The railroad was originally chartered on September 19, 1891, to connect Brookside (the site of a large colliery served by the Reading) with Lykens.

[1] The line was opened on July 1, 1892, from Lykens to a point on the Reading known as Williams Valley Junction.

[2] The railroad owned three passenger cars in 1894;[3] these were presumably used to operate "miner's trains" for the colliery workers, as was done on the connecting Reading lines.

About this time, the Reading discontinued passenger service on its connecting lines, and presumably on the Williams Valley as well.

[1] From Williams Valley Junction, located high on Big Lick Mountain north of Tower City, the Williams Valley Railroad switched back to the west to a point north of Reinerton.