During the 1893 U.S. stock-market panic, which railroad company’s bankruptcy helped trigger the crisis?

The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad’s bankruptcy helped trigger the Panic of 1893 in the United States.

The railroad, commonly known as the Reading Railroad, entered receivership in February 1893 after carrying heavy debt and struggling with falling revenues. Its failure intensified doubts about the health of other railroads and banks. The crisis soon spread through financial markets, businesses, and the wider economy.

The Panic of 1893 was also connected to the collapse of the National Cordage Company, weakness in the railroad sector, and concern about the U.S. government’s silver policy. Several hundred banks failed, and unemployment rose sharply during the ensuing depression.

The Reading Railroad is often confused with the Northern Pacific Railway, whose failure was central to the Panic of 1893’s later Wall Street turmoil. The crisis eventually contributed to the political rise of William Jennings Bryan and the 1896 presidential campaign.