The ''King Coal'' was a

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self pr ...

operated by the

Reading Railroad The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly calle ...

between

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and

Shamokin, Pennsylvania Shamokin (; Saponi Algonquian languages, Algonquian ''Schahamokink'', meaning "place of eels") (Unami language, Lenape Indian language: Shahëmokink) is a city in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United Sta ...

. The train was launched in the late 1930s, as part of Reading's introduction of streamlined trains, with equipment rebuilt by the railroad specifically for the service. In its latter years it was truncated to Pottsville on weekends. Due to declining demand for passenger rail travel as automobiles became more prevalent, the ''King Coal'' was discontinued on June 28, 1963.

References

Reading Company Named passenger trains of the United States Passenger rail transportation in Pennsylvania Railway services discontinued in 1963 Transportation in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania Shamokin, Pennsylvania {{US-rail-transport-stub