 From Reading, traffic could either pass north to Auburn and thence over the Schuylkill and Susquehanna, or west over the Lebanon Valley Railroad to Harrisburg.The distance cut off by the direct route from Port Clinton to Allentown was minimal, so when the Reading gained control of the Allentown RR on July 12, 1860, it saw no reason to complete it.The Reading briefly considered a revival of the project in 1869, but on May 1, 1869, it obtained a lease of the East Penn.