Baltimore Belt Line pulled by horses along Pratt Street between the B&O's Camden Station and the PW&B's President Street Station. In 1884, the PW&B was purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), a major rival of the B&O, and the PRR cut off the connection. The B&O then proceeded to build its Philadelphia Branch (formally known as the Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad) to connect to the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, in turn connecting with the Central Railroad of New Jersey for B&O's New York service. The combination also provided a connection to the Staten Island Railway, which served as the terminal switching company for
Reading, Pennsylvania to Eastern Pennsylvania, and lent its name to the now-defunct Reading Railroad, which transported anthracite coal from the Pennsylvania Coal Region to the eastern United States via the Port of Philadelphia. Reading Railroad is one of the four railroad properties in the classic United States version of the "Monopoly" board game. Reading was one of the first localities where outlet shopping became a tourist industry. It has been known as "The Pretzel City", because of numerous local pretzel bakeries. Currently, Bachman, Dieffenbach, Tom Sturgis, and Unique Pretzel bakeries call the Reading area home. According to the 2010 census, Reading has