The collection consists of graphic materials relating to the Reading Company and its predecessor, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company.

The bulk of the photographs in the Reading Company collection show views along trackage and work being done on the tracks, views of stations, bridges, buildings owned or utilized by the company and assorted locomotives and rolling stock. Right of way images from within Philadelphia focus on construction projects, as do the majority of the images taken along the company's main line and branches outside the city. Notable among these are photographs of the Manayunk elevated construction, the construction of the low grade freight line in Wayne, and the change of alignment of the Schuylkill River at Port Clinton, change of alignment on the Catawissa Railroad, eliminations of grade crossings at Soderton and Sellersville Photographs of bridges, stations and other Reading Company buildings and facilities (for example, coal yards, freight yards, grain elevators) are included. These photographss include structures in New Jersey as well as those along the Reading's lines in southeastern and central Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Notable among these are construction views of the Kaighn's Point Terminal in Camden and the North Broad Street Station in Philadelphia. Trains are included incidentally in all of these categories. Another file in the collection, however, consists of about 100 undated photos of specific locomotives and rolling stock, some of which did not, in fact, operate on the Reading Company's lines. Also part of the collection are a small number of employee photographs, as well as miscellaneous images including dams, the Schuylkill Canal, Hog Island, and properties owned by other railroads. Lastly, there is a small group of stereographs including a dozen views from Cape May.

These images represent only a fragment of the Reading Company's activities and property holdings during this period. The company's photo archive has been lost or scattered through dispersal.