Berks County, Pennsylvania
Train Rides in Reading & Berks County, Pennsylvania
Three heritage operators inside a 45-minute drive — a Secret Valley scenic line out of Boyertown, working steam in Kempton, and the Reading Company yard at Hamburg.
Read the full history
Heritage story
The Reading Railroad
One of the four or five most important railroads in American history, largely forgotten outside rail circles.
Read the history →Colebrookdale, Kempton, Hamburg. Three heritage railroads inside a rough 30-mile triangle in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The Colebrookdale Railroad runs an 8.6-mile line between Boyertown and Pottstown along the Manatawny Creek, on the old iron-ore corridor the Philadelphia & Reading absorbed in the nineteenth century. The Wanamaker Kempton & Southern operates a 3-mile stretch beside the Ontelaunee Creek at Kempton, chartered in 1963 by a group who bought the track for $65,000 to save a Reading branch from scrap. The Reading Railroad Heritage Museum keeps Reading Company rolling stock in Hamburg. Colebrookdale runs dining and parlor cars on a tourist line revived in October 2014. WK&S rolls Sundays May through November, with steam locomotive No. 2 acquired in 1970. The Hamburg museum is community-scale, still growing. Ride two in a weekend and the third is a short drive.
Heritage railroads in Reading & Berks County
More Rides in Berks
Beyond the three stations
Museums & Model Railroads
IndoorsThe nation's premier single-railroad preservation center, with an indoor exhibit hall and an outdoor yard of 70+ pieces of Reading rolling stock including GP-30 No. 5513.
Open Saturdays year-round (closed mid-Jan to early March), Sundays seasonally.
Visit site →Founded 1949, with the rideable 15-inch gauge Laurel Run Miniature Railroad, dual-gauge live steam, and three massive indoor O, On3, and HO layouts.
Spring, fall, and winter open houses plus monthly public run days.
Visit site →County-run HO-scale display inside the historic generator station on the Gring's Mill bridge along the Tulpehocken Creek.
December only, during the annual Holiday Lights program.
Visit site →Eat & Drink Trackside
RefuelCraft brewery and gastropub inside the restored 1930 Franklin Street Station — original terrazzo floors, terra cotta walls, and marble ticket counters, with active freight rolling past the platform windows.
Open Tue–Sun. The station itself is a preserved Reading Company landmark restored by BARTA.
Visit site →Railway-themed coffee house and diner directly across from the Colebrookdale Railroad terminal, with trackside outdoor seating.
Open daily for breakfast and lunch.
Visit site →Ice cream and local wine served from a converted vintage passenger car parked in the Boyertown rail yard, in partnership with Ridgewood Winery.
Seasonal; weekends late spring through summer. Confirm current hours on the Colebrookdale site.
Visit site →Watch the Trains
Railfan spotsThe county's premier train-watching spot near the Dosie Dough parking area on West Penn Avenue, where NS Harrisburg Line traffic converges toward Reading Yard — roughly 30 freights a day.
Stay at least 25 feet from all tracks and equipment; never enter the right-of-way.
Visit site →Public areas around the 2016-built excursion station offer safe views of RBMN and Norfolk Southern interchange operations.
Stay at least 25 feet from all tracks; active yard areas are off-limits.
Visit site →The public platform at the restored 1927 granite station gives classic architectural sightlines for mainline freight on the former Lebanon Valley line.
Open daily; stay at least 25 feet from the tracks.
Visit site →Public viewing of freight traffic on the Blandon Low Grade line bypassing the city, beside a surviving 1905 wooden depot.
View from public roadways and municipal parking; 25-foot rule applies.
Visit site →Historic Depots of the Reading
Still standingRestored 1927 native granite-and-limestone depot from the Lebanon Valley Branch, now a civic center and archive run by the Heidelberg Heritage Society.
Open for scheduled community events and tours.
Visit site →1869 wood-frame depot, now the operating headquarters, ticket office, and boarding platform for the Allentown & Auburn Railroad.
Active excursion terminal, open on operating days.
Visit site →1924 red-brick depot on Richmond Street beside Brown's Feed Mill, preserved in active commercial use; an older 1859 wooden station also survives on South Walnut Street.
Privately occupied; exterior viewable from public walkways.
Visit site →1905 wooden junction depot on active trackage, still used by the operating railroad for maintenance and communications — one of the county's last working wooden stations.
Interior closed to the public; exterior viewable from public roads.
Visit site →1884 wood-frame depot on the old Reading mainline at 379 Main Street, restored as a private residence.
Private residence — please view respectfully from the street.
Visit site →Surviving 1888 wood-frame station still in active use as an excursion stop on the WK&S Railroad.
Accessible during scheduled WK&S operating days.
Visit site →Upcoming in Reading & Berks County
No confirmed excursions on the calendar right now. Operator pages have the latest schedules.
Planning a Berks County train weekend
A Berks weekend fits. Boyertown to Kempton is roughly 30 miles up US 100 and PA 143, about 45 minutes if the roads behave. Kempton to Hamburg drops another 10 miles west on PA 143 — 15 or 20 minutes coming down off Blue Mountain. Colebrookdale runs on weekends year-round; the Wanamaker Kempton & Southern operates Sundays May through November only, so pair them accordingly. Plan Colebrookdale for a Saturday, WK&S for Sunday morning, and stop through the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum in Hamburg on the drive back.
Why heritage rail runs here
Berks County was Reading Company country. Both surviving heritage lines here trace back to the Philadelphia & Reading, and the Hamburg museum takes its name from the same road. Colebrookdale’s route, incorporated in 1865, opened on September 6, 1869 as a branch to move iron ore from the Manatawny to the Reading main; the Reading absorbed the parent Colebrookdale RR in December 1945, and Berks County bought the corridor back in 2009 to prevent abandonment. The Kempton railroad was chartered in 1870 as the Berks County Railroad, folded into the P&R as the Schuylkill and Lehigh line, and preserved by volunteers in 1963. That Reading thread is what ties the three operators together as one region.
Where to stay + rent a car
Rent a car for a Berks weekend
Boyertown, Kempton and Hamburg are spread across roughly 30 miles of two-lane roads. A rental picked up at one of the Philadelphia-area airports keeps all three depots within an easy day’s drive.
Compare rental cars for a Berks County road trip →Bookings made through this link support USA Train Rides at no extra cost to you.
Regional context, wider itineraries, and lodging beyond rail: Plan more of your Berks trip with Experience Berks (Experience Berks).
Source links are provided for trip details. Confirm changing schedules and hours directly before travel.