The museum collection includes a wide variety of steam locomotives -- arguably the most historic collection found in the United States. An HO scale layout operates on the 2nd floor, along with a display of vintage railroad station clocks. A small movie theater shows movies. There are also extensive outdoor collections of engines, cars, cranes, and other railroad equipment. Diesel-powered, 3-mile round trip train rides are also offered on Saturdays & Sundays. Trips use vintage diesels as motive power. Be sure to check the official B&O Museum web site for details.
During the winter of 2002-2003, a heavy snowfall collapsed the roof of the roundhouse/museum. The museum had been closed until November, 2004 during which time repairs were made. photo photo
Most of the photos shown on the page are from my visit to the museum in 1992. More detailed information is available from the official B&O Railroad Museum web site.
Unlike most roundhouses, where there is a turntable and an arc-shaped
building (the roundhouse) built near the turntable pit, this roundhouse
completely surrounds the turntable. In fact, the turntable is inside the
building. This roundhouse has often been referred to the closest thing in
the country to "an industrial cathedral." Trains magazine listed it
as one of the top ten shrines of American railroading.
The roundhouse was designed by noted Baltimore architect Ephraim Francis
Baldwin, and built in 1884. Some of Baldwin's remaining architecture include
the B&O warehouse at Camden Yards, the B&O stations at Laurel,
Rockville, Gaithersburg, Sykesville (now a restaurant bearing his name), his
masterpiece at Point of Rocks, and also the station at Oakland, in Garrett
County, MD. Around the museum we call the building "Baldwin's Cathedral."
Baldwin was a devout Roman Catholic, and his great dream was to build a
cathedral for the City of Baltimore. Unfortunately, the Basilica of the
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built in 1821, and the Cathedral of
Mary our Queen would not be built until the 1950's. It is said that Baldwin
realized this, and since this was to be the largest building he would ever
be called upon to design, he threw all his ecclesiastical zeal into it.
It is ironic, indeed, that it has become a holy shrine of railroading.
-- Information provided by Kevin Gillespie.
In this picture, you
can see C&O Kanawha 2705 on the left.
Of all of the roundhouses I have seen, this is the only one where the floor
"is clean enough to eat off of". You can see the turntable in the foreground.
Surrounding the turntable is a collection of historic equipment including:
Big, unique, and impressive C&O steam is on display at the B&O museum.
490 is the sole surviver of only four streamlined Hudson type (4-6-4)
locomotives owned by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. It was rebuilt by
the C&O in 1946 from a Pacific type (4-6-2) locomotive. The original
Pacific was built by the Richmond division of the American Locomotive
Company (ALCO) in 1926. 490 was donated to the Baltimore & Ohio Museum
in Baltimore, MD in 1971 from the C&O Historical Collection. It is also
the only surviving streamlined (shrouded) Hudson. Some may call this ugly.
I call it classic and am thrilled that it has been saved in its streamlined
livery from the scrapper's torch.
This is one of only two remaining Alleghenies
(2-6-6-6). The Alleghenies have the distinction of being the heaviest steam
locomotives ever built in the United States (778,000lbs). They also have the
highest horsepower rating (7,500 @40MPH) of any steam locomotive (even higher
than that of the Big Boys). The location of this
locomotive prevented me from getting a better side-view photo. If I had, you
would see that the tender has a six-wheel lead truck and an eight-wheel
trailing truck.
Upon retirement, 1604 was sent to the scrap lines behind the diesel shops at Russell, KY. It was donated to the Roanoke Transportation Museum circa 1969. At Roanoke, 1604 was displayed next to N&W 1218. On November 4th, 1985, it was partially damaged in a flood (N&W 1218 was gone by this time). During that flood, it almost turned over when the ground was washed out from under it! (photo) Fortunately, it leaning up against an overhead bridge pier which prevented it from falling any further. The NS did a cosmetic overhaul on 1604 at the Roanoke Shops before for it was sent (around 1987) to Baltimore to be displayed as the centerpiece of the Mt. Clare Junction shopping center which was adjacent to the B&O Museum. The shopping center was literally built around 1604. In 1989, the failing shopping center decided that 1604 was too big and decided to donate her to the B&O Museum. 1604 was moved from the mall onto B&O Museum property in early 1990 by SW-1 Pere Marquette 11. During the early 1990s, there was a rumor going around that the CSXT was considering starting their own steam excursion program. They reportedly sent some mechanics to check the condition of 1604 to see if it was feasible to restore it to operating condition! Today, the cab has been cosmetically restored and lighting has been placed in the firebox so that it can be viewed. It has also been moved indoors with a handicap accessible ramp added.
For a smaller articulated, this locomotive sure has an impressive look to
it. The air pumps on the smokebox give it a massive looking face --
sometimes called "the C&O look". This is 1309, a C&O class H-6 2-6-6-2.
It was the last steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works (1949).
This is one of 12 surviving C&O Kanawhas (this is
the C&O name for the 2-8-4 wheel arrangement). This class of 2-8-4s is
almost identical to the Berkshires on the NYC&StL, Pere Marquette, W&LE, VGN,
and RF&P.
This is a pair of B&O locomotives represent the only large B&O steam left in
the country (inside the roundhouse are smaller and older representatives of
B&O steam). The one on the left (#5300) is named "President Washington"
(the B&O painted all 20 Pacifics of this class olive green and named
them after the first twenty one presidents of the United States -- one
locomotive carried the name "President Adams" which represented both
John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams). The locomotive on the right
is #4500, a class Q3 Mikado. It was the first locomotive designed by
the USRA. The roundhouse can be seen in
the background.
This Reading T-1 (2101) was rescued from a junk
yard in Baltimore and restored to operating condition. Once owned by Ross
Rowland, it was used for about two years as the Chessie Steam
Special, honoring the 150th anniversary of B&O. It was painted in Chessie
System colors, and pulled 18-20 cars. It was also used as one of the three
locomotives used to pull the "American Freedom
Train" throughout the country in 1976. On March 7, 1979, while being
stored one winter in a Chessie System roundhouse in Silver Grove, KY, 2101
was severely damaged in a fire (along with an auxiliary tender from a NYC
Mohawk which is now at the National
NYC Railroad Museum in Elkhart, IN). 2101 was cosmetically restored and
placed here at its current location on Labor Day, 1979, in exchange for
C&O 614.
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B&O EA #51 (with a B&O GP hiding behind it) Wes Barris photo |
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PRR GG1 #4876. 4876 is best known for crashing in Washington Union Station in 1953. 4876 is stored off the property until she can get a proper cosmetic restoration. |
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PRR GG1 #4890. In 1995, 4890 was sent to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, WI in exchange for a Fairbanks Morse H12-44. Wes Barris photo |
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WM BL-2 #81 Wes Barris photo |
| The following diesel-electrics are operational at the museum. | |
|---|---|
| Pere Marquette SW-1 #11 | |
| B&O SW9 #633 | |
| B&O GP-7 #5605 | |
| Western Maryland F-7A #236 | |
| B&O passenger GP-9 #6607 | |
| B&O GP30 #6944 | |
| B&O SD-35 #7402 | |
| CSX (B&O) GP-38 #9699 (3802) (1982 "All-American Diesel) | |
| This page last modified: Wednesday, 04-Jun-2008 19:32:06 CDT. | [Contact] | All material © 1999-2008 SteamLocomotive.com |
