[2] Operated as a unit of the Reading Railroad, the Pickering Valley was not a great success; passenger service was discontinued in 1934, and most of the line was abandoned in 1948.

[10] Passenger service on the Pickering Valley Branch was discontinued in 1934[6]: 20  after it made only $13.10 in seven months,[11] and the portion of the line from Kimberton to Byers was abandoned in 1948.

The remaining track served the Phoenix steel mill (a portion was also briefly used by the Valley Forge Scenic Railroad[12]) until abandoned by Conrail (successor to the Reading) in 1982.

A torrential ("phenomenal"[19]) rainstorm had washed out a portion of the track near Kimberton, and a passenger train from Phoenixville, carrying about 130 people, including many returning from a Pennypacker family reunion held on the hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Germantown,[20] ran into the washout in the dark.

[24] On August 4, 1895, the evening train to Phoenixville, carrying members of the Salvation Army returning from a meeting, struck a cow near Kimberton and was derailed.