Which U.S. railroad’s bankruptcy helped trigger the Panic of 1893, one of America’s major stock-market crashes?

The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad’s bankruptcy helped trigger the Panic of 1893, one of America’s major stock-market crashes.

The railroad, commonly known as the Reading Railroad, entered receivership in February 1893 after years of financial difficulty and heavy debt. Its collapse damaged confidence in railroad securities and helped expose wider weaknesses in banks, businesses, and credit markets.

The crisis intensified after the National Cordage Company failed in May 1893. Bank runs spread, railroad companies entered bankruptcy, and unemployment rose sharply. The panic contributed to a severe depression in the United States and became a major political issue during the 1890s.

The Reading Railroad should not be confused with the Northern Pacific Railway, whose financial problems were closely associated with the Panic of 1873. The Pennsylvania Railroad was also a major company of the era, but it was not the railroad whose 1893 failure is commonly identified as an early trigger of this panic.