. At one time, this was perhaps the largest pre-container port facility in the United States. This was the gateway for anthracite coal from the coal fields of eastern PA to reach international markets along with grain and other goods. Anthracite was the preferred coal for home heating and is relatively rare and so in the days before WW2 the demand from Europe was enormous.

After World War 2, oil and natural gas displaced anthracite coal and the volume at Port Richmond shrank dramatically. When the Reading Company was absorbed into Conrail in 1976, the massive facility was mostly abandoned and almost all of the track was removed.

For many years after its closure, the massive concrete grain silos stood in the northeast corner of the facility and were considered a local landmark. Unfortunately, they were, with considerable difficulty, demolished (imploded) around 1999.

The remaining activity in the yard consists of switching moves for several nearby industrial spurs.