"John W. Hall in cab of #483 on February 9, 1964"

    I grew up in the suburbs outside of Wilmington, Delaware.  At the time, Wilmington was served by three railroads: the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and the Reading Company.  The Pennsy was the major player, with the B&O taking a close second.  Wilmington is basically halfway between Philadelphia and Baltimore on both of these lines, and the southern most terminus of the Reading.

    My first memorable introductions to the Reading were the T-1 powered Iron Horse Rail Rambles that came to Elsmere Junction on the Wilmington & Northern Branch on April 9, 1961 and again on May 18, 1963.  It was the event that took place on Sunday morning, February 9, 1964 that assured I would be a Reading fan for life.  That was the day that my father and I visited the Reading's Beech Street Engine House in Wilmington.  My father was taking pictures of the three road units for train WR-1, the daily freight  from Wilmington to Reading, and struck up a conversation with the engineer.  These units had not yet picked up the train for Reading and the engineer invited us up to the cab.  Next thing I know, I was sitting in the engineer's seat getting instructions on operating an ALCO RS-3.  I took the three units, RS-3 #438, GP-7 #622, and RS-3 #450, a short distance through the yard and back.  Needless to say, I was hooked.  Since that time, I modeled Reading equipment for my layout and began to store data.  Of course, trips to visit family members in Reading always included a drive by the Reading Locomotive Shops.

    I became a member of the Reading Company Technical & Historical Society in 1978.  Since then, I've written numerous articles for the BEE LINE, the quarterly publication of the Reading Company Technical & Historical Society.  My favorite subject has always involved non-revenue equipment, especially the equipment assigned to the Relief Trains.

    READING COMPANY CABOOSES is a compilation of data, photos and drawings from numerous collections.  Research for this project began nearly ten years ago.  Thanks for stopping by the web site; I hope you enjoy the book.