Columbia & Reading

Company History: The CORY was launched in 2004 to save an old one mile Reading branch in Columbia, Pennsylvania. The line had been operated by Middletown & Hummelstown for a number of years but was abandoned when the main customer stopped receiving railcars. A scrap dealer on the line intervened and took possession of the railroad, saving it from conversion to a “trail.” It took him six years to get the line into shape and reinstall the interchange switch with Norfolk Southern. Service to the scrap yard resumed in 2010. Other industries in town have since expressed an interest in rail service.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.