It was part of the Reading Company system from its completion until 1976, when it was conveyed to Conrail.

It was extended further west to Hummelstown on July 30, and finally to Harrisburg on January 18, 1858.

[3] The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad acquired the company and its assets on March 20, 1858.

[5] The line was conveyed to the Norfolk Southern Railway in the 1999 Conrail split.

The most famous service on this route was the Queen of the Valley, a joint venture of the Reading and the CNJ.