Editing Reading Terminal (section)

== Train Shed ==

Wilson Brothers & Company engineered the train shed that extended behind the headhouse, creating a single-span structure that covered the platform and track area without intermediate columns. This engineering achievement—a clear span of 266 feet—ranked among the largest in the world when completed. The shed's arched roof, supported by massive iron trusses, created a dramatic interior volume that expressed the railroad age's technological ambitions. Natural light flooded through the roof's glass panels, illuminating the platform area below.<ref name="webster"/>

The train shed represented state-of-the-art engineering that Philadelphia's engineering firms had pioneered. Wilson Brothers, among the city's most prolific engineering practices, designed numerous industrial and transportation structures that shaped Philadelphia and other American cities. The Reading Terminal shed demonstrated their mastery of large-scale iron construction, skills developed through decades of industrial building. The shed's survival—when similar structures elsewhere have been demolished—makes it an important document of Victorian engineering capability.<ref name="gallery"/>