This month Reading and Northern Railroad surpassed one million tons of anthracite moved over its railroad for the first time in its 33-year history.

Ever since December of 1990 when Andy Muller Jr. purchased from Conrail the rail lines serving Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal region it has been Muller’s goal to exceed a million tons of anthracite moved over the tracks.

When Muller, now owner/CEO, acquired the lines he began investing in the properties.

He brought the tracks back into operating condition and little by little he acquired freight cars to handle the coal business. And from the beginning he called the railroad “The Road of Anthracite” which was shown on RBMN locomotives starting in 1991.

Upon reaching this goal Muller said, “Owning this rail line has been a dream come true. And watching our company grow has been the accomplishment of my lifetime. We now own over 400 miles of track, 1800 freight cars, more than 65 locomotives and employ over 350 full- and part-time employees. It’s thanks to those great employees that we have now accomplished that seemingly unattainable goal.”

RBMN President Wayne Michel noted, “It is thanks to Andy Muller’s laser focus on growing our business that we have been able to cross the million-ton threshold. Andy pursued this business like a true entrepreneur. He risked millions of dollars in buying hundreds of coal cars and investing in facilities both on and off the railroad, which was unprecedented in the industry.”

Reading & Northern Railroad, with its corporate headquarters in Port Clinton, is a privately held railroad company serving over 80 customers in nine eastern Pennsylvania counties (Berks, Bradford, Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Northumberland, Schuylkill, and Wyoming).

It has expanded its operations over the last 40 years; and now handles nearly 40,000 carloads of freight (which removes over 200,000 trucks from the highway), while its passenger department handles 300,000 riders annually.

Reading & Northern operates its freight and steam- and diesel-powered passenger excursions over 400 miles of track, owns almost 1,800 freight cars, and employs over 350 dedicated people. Reading & Northern has been repeatedly honored as one of the premier railroads in the nation, including being named Regional Railroad of the Year in 2020 by Railway Age magazine.