A westbound Conrail manifest approaches Titus as it occupies the connector between the former Reading main line and the Reading Belt Line. In the distance, the train can be seen rounding the curve at Klapperthal Junction, where it is diverging from the main line. The presence of this connector gave the dispatchers operational flexibility, but made it difficult to predict which way a train would go to traverse the two parallel lines between Birdsboro and Reading. Behind the photographer is Metropolitan Edison Company’s Titus steam generating station, which will burn the coal that has been dumped from the empty hoppers visible here. The plant closed in late 2013, and put yet another nail in coal’s coffin.
