The Reading, like many other railroads, published a "Summary of Equipment" document on an annual basis, listing all motive power and rolling equipment owned by the railroad, for both freight and passenger service. From these documents, one can ascertain the mix of different types of equipment - for example, the mix of 40' vs 50' boxcars, etc. They're also useful for developing your locomotive fleet on a proportional basis to get the right mix of manufacturers, road vs yard units, etc.

This PDF file is a photocopy of the Reading Company entry in the Official Railway Equipment Register. Dated October, 1975, it is an incredibly useful tool in learning more about the Reading's fleet of rolling stock, including the number of cars in certain classes (as well as their road numbers), freight car dimensions, etc. Source material provided by Contributing Editor John Caples (rdg1187prr).

This PDF file is a scan of the Reading Company entry in the Official Railway Equipment Register from 1971. Source material provided by Mitch Kennedy (mitch-from-maine).

This PDF file is a scan of the Reading Company entry in the Official Railway Equipment Register from 1944. Source material provided by Mitch Kennedy (mitch-from-maine).

A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet containing tonnage rating information for the Reading Company locomotive fleet in 1972. The spreadsheet has 3 tabs: Westbound, Eastbound, and Fast Freight. The data outlines the tonnage that a single unit of each class of locomotive could haul on a particular grade while maintaining the speed indicated. To increase the rate of speed or the tonnage of the train, additional units would be required. You will note that the ratings for similar classes of locomotives are significantly lower in fast freight service, this is in order to maintain a higher rate of speed for this class of train. Regarding the left-hand column labeled "Factor Tons per Car": This rating was a method of taking into account the number of grades and curves on a particular line. Curves can cause resistance just as grades do. Another issue that the "Factor Tons" rating takes into account is the proximity of grades to one another. In other words, the topograhy of some lines allowed trains to get a "running start" when tackling a grade, and this momentum would help to mitigate the weight resistance of the trains, as opposed to some other lines where the train encountered more of a "direct assault" on a grade. This data can be used on your layout to allocate sufficient motive power, in both number and horsepower, to haul your trains. You could "selectively compress" the weight of the cars to be hauled based on the train lengths you're using, so that for example, a 20-car train would weigh 6000 tons and thus require either multiple units or higher-horsepower locomotives to capture a more prototypical feel (even though one of today's higher-end model locomotives could likely haul the 20-car train unassisted). In addition, if the line you're modeling has a high "Factor Tons" rating, that would be indicative of either a somewhat shorter train or more motive power.

Mitch Kennedy has provided this scan of a map or diagram of the Reading's facilities at Port Richmond in Philadelphia, taken from a Reading Company sales publication. This would be useful for individuals modeling the waterfront, as well as helping with yard design, as one can visualize the flow of rail traffic based on the layout of the trackage.