Reading & Northern Railroad, Pennsylvania’s largest privately-owned railroad, announces a new customer to the railroad, Stella-Jones Corporation.

Stella-Jones Corporation, a distributor of utility poles, is now operating a new distribution yard in Morea.

Stella-Jones Corporation has been operating from leased property in Hazleton. When Stella-Jones Corporation learned its lease would not be extended it began a two-year search for a new location.

Reading & Northern Railroad, working with Ettore DiCasimirro, the owner of Skytop Fuels and the owner of hundreds of acres of land along Reading & Northern Railroad tracks and I-81 in Morea, offered Stella-Jones Corporation a suitable site and Stella-Jones Corporation was able to make a long-term deal to set up their operation in Morea.

The site was prepped this year through the winter and on March 21, SJC received and unloaded their first rail car for pole inventory. The next day, three additional cars arrived for unloading. More cars are in transit as the Morea site ramps up and the Hazleton site is closed down.

The distribution yard will serve utility customers throughout Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. Poles will come into the yard via rail and be delivered to the customers and job sites by truck. This location in Morea is ideal due to the rail service provided by Reading & Northern Railroad and the proximity to major highways.