The B&O Railroad Museum is a museum and historic railway station exhibiting historic railroad equipment in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) company originally opened the museum on July 4, 1953, with the name of the Baltimore & Ohio Transportation Museum. It has been called one of the most significant collections of railroad treasures in the world and has the largest collection of 19th-century locomotives in the U.S.[3][4] The museum is located in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's old Mount Clare Station and adjacent roundhouse, and retains 40 acres of the B&O's sprawling Mount Clare Shops site, which is where, in 1829, the B&O began America's first railroad and is the oldest railroad manufacturing complex in the United States.[5]
Mount Clare is considered to be a birthplace of American railroading, as the site of the first regular railroad passenger service in the U.S., beginning on May 22, 1830.[6][7] It was also to this site that the first telegraph message, "What hath God wrought?" was sent on May 24, 1844, from Washington, D.C., using Samuel Morse's electric telegraph.[8][9]
The museum houses collections of 19th- and 20th-century artifacts related to America's railroads. The collection includes 250 pieces of railroad rolling stock, 15,000 artifacts, 5,000 cubic feet (140 m3) of archival material, four significant 19th-century buildings, including the historic roundhouse, and a mile of track, considered the most historic mile of railroad track in the United States. Train rides are offered on the mile of track on Wednesday through Sunday from April through December and on weekends in January. In 2002, the museum had 160,000 visitors annually.[3]
The museum also features an outdoor G-scale layout, two indoor HO scale model, and a wooden model train for children to climb on. From Thanksgiving through the New Year, local model railroad groups set up large layouts on the roundhouse floor and in select locations on the grounds of the museum. A museum store offers toys, books, DVDs, and other railroad-related items.
The museum and station were designated as a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1961.[1] In 2008, the museum won three awards in Nickelodeon's Parents' Picks Awards in the categories of Best Museum for Little Kids, Best Indoor Playspace for Little Kids, and Best Indoor Playspace for Big Kids. Television and film actor Michael Gross is the museum's "celebrity spokesman".[10]
The museum definitively documented 24 Freedom Seekers that used the B&O Railroad on their journeys on the Underground Railroad – 8 of which traveled through the museum's historic site of Mount Clare. In 2021, the museum's Mount Clare Station building was designated as a National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom site.[11]
The museum also hosts an annual Day Out with Thomas event every year, complete with the train's excursion including a non-powered Thomas the Tank Engine replica.
History
The inaugural horse-drawn B&O train traveled the 13 miles (21 km) of the newly completed track from Mount Clare to Ellicott Mills (now Ellicott City, Maryland), on May 22, 1830, the first regular railroad passenger service in the U.S.[6] The existing Mount Clare station brick structure was constructed in 1851.[6] The adjacent roundhouse designed by Ephraim Francis Baldwin was built in 1884 to service the B&O's passenger cars.[3]
For much of its history, the B&O had been collecting locomotives and other artifacts from its history for public relations purposes. This collection was stored in various places until the railroad decided to centralize it in a permanent home. The car shop of the Mt. Clare Shops was chosen, and the new museum opened on July 4, 1953.
The museum ended up outliving its parent B&O Railroad, and was kept intact by both the Chessie System and CSX Corporation. In 1990, CSX deeded the property and collection to the newly formed, not-for-profit museum organization governed by an independent board of directors and provided it with a $5 million endowment. In 1999,[12] the museum became affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution.[13]
The museum on February 17, 2003, shortly after its blizzard-caused roof collapse
In the early morning of February 17, 2003, heavy snow from the Presidents' Day Storm collapsed half of the roof of the museum's roundhouse.[7] Although the structure's central support columns remained standing, the supporting iron struts and ties of the destroyed roofing sections failed under the snow load. The museum suffered heavy damage not only to the roundhouse itself but also to the collection within the roundhouse. Some of the items were damaged beyond repair. Reporting on the devastation the following day, The Baltimore Sun said, "...hours after the collapse, columns of mangled steel stuck out from the roundhouse ... Locomotives and passenger cars in the museum's collection, some dating from the 1830s, could be seen covered with snow and debris."[3] The roundhouse, with a newly repaired roof, reopened to the public on November 13, 2004, and the damaged locomotives and cars were surrounded by a plexiglass barrier. As of September 2015, all damaged exhibits have been restored to their original appearance.
After the roof collapse, subsequent fundraising and restoration allowed the museum to upgrade many of its facilities. In 2005 the museum opened a new service facility west of the roundhouse for restoration of historical equipment and maintenance of active equipment.
Collection
The B&O Railroad Museum possesses the oldest and most comprehensive American railroad collections in the world.[14] Dating from the beginning of American railroading, the collection contains locomotives and rolling stock, historic buildings, railroading artifacts, and an extensive archives and research library that documents the impact of American railroading and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad on American economics, culture, and history.
The collection is being made available through an online searchable database.
Notable rolling stock
The museum's rolling stock collection include both originals and replicas, some of which were built by the B&O for its centennial "Fair of the Iron Horse" in 1927. Collection highlights include:
Baltimore & Ohio 0-4-0 "Tom Thumb" 1927 replica. Had been refurbished by the Strasburg Rail Road and restored to operating condition for 2004 "Fair of the Iron Horse." Only operated a handful of times, at most, after refurbishment. On display in the roundhouse, in non-operational condition. In need of Federally mandated boiler inspection to operate again. Last operated circa Christmas 2013.
Baltimore & Ohio 0-4-0 #8 "John Hancock" built in 1836.
Baltimore & Ohio 4-2-0 #13 "Lafayette" 1927 replica. In the past, it was occasionally fired up and operated by the museum for demonstration purposes, currently on display in the roundhouse, in non-operational condition. In need of federally mandated boiler inspection to operate again. Last operated circa October 2015
Cumberland Valley 2-2-2T #13 "Pioneer" built in 1851. On loan.
Baltimore & Ohio 4-6-0 #305: (Built in 1869 at Mt. Clare, Mother Hubbard design based on Ross Winans' design. Previously #217.)
Baltimore & Ohio 4-6-0 #147 "Thatcher Perkins" built in 1863.
Baltimore & Ohio 0-8-0 #57 "Memnon" built in 1848.
Baltimore and Ohio 2-8-0 #545 A.J. Cromwell built in 1888.
Baltimore and Ohio 2-6-0 #600 "J. C. Davis" built at Mt. Clare in 1875, which won first prize at the 1876 Centennial Exposition.[16]
St. Elizabeth's Hospital 0-4-0T #4: one of the last Porter steam locomotives built, built in 1950 for use at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington DC. Later ran at Ft. Eustis then in storage at Cass Scenic Railroad. Arrived at B&O Museum in 1980s. Restored to operating condition in 2002 and re-restored in 2005 after suffering damage in a roof collapse. Out of Service for a 1,472-day inspection, last operated circa Fall 2015. Coal burner.
Clinchfield Railroad 4-6-0 #1 built in 1882. The engine was used for excursions from 1968 until 1979 + 1980 Clean ups.
B&O 0-4-0 "Grasshopper" (1832)
Baltimore and Ohio 0-4-0 "Grasshopper", built in 1832 by Phineas Davis and Israel Gartner, one of the oldest surviving American locomotives
Baltimore and Ohio 4-6-2#5300 "President Washington" built in 1927.
Baltimore and Ohio 2-8-2#4500, USRA Light Mikado and the world's first USRA locomotive, built in 1918.
Chesapeake and Ohio 2-6-6-6 #1604: One of two surviving "Allegheny"-class locomotives built in 1941.
American Freedom Train4-8-4 #1 (Reading #2101) built in 1945. One of three steam engines used on American Freedom Train of 1975–1976. Used on Chessie System Steam Specials in 1977–1978.
Greenbrier, Cheat and Elk River Shay #1 built in 1905.
Chessie System GP15T 1507. Built in 1982 and was just recently acquired. To be restored.
Conrail SW7 8905. Built in 1950.
Exhibitions
The B&O Railroad Museum has over nine public acres of historic buildings and grounds with exhibitions and collection items on display. Some highlighted exhibitions include:
The Roundhouse: The First Century of Railroading
The First American Locomotives: The Fair of the Iron Horse
Civil War: The War Came by Train
North Car Shop: 20th Century American Railroading
Bank of America Model Train Gallery
Smithsonian Model Train Collection
Dining on the B&O: The China Collection
Cool Runnings on the Railroad: The American Refrigeration Car
National Park Service's Network to Freedom listing
References
^ a bJoseph S. Mendinghall, Historian. "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination: The Baltimore & Ohio Transportation Museum". National Park Service. Retrieved June 14, 2008. and Accompanying photos
^"B&O Transportation Museum & Mount Clare Station". Maryland's National Register Properties. Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
^ a b c dJamie Siegel & Frederick Rasmussen (February 18, 2003). "Snow causes roof of railroad museum to partially cave in". The Baltimore Sun. p. 9A. Retrieved October 27, 2008.
^Yearby, Jean (1984). "Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Mount Clare Shops" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. p. 1. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
^ a b cHarwood, Herbert W. Jr. (1979). Impossible Challenge. Baltimore, Md.: Bernard, Roberts and Co. pp. 12–21. ISBN 0-934118-17-5.
^ a b"About the Museum: History of the Museum". Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum. 2005. Archived from the original on January 31, 2008. Retrieved February 13, 2008.
^Stover, John F. (1987). History of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press. pp. 59–60. ISBN 0-911198-81-4.
^Samuel F. B. Morse Papers: Invention of the Telegraph"
^"What's Here– A message from Michael Gross". B&O Railroad Museum. 2009. Archived from the original on September 13, 2009. Retrieved October 6, 2009.
^"Explore Network to Freedom Listings – Underground Railroad (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
^"History of the Museum". B&O Railroad Museum. October 23, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
^"Smithsonian Affiliiations: Affiliate Detail: Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum". Smithsonian Institution. 2016. Archived from the original on November 29, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
^"Collections". B&O Railroad Museum. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
^"American Artifacts: History of the B&O Railroad". C-SPAN. May 5, 2013. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
^"Save America's Treasures" (B&O Railroad Museum), December 2009.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum.
Official website
B&O Railroad Museum: Ellicott City Station
Baltimore, Maryland, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
B & O Transportation Museum & Mount Clare Station, Baltimore City, including photo in 1992, at Maryland Historical Trust
Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. MD-6, "Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Mount Clare Passenger Car Shop, Southwest corner of Pratt & Poppleton Streets, Baltimore, Independent City, MD", 25 photos, 1 color transparency, 3 measured drawings, 4 data pages, 4 photo caption pages
HAER No. MD-6-A, "Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Mount Clare Shops, South side of Pratt Street between Carey & Poppleton Streets, Baltimore, Independent City, MD", 66 photos, 4 data pages, 4 photo caption pages
Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. MD-852, "Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Mount Clare Station, 500 block West Pratt Street, Baltimore, Independent City, MD", 1 photo, supplemental material
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum at Octrianguy.com