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The Trip East to West Virginia, Featuring the B&O Railroad Museum and Finishing Baltimore Light Rail 5/15-17/2007

In January, I saw an advertisement for the "Cass 40th Railfan Weekend" in mid-May. Since I had never been to Cass Scenic Railway, I decided to go. Flying to Baltimore would mean that I could finally visit the B&O Railroad Museum. I sent away for tickets and bought a Cass 2006 Railfan Weekend DVD which was really impressed me. Flights from LAX were the cheapest so I thought I might as well try the Fly Away bus from LAUPT and I would connect to that bus by a connection from Metrolink 681. I worked the two weeks after the Million Mile rail trip and the day of my departure finally came.

I awoke on my 4,500th Day of Sobriety before driving to the Santa Ana station then took the elevator to get to Track 1 where I purchased my Metrolink ticket to Los Angeles. The train arrived a minute early and I boarded the cab car and dozed off and on to LAUPT, where I walked down the tunnel towards the MTA building following the signs to the LAX Flyaway Bus.

I went up the escalator to a waiting bus and purchased a round trip ticket for six dollars and boarded. We departed LAUPT a minute later, taking US 101 to the California 110 busway to California Highway 105 car pool lane. I saw four Green Line trolleys before we exited for the airport and was dropped off at Terminal 7 twenty-five minutes later. All I could think was how easy it was to get to LAX this morning and was really impressed by this service to the airport.

Security took less than five minutes then started the long walk to Gate 69B, arriving there at 6:15 AM. I relaxed doing some Sudoku puzzles as I waited for my flight. It was busy since Continental Airlines had to cancel a flight to Newark due to a windshield crack. United 946 to Dulles and Amsterdam was loaded on time but then sat at the gate for over forty-five minutes. There were plenty of unhappy airline passengers this morning.

I was boarded at 8:34 AM and relaxed on this B757 airplane in Seat 21A. We pulled away from the gate seven minutes early and while we were taxiing, it was announced that our flight might end up being thirty minutes late or even longer as we had to avoid some major thunderstorm cells. We took off at 9:22 AM and ascended into the "Friendly Skies". I had the worst child ever sitting next to me. After he had hit, kicked and thrown his bottle at me, his mother switched seats with another couple. Thank God I have the patience of Job.

After we crossed over the Colorado River, the film "Music and Lyrics" was shown, which was very good, after which I listened to Rush's "Snakes and Ladders" followed by Kansas "Live at the Whiskey", which took me most of the way to Baltimore. We touched down at 5:21 PM and proceeded to the gate.

Once off the airplane, I collected my luggage then went to Door 11 and boarded the rental car shuttle which took me to Enterprise where I received a silver Chevy Aveo LS. I drove to the Days Inn in Glen Burnie and checked in but did not go to my room. Instead, I drove to the Glen Burnie/Cromwell light rail station and parked in the large yard next to the MTA shop and used a ticketing machine. There was a large crowd waiting for a train to take them to a World Wrestling Entertainment event.

The MTA train arrived after a wait of 15 minutes. Everyone boarded and a few minutes later, we were on our way, stopping at Ferndale then we came to the junction of the Airport Line, and with that I had ridden every mile of the Baltimore Light Rail, having done the rest of the system in 2003. I detrained at Linthicum.

My trolley leaving Linthicum.

Next to arrive was a trolley from the Airport.

After I took this picture, two MTA fare inspectors told me that photography was not allowed. I said, "Thank you, as I did not know!" Another Airport Trolley arrived, followed by an out-of-service one. I boarded the third trolley which took me back to Glen Burnie, ending my riding of the MTA Light Rail. I drove across the street to KFC to get dinner then returned to the Days Inn and went to my room, finding a lake in the bathroom of Room 318. I called down to the office and they switched me to Room 319. I had my dinner, checked my e-mail then called home and Chris Parker before watching "Dancing with the Stars" then called it a night.

The B&O Railroad Museum is a museum exhibiting historic railroad equipment in Baltimore, Maryland, originally named the Baltimore & Ohio Transportation Museum when it opened on July 4, 1953. 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 United States. The museum is located in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's old Mount Clare Station and adjacent roundhouse, part of the B&O's sprawling Mount Clare Shops site begun in 1829, the oldest railroad manufacturing complex in the United States.

Mount Clare is considered to be a birthplace of American railroading, as the site of the first regular railroad passenger service in the United States, beginning on May 22, 1830. 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 F. B. Morse's invention.

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 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 weekends in January.

The museum also features an outdoor G-scale layout, an 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. 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".

The inaugural horse-drawn B&O train travelled the 13 miles of the newly completed track from Mount Clare to Ellicott Mills (now Ellicott City, Maryland), on May 22, 1830. The existing Mount Clare station brick structure was constructed in 1851. The adjacent roundhouse designed by Ephraim Francis Baldwin was built in 1884 to service the B&O's passenger cars.

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 and the car shop of the Mt. Clare Shops was chosen.

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, the museum became affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution.

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. 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." 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.

After the roof collapse, subsequent fund raising 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.

I arrived at 9:10 AM and started photographing the equipment in the East Yard.

Chesapeake and Ohio 2-6-6-2 1309 built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1949. It was actually the last Mallet ever constructed in the United States and the last domestic steam locomotive built by Baldwin. 1309 was built to a design refined by the C&O beginning with its first 2-6-6-2.

From the early 1900's into the 1920's, large numbers of Mallets were produced for American railroads. They could double the tractive effort available from non-articulated locomotives and eliminate the need for double heading. The C&O acquired the largest fleet of articulateds than any other railroad, mainly because of the nature of its core business: hauling heavy coal trains over the Allegheny Mountains to the east coast, requiring drag power rather than speed. When the last ten were delivered in 1949, the C&O owned two hundred and fifty-one 2-6-6-2s.

A Mallet locomotive reuses steam from the first set of cylinders in larger, lower pressure cylinders, at the front of the locomotive. This process, called compound compression, was first applied commercially by the Swiss engineer Anatole Mallet (1837-1919) in 1876 to small, 2 cylinder 0-4-2 tank locomotives for the Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz Railway in France. The H-6 is also articulated, another innovation introduced by Mallet: the rear engine is attached to the frame of the locomotive, while the front engine rides on a truck attached to the rear frame by a hinge so that it can swing from side to side as it handles curves.

Chesapeake & Ohio Railway 2-8-4 2705 built by American Locomotiave Company in 1943. They based its K-4 design on the Nickel Plate and Pere Marquette Berkshires, but the new design had improvements such as cast steel frames with integral cylinders, although war shortages meant economies had to be made, including steel bells instead of the usual brass. After the war, brass bells were retrofitted to the locomotives. There were inevitably problems for other railroads, of course, with the designation "Berkshire" and the locomotives were known as "Kanawhas" on the C&O, named after the river that cut through the railroad's operational heartland in West Virginia.

The K-4s were also known as "Big Mikes" by Chessie engineers because they were essentially a larger version of the USRA "Mikado" design. The first batch of Kanawhas were bought by the C&O to meet the fast freight schedules demanded by the war-time effort, but they were very powerful and considered all-purpose engines capable of hauling heavy coal and freight, as well as passenger trains. The locomotives operated over most of the C&O system, and the railroad rostered the largest number of the 2-8-4 type in the country, eventually acquiring ninety between 1943 and 1947.

The first Kanawha was retired in 1950, possibly as a result of a collision, but the remaining eighty-nine were not far behind. All had been retired by 1957 and the majority had been scrapped by 1961. 2705 was retired to Russell, Kentucky in 1955 and was donated to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in 1972.

Western Maryland Railway BL2 81 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1948. Fifty-eight BL2s were produced between 1948 and 1949 following the single BL1 EMD Demonstrator 499 built in 1947. The demonstrator was sold to the Chicago & Eastern Illinois, where it was renumbered 1602. Most of the production model BL2s were sold to eastern and mid western railroads. Unfortunately, the BL2's car body design also made it quite difficult to get at mechanical components inside the locomotive, which made it unpopular with maintenance crews.

"BL" stood for "branch line", as the BL2 was designed for lines with light traffic or limited axle loadings, as well as for switching. Since the engine did not occupy the entire width of the carbody, the hood was cut away and chamfered to give the crew a slightly better line of sight. However, there were no side walkways, which made it less useful as a switcher. Brakeman and switchman could not easily move from one point on the locomotive to another during switching operations.

Western Maryland slug 138T nee S-1 102 built by American Locomotive Company in 1941. It was one of two converted to "slugs" by the Western Maryland in 1962. A slug has no cab and its motors are powered from a coupled locomotive (usually referred to as "the mother") with a cab and engineer. 138T was originally mated with WM 81, with which it is on display.

Baltimore and Ohio SW900 9408 1956, nee Baltimore and Ohio 633 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1955. It was retired in 1991 and donated to the museum the following year then was restored to its original livery and number in 1994.

Railroad Passenger Cars, Inc., lounge car 2066 "Leonard J. Buxton", ex. Amtrak 6006, exx. Amtrak 4803, exxx. Seaboard Coast Line 5123, exxxx. Seaboard Air Line, nee Florida East Coast 60-seat coach "Vero Beach", built by Budd Company in 1939. This car operated in Chessie Commuter Service as coach RRP 6602 and even operated in the Chessie Steam Safety Express Train in 1980. RRP rebuilt the car to a full operating Amtrak-certified snack bar/lounge in 1981 and added full HEP and "Push-Pull" service. It operated in charter service with both Amtrak and MARC Commuter trains prior to RRP shutting down in 1994.

RRP donated the car to the museum with the only stipulation that it be maintained for operation. It is now used by B&O Railroad Museum as a stationary childrens' birthday party car.

Western Maryland RS-3 195 built by American Locomotive Company in 1953 and replaced the 2-8-0 Consolidation steam locomotives on the railroad's coal drags in West Virginia and, as well as switching, hauled other freight and passenger trains. 195 retired from service in 1976 and was stored in operable condition then after cosmetic repairs in Cumberland, was donated to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in 1976.

Patapsco and Black River Railroad VO-1000 332, nee Canton Railroad 30, built by Baldwin in 1944. The Canton Railroad was chartered in 1906 and tracks were laid between 1905 and 1914, with rail operations starting in 1907. It operated in eastern Baltimore City and Baltimore County. The P&BRR ran on Sparrows Point peninsula southeast of Baltimore, site of a Bethlehem Steel Corporation plant and served the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore and a number of local shipping operators.

BOMX {Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum} H-12-44 9733, ex. Miller Compressing Company 1200, ex. Central Wisconsin 1200, ex. Milwaukee Road 706 1959, nee Milwaukee Road 2321 built by Fairbanks-Morse in 1955.

Baltimore and Ohio lounge-observation car 3302 "Edward G. Hooper" 1941, nee B&O coach 5234 built by Pullman in 1923. The car served in that capacity, operating in many trains, until 1941 when it was pulled from service and converted to a flat-end observation/lounge car at the B&O's Mount Clare Shops in Baltimore for use on the 'Columbian' train which ran between Washington and Chicago. This car has the paired, narrow windows characteristic of all but the final equipment built by or for the B&O. Over the years, the car operated in many train sets, especially after the B&O acquired the newer, lightweight cars for the 'Columbian' in 1949. Unlike the other flat-end B&O observation cars in operation at the time, the 3302 had a diaphragm on the rear so that the car could also be used in mid-train service.

3302 was officially retired by the B&O in 1969, at which time the Baltimore Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society purchased the car for scrap value, to be used in their excursion operations. The car was given a fresh coat of B&O blue and gray paint, lettered for the Baltimore Chapter, and officially named the 'Edward G. Hooper' in honor of the chairman of the board of the NRHS at the time, and for his many years of work on the B&O Railroad. Many Baltimore Chapter volunteers spent much time in restoring the interior of the car, removing paint from the brass fittings of the light fixtures and woodwork and making other improvements where needed.

Edward G. Hooper entered the service of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in June 1904 as a clerk in the accounting department. In 1906 he transferred to the office of the secretary and became chief clerk to the secretary in 1939. In 1941 he was appointed assistant to the secretary, the post he held until his retirement from the B&O on March 31, 1954. Mr. Hooper joined the National Railway Historical Society in June 1936, and he was elected a national vice president in October of that year. He was one of the incorporators of the Society in 1937 and was also elected a director of the Baltimore Chapter at that time. He held that post until 1951. From 1943 until 1958, Mr. Hooper served as president of the Society and since that time he held the position of chairman of the board until his death on March 12, 1974, at the age of 90. During the many years that Mr. Hooper served the Society, he made many personal sacrifices for the organization to which he was totally dedicated. His death was a great loss to the Society and to all of those who knew him.

Car 3302 not only operated in several rail excursions during the final years of regular B&O/C&O passenger service, but was leased each holiday season, and used by the B&O as an extra car in the 'Metropolitan,' the 'Shenandoah' and the 'Capitol Limited'. The B&O/C&O passenger service operated these trains until all intercity passenger trains were turned over to Amtrak on May 1, 1971. The Baltimore Chapter continued to own and maintain the car until November 1972, whereby the car was sold to RailRoad Passenger Cars Inc. (RRP), along with the diner 1091 'Pittsburgh,' due to problems with insurance requirements placed on the Baltimore Chapter. RRP had been organized in 1970 by the Baltimore Chapter, as a separate leasing company to own and operate passenger cars for rail excursions. Almost all of the original members of RRP were also members of the Baltimore Chapter.

Baltimore & Annapolis Railroad 70 ton switcher 50 built by General Electric in 1950 and was the company's only freight hauling locomotive. The Baltimore & Annapolis started operations in 1887 as a steam railroad, connecting Annapolis and Baltimore via the B&O's Curtis Bay branch. Freight service ceased in 1968 when the operator's trestle rail bridge over the Severn River was declared unsafe. 50 remained in service on the Baltimore & Annapolis until June 1986 when the line ceased operations and it was donated to the museum.

Baltimore and Annapolis 50 with American Freedom Train 4-8-4 1.

Baltimore and Ohio 10-6 sleeper 7048 "Tygart" built by Pullman-Standard in 1950 for the Chesapeake and Ohio but delivered to the Baltimore and Ohio, with the thought there was going to be an increase in rail travel following World War II. This did not occur at the rate the C&O anticipated and in 1950, the car along with nine other sleepers was transferred to the B&O railroad to meet its needs on the Capital and National Limited first-class sleeping car service.

The "Tygart" featured ten single bedrooms and six double bedrooms. The layout for this coach was considered the most popular sleeper style at the time. Each bedroom had a sofa instead of folding easy chairs and a heating and air conditioning unit. During its time on the B&O, the car was painted in the B&O paint scheme of blue and grey. and named after a river in the B&O service area.

"Tygart" was retired to the Museum in 1971.

Railroad Passenger Car, Inc. coach 3587 1991, ex. Chessie Safety Express 16 1980, exx. Maryland Department of Transportation 3505 1974-1959, exxx. Baltimore and Ohio 3587 1955, nee Baltimore and Ohio 5470 built by Pullman in 1930. A major change in passenger car design occurred in the second decade of the 20th century with the introduction of steel "heavyweight" passenger coaches. This evolution brought travellers more comfortable and adjustable seats, air conditioning, walkthrough vestibules and improved ventilation. Wheel upgrades also provided a smoother ride. Despite these advantages, the weight of the cars was a major disadvantage. After World War II, lighter weight cars increased rail operations efficiency and heavyweights were phased out.

3587 was designed as an open window, 60-seat coach. After retrofitting in 1955 to include reclining seats, air conditioning, upgraded ventilation and sealed windows, it served the B&O until 1970 when it was sold to Railroad Passenger Car, Inc (RRP) and then used for the B&O/C&O holiday passenger service.

American Freedom Train 4-8-4 1, nee Reading 2-8-0 2021, built by Baldwin in 1923. It was rebuilt by the railroad in 1945 as 4-8-4 2101. Conceived as a celebration of the nation's bi-centenary, between April 1975 and December 1976, seven million people visited the train during its tour of the forty-eight states, and tens of millions saw it pass by. The train consisted of ten display cars converted from New York Central and Penn Central baggage cars and carrying more than five hundred exhibits of Americana, including a copy of the US Constitution, Judy Garland's dress from The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Martin Luther King's robes. Like much of the contents of the train, the decoration graphically brought the country's Bicentennial celebration to life.

This was the first of three locomotives restored to haul the twenty-six car 1975-76 American Freedom Train.

Balitmore and Ohio RDC2 9941 1970, nee Baltimore and Ohio 1961 built by Budd Company in 1956. This was one of two RDC diner/coach combination cars purchased "Daylight Speedliner" service connecting Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The car can carry up to 48 passengers: 24 in the rear coach section and 24 in the front dining room. Fresh-cooked meals were prepared in the full-stocked kitchen next to the dining space. Of all the RDCs made by the BUDD company, only two – the 1961 and its sibling, 1960 – were built with this configuration.

Despite the speed and comfort offered by the Daylight Speedliner, the long-distance service was discontinued in 1963. The B&O simply could not compete with the growing automobile and airline industries. As a result, all B&O Speedliners were transferred, first to a local commuter service in Washington, DC, and then to a local service in Pittsburgh. In 1980, CSX was formed, and all B&O rolling stock – including the 9941 – became CSX property. The RDC was eventually retired from service and donated to the B&O Railroad Museum in 1984. At some point between 1970 and 1984, the car was modified for increased carrying capacity.

A line of passenger cars.

Baltimore and Ohio 16-4 sleeper 7105 "Oriole", ex. Amtrak 2533, exx. Amtrak 2013 1971 "Oriole", exxx. Seaboard Coast Line 6305, exxxx. lease to Hamburg Industries, exxxxx. lease to Pullman 1954, nee Baltimore and Ohio 7105 "Oriole" built by Budd Company in 1954. The B&O purchased eleven stainless-steel sleeper cars or slumber coaches from the Budd Company, each being named after birds. In June 1954, the B&O leased "Oriole" to the Pullman Company for service on the noted Diplomat and National Limited routes operating between New York City and St. Louis. Subsequently, the Oriole was placed on the Capitol Limited line between Washington D.C. and Chicago. By the late 1960's, the B&O transferred its slumber coaches to the Northern Pacific Railroad.

After its retirement, Amtrak kept the car in storage for some years. In 1992, the Baltimore & Ohio Historical Society purchased the car from Amtrak and, five years later, the Oriole was donated to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum.

Freight train.

Baltimore and Ohio caboose C470 built by the railroad in the 1930's.

Signals on display in the East Yard. I looked through the fence to see what else the museum had outside then went back to my car and studied my route to Elkins until the museum opened at 10:00 AM. I went inside and paid for my ticket before walking through the Roundhouse to take pictures in the West Yard while the sun was still out.

Blue Mountain and Reading SW7 1200, ex. Conrail 8905, exx. New York Central 8905, nee Peoria and Eastern 8905 1950 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1950. The Peoria & Eastern Railroad was a subsidiary of the New York Central. This locomotive would be the power for the excursion train later this morning.

Chessie System GP7 5605, ex. Baltimore and Ohio 6405 1957, nee Baltimore and Ohio 915 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1953 for service on their Indianapolis Division. On October 15, 1953, 915 was involved in a fatal accident in Casner, Illinois. The locomotive was travelling eastbound and failed to stop for a red fusee. The engineer was killed immediately when the locomotive slammed into the back of a standing freight train. After the accident, it was sent to Electro-Motive Division to be rebuilt and came out of the factory as a new locomotive, weighing a ton less and the headlight was moved to a lower position.

In 1965, the engine was involved in yet another accident, when a tractor trailer hit the locomotive in Roby, Illinois. In 1984, it was retired from service and sent to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, where it was restored as 6405.

Chesapeake and Ohio SW-1 8401, ex. Chesapeake and Ohio 11, nee Pere Marquette Railway SW-1 11 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1942. It began its career moving hopper cars in Eireau, Ontario, but later moved to the yards in Sarnia. After World War II, PM-11 was repainted blue with yellow bands and red strips and reclassified as class S-1A. In 1947, when Pere Marquette Railway merged with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, PM-11 became C&O 11. However, it took the C&O almost 20 years to repaint the engine in C&O colors.

It was placed in storage in 1983 and retired in 1984 with the distinction of being one of the oldest operating diesel locomotives. In 1987, the museum restored the engine to its original Pere Marquette livery and road number and it was operating into the late 1990's as one of the museum's yard engines. The locomotive was severely damaged in the 2003 Roundhouse roof collapse but was restored in 2004.

Western Maryland F7A 236 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1952. I went inside to the former Car Shop to see the collection housed there.

Baltimore and Ohio EA 51 built by Electro-Motor Corporation in 1937, one of six built, and designed specifically to haul fast passenger trains for the B&O, pulling the first dieselised passenger trains on the East Coast, initially B&O's flagship Capitol Limited between New York and Chicago via Baltimore and Washington, DC but eventually, all the major B&O passenger trains, including the Royal Blue and National Limited. The distinctive royal blue, grey and gold livery was designed by Otto Kuhler.

Along with the E1 built by EMC for the AT&SF and the E2 built for the Union Pacific, Chicago & Northwestern and Southern Pacific, they were the first in a long line of passenger diesels of a similar design that came to be known as EMD E-units. 51 was retired in 1953 when the remaining five locomotives were returned to EMD for upgrading.

Chesapeake & Ohio Railway 4-6-4 Hudson (Streamlined) 490 built by American Locomotive Company in 1926 as 4-6-2, but it was one of five rebuilt as a 4-6-4 in 1946. It was one of four fitted with the yellow streamlining.

Following World War II, the C&O was determined to revive falling passenger numbers and the four locomotives were designed to handle connecting services to the Chessie, a proposed new luxury service between Washington, DC and Cincinnati, Ohio to replace the George Washington. The C&O ordered new fluted stainless steel passenger cars from Budd for the trains and invested in three new steam-turbine locomotives in 1947 and 1948 that were to be the motive power. But this was increasingly an era of automobile and air travel and, as passenger numbers continued to decline, the C&O's plans to inaugurate the Chessie were abandoned. The steam-turbine locomotives were maintenance nightmares in any case and were scrapped within three years. The four stylishly shrouded Hudsons were then assigned to regular C&O passenger services between Washington, DC, Newport News, Virginia and Chicago.

The first two L1s were retired in 1953 and the second two followed in 1955. Three of the four streamlined locomotives were then scrapped and 490 is the sole survivor and the only surviving streamlined Hudson type. It was donated to the museum in 1971 from the C&O Historical Collection.

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad 4-6-2 5300 "President Washington" built by Baldwin in 1927 and was unveiled at the Fair of the Iron Horse that year. It is the only survivor of this class.

With 80" diameter drivers, the "Presidents" were built for speed and could easily reach 90 mph. There is one anecdotal story of a run over the New York Shortline Cutoff between Olney and Parkland Junction, Pennsylvania, on which the speedometer was "glued to the maximum 95 mph reading". The locomotives initially hauled the Royal Blue trains between Washington, DC and Jersey City, New Jersey but they were soon relegated to the western division by the B&O's early dieselisation in the 1930's.

The "Presidents" were originally liveried in olive green with gold and red detail although, over the years, their names and livery were sometimes changed.

Baltimore & Ohio 2-8-2 4500 built in just twenty days by Baldwin in 1918. It was the first locomotive produced by the United States Railroad Administration, which was created in 1917 in response to America's entry into World War I. The USRA nationalised the nation's railroad system in the interest of ensuring the most efficient operations possible. Under the USRA, the nation's railroads were organised into three divisions: East, West and South. Duplicate passenger services were stopped, sleeping car services were cut back and extra fares applied to them. Uniform passenger ticketing was instituted and competing services on different railroads were cut back. Terminals, facilities and shops were shared.

Ironically, World War I was almost over when 4500 was ready for service on 4th July 1918. It operated on the B&O's Ohio Division, mainly hauling freight until it was retired in 1957 and went on display at the B&O Railroad Museum in 1964. It was accorded National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark status in 1990.

Chesapeake and Ohio 4-6-6-6 Allegheny 1604 built by Lima Locomotive Works in 1941. The Alleghenies were designed to handle heavy grades over the Allegheny Mountains (the railroad's New River and Alleghany subdivisions), but also worked from Russell to Toledo, Ohio, which had numerous short adverse grades, and hauled some passenger trains on the Mountain division (Charlottesville to Clifton Forge, Virginia).

The Allegheny was a simple articulated locomotive that had two sets of cylinders driving separate sets of driving wheels. 1604 was successful in pulling slow moving coal trains and was occasionally used for passenger service reaching 60 mph. The two articulated frames swiveled at a pivot joint thus permitting the big locomotive to negotiate main line curves.

Baltimore and Ohio loung-observation car 3316 "Washington" built by Pullman Company in 1949.

Modern for their time, observation lounge cars added an extra level of comfort and relaxation to train travelers, especially on long distance travel beginning in the 1930's. These cars were fitted with larger windows, allowing passengers to take in more of the passing countryside. The seats were limited in number on each coach and were designed with comfort in mind. The car's decor included relaxing color schemes and had the means to provide an array of drinks and often light snacks with on-board bartenders. The observation or lounge cars were usually available to passengers both day and evening giving passengers availability for refreshment past regular dining car hours.

The observation section had 17 seats while the lounge had 24. This car, along with its sister, "The Chicago," was built for the post war Washington D.C.-to-Chicago overnight streamliner service. This route was designated the Columbian. This was an all-coach flagship service that followed the same route as the all-Pullman Capital Limited. In 1958 "The Washington" was transferred to the Ambassador service serving the Washington D.C. to Detroit route. From that time until its retirement in 1971, "The Washington" filled in wherever its service was needed.

Chesapeake & Ohio 4-6-0 377 1923, ex. Chesapeake and Ohio 1108 nee Cincinnati, Richmond & Muncie Railroad 108 built by Burnham, Williams & Company, an early incarnation of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, in 1902. Shortly after buying the locomotive, the line was merged into the Chicago, Cincinnati & Louisville Railroad. In 1909, the CC&L went bankrupt and was subsequently purchased by the Chesapeake & Ohio.

In the 1930's, it was transferred to Clifton Forge, Virginia, to work on the James River Line, hauling passenger and freight trains between Eagle Rock and New Castle on the Craig Valley Branch until retired in 1952. It was due to be scrapped, but the City of Logan, West Virginia, asked if it could be "aged" for the anniversary celebration of the first Chesapeake and Ohio locomotive to arrive at the city in 1904. The C&O obliged by installing an oil headlight, flanged stack, cylinder head stars, a wooden pilot and an old style paint scheme. After the anniversary, C&O coupled it with ex-Hocking Valley wooden combine 409 for display and to work as a good will ambassador for the railroad.

It was occasionally steamed up before being permanently relocated to the museum in 1971. It is the oldest surviving steam locomotive to have operated on the Chesapeake and Ohio.

I was then finished in the Car Shop and returned outside to see the rest of the outdoor collection in bright sunshine.

Chesapeake and Ohio spreader 914072, ex. Baltimore and Ohio SC-502, nee Baltimore and Ohio B-29 built by O.F. Jordan in 1951. It was repainted into an earlier paint scheme at the B&O Railroad Museum in 1994.

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad wooden bobber caboose C-2222 built by the railroad in 1929, one of 272 such cabooses built over a five-year period. Beginning in 1940, some of these were modified to be used for pusher (shoving) service. C-2222 was rebuilt with a concrete floor and increased width and wheelbase, providing strength to protect the caboose from being crushed between the weight of the train and the pusher engine. In 1957, C-2222 was converted into a Class I-5D: 33 feet long, almost 10 feet wide and weighing 62,700 pounds then in 1970, was repainted with Chesssie System yellow and used for mine service. It was retired in 1975 and was purchased by a private owner.

By the 1980's, the B&O Historical Society adopted it as a restoration project. The 2003 Roundhouse roof collapse severely damaged the caboose but it has been restored and currently is on display, allowing museum visitors to climb inside and experience life inside a classic red caboose.

Merchants Dispatch Transportation refrigerator car 13715 built by Pacific Car and Foundry in 1958. In 1857, Merchants Dispatch Transportation began producing large-sized refrigerated cars having prior focused on smaller cars. The 13715 is typical of this design with the exterior constructed with a steel facing and the interior sheathed in wood. Furthermore, ice was used as the refrigerant, as this car was extensively used to haul produce and other perishables.

The usefulness of 13715 began to fade due to the implementation of alternate cooling methods, so it was eventually retired then stored at the Pennsylvania Railroad and Conrail yards in Baltimore until 1994 when it was donated to the B&O Railroad Museum, where it is currently on exhibit as a theatre car.

The platform used to for excursion train boarding.

Baltimore and Ohio GP9 6607, nee Baltimore and Ohio 3414 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1956. Originally assigned to passenger service between Cincinnati and Detroit, it was reassigned to freight service in 1958, although it retained its steam generator for emergency passenger service. It was retired from service on 16th July 1986 and sold to Gold Spike Railroad Services then donated to the museum in 1994, where it received nine months of restoration and has been returned to its original passenger service livery.

A line of freight cars.

Bethlehem Steel Company hot metal car 127 built by M.H. Treadwell circa 1935. Hot metal cars, also known as bottle-cars, torpedoes and ladle-cars, were one of the most specialized rail cars ever built. They were built with thick metal plate and lined with firebrick and were extremely heavy and difficult to maneuver. The larger hot metal cars had 16-wheel trucks and when full could weigh up to 400 tons.

These cars were used to transfer molten iron from the blast furnaces to mills where it would be transformed into steel. The molten iron was poured into an open hatch on the car and then a plant switcher engine moved the car to the point where it would be emptied. The car was operated by power cables which were plugged into the car's electric motor. The hot metal runs operated mostly inside a single yard, but the B&O had one run extending between Hamilton and Middletown, Ohio. The iron would remain molten up to 24 hours in the specialized car.

Car 127 was used at the company's Sparrows Point, Maryland plant until it was replaced by larger cars in 1977 and could carry up to 125 tons of molten iron. In 1984, Bethlehem Steel donated the car to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum and it was moved there by CSX Transportation in 1997.

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad snowplough X17 built by Russell in 1919. It battled Allegheny winters for 41 years and was retired in 1960.

Railway Express Agency refrigerator car 7018 built by General American Transportation Company in 1955. This railroad ice, or reefer, car was designed and utilized for the shipment of perishables prior to the wide presence of Interstate Highway and were usually included as a part of a passenger or mail train. 7018 was designed to carry heavy weights up to 50 tons. Block ice was used to keep the cargo cooled and the ice used for refrigeration was loaded through the roof of the car.

After World War II, the Railway Express Agency ordered 2,000 express coolers. The 7018 design was the state of the art during that era. Later, due to the decline in passenger train service and the increase in air and highway travel, the REA stopped production of the express reefers in 1969 and some of the cars were sold to other railroad companies to be used as mail cars.

CSX Transportation 250 ton crane 940505, nee Baltimore and Ohio X-215 built Industrial-Brownhoist Corporation in 1952. It was placed into service in Cumberland, Maryland on a wreck train. The crane was moved to the B&O Railroad Museum in 1993 and in 1995, was painted to resemble an earlier B&O paint scheme.

Baltimore and Ohio caboose C-3808 built by International Car Company in 1971. It was one of the last cabooses built for the B&O and featured the capitol dome logo. It was also one of the first cabooses to receive a number with the new unified B&O/C&O numbering system. In 1994, the C-3808, one of the last remaining C-26 class cabooses was found in Russell, Kentucky and the CSX Company transferred it to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum.

The concept for the caboose began in the 1840's when a conductor for the Auburn and Syracuse Railroad repurposed a boxcar with some crates to serve as his rolling office. Upgrades to the caboose over the years included steel-framed chassis instead of the classic wood frames, porches added to both ends, copulas and bay windows for crews to observe train safety, and crew comforts like stoves, bunks, toilets and an office desk. Crews riding in the caboose included brakemen, flagmen and conductors. Modern technological upgrades to trains replaced many manual roles and government regulations limit the time crews can work, thereby eliminating the need for the caboose. Today, except for assisting in certain rail operations, like the high security transportation of nuclear waste, cabooses are absent from freight trains.

A G-scale layout is outside the Roundhouse. I went inside the Mt. Clare Roundhouse to continue my tour of this impressive museum and started on the right side.

Baltimore & Ohio Clearance Car CE15 built by the railroad from a flat car and the body of a caboose. These cars were used to gauge internal tunnel clearances. The metal fingers were extended, the car was pushed through a tunnel and the resulting displacement showed the minimum clearance of the tunnel. The feelers were also sometimes connected to measuring instruments inside the car.

When bridges and tunnels were built for the railroads, they were built to accommodate the smaller locomotives of that era. However, as time went on locomotives, and its related equipment got larger and wider, and tunnel clearance became an issue for the railroad. As a result of these concerns the B&O built this car to measure close clearances along the railroad line, including tunnels, bridges and other structures that were close to the tracks.

The Clearance Car was frequently operated in conjunction with an Office Car to provide crew quarters. The CE-15 was the only car of its type on the B&O. As technology progressed, it became obsolete, was retired and then restored for display in 2005.

Clinchfield Railroad 4-6-0 1, ex. Black Mountain Railway 1 1911, exx. Carolina, Clinchfield and Ohio Railway 5 1906, exxx. Ohio River and Charlestown Railway 5 1900, exxxx. Columbus, Chicago & Indiana Central Railroad 543 1899, nee Columbus, Chicago & Indiana Central Railroad 1 built by the railroad in 1882.

The name "Clinchfield" came from the Virginia coal region which was serviced by the railroad's line from Dante, Virginia to Elkhorn City, Kentucky, where it connected with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. Like many Blue Ridge Mountain railroads, it invested in large, articulated steam locomotives during the 1940's, although these were all scrapped in the 1950's. In 1955, the town of Erwin, Tennessee bought 1 intending to put the locomotive on display, but this never materialised and it sat behind the Clinchfield shops at Erwin rusting.

In 1968, the locomotive was completely overhauled at Clinchfield's shops. Sporting brass trimmed domes and air pump and a graphite smokebox and smoke stack, it made its first trip on 23rd November that year from Erwin to Kingsport, Tennessee and back. It was the first steam locomotive to operate over the Clinchfield line in fourteen years. 1 was retired in 1979, having completed nearly one hundred years of service. It was then donated to the museum, and is one of only two Clinchfield locomotives to survive.

Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad railway post office car 35, nee Maryland and Pennsylvania baggage car 42 built by the railroad in 1906. It carried milk, mail, newspapers and baggage to communities between Baltimore and York, Pennsylvania. In 1942, a small postal section was built at one end of the car so the clerk could sort mail. It was retired from service in 1954 as the only known surviving Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad combination car.

The mail was a primary cargo for the railroad industry. By 1838, all railroads were eligible mail carriers. Initially, mail was carried in baggage cars, but this changed when George B. Armstrong designed a railway post office car in 1863. In the railway post office car, mail clerks were able to sort the mail on the fly.

On the left is Chesapeake and Ohio combine 409 1930, ex. Chesapeake and Ohio 551, nee Hocking Valley Railway 44 built by Pullman company in 1900. This was one of the last wooden passenger cars and when acquired by the Chesapeake and Ohio after the merger with Hocking Valley, was upgraded with a steel frame and outfitted with two partitioned passenger sections, most likely to provide separate seating for African American passengers and known as a Jim Crow car.

Railroads were the primary means of inter-city travel for African Americans during this era. Most Southern states had passed Jim Crow laws requiring strict racial segregation on passenger railroads: "separate but equal" seating sections and bathrooms on trains and in passenger stations. Humiliated passengers had to be re-seated when a train crossed into or out of a Jim Crow state. Railroad segregation thus became a paramount issue in Civil Rights debates for more than fifty years--ultimately contributing to making segregation illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court (1954) and the U.S. Congress (1964). Despite these advances, race segregation on railroads still existed even until the late 1960's.

In 1954, 409 was retired from service and used in travelling exhibitions before entering the Baltimore & Ohio collection.

On the right is Baltimore and Ohio Royal Blue Line coach 445, nee Delaware, Lackawanna and Western 445 built by Pullman Company circa 1890. During the B&O Centennial Fair of the Iron Horse in 1927, it was rebuilt and repainted to represent a typical day coach used on the elite B&O "Royal Blue" route between Washington D.C. and New York City.

By the early 1890's, travelling by railroad had become safer and faster. Cars were still made of wood, but they were longer, more efficiently heated and some had air brakes and much safer knuckle couplers, instead of the dangerous link-and-pin couplers that injured many railroad employees. Many cars also featured enclosed narrow vestibules which allowed passengers to walk safely through the entire train. Railroads dominated U.S. passenger travel in the early 20th Century. Railroad passenger traffic tripled between 1896 and 1916, peaking in 1920 when 1.2 billion passengers were carried by railroad. Trains accounted for 95 percent of all inter-city transportation through 1910. However, ultimately railroads were unable to fend off intensive competition from automobiles and airplanes. By 1970 railroads accounted for only seven percent of passenger miles (versus 73 percent for airlines).

Central Railroad of New Jersey 4-4-2 camelback 592 built by American Locomotive Company in 1902. Designed for fast passenger service, it was built with 85" drivers but these were reduced to 79" in 1917. 592 was often used on the Philadelphia to Atlantic City express route, as well as occasionally hauling the B&O's Royal Blue Line. The CNJ held onto the six locomotives until almost the end of steam: they were still operating in 1946. Destined for the scrap heap in 1949, 592 was spared and was then the only surviving Atlantic type camelback in the country, and CNJ donated it to the museum in 1954.

Greenbrier, Cheat & Elk Railroad Three Cylinder Shay 1, ex. North Fork Lumber, exx. Flint, Erving & Stoner Lumber Company 1905, nee G.W. Huntley Lumber Company of Neola, West Virginia built by Lima Locomotive Works in 1905. Like the other Cass locomotives, ownership passed through West Virginia Pulp & Paper, the Mower Lumber Company and then to Midwest Raleigh Railroad when Mower Lumber went bankrupt, before being sold to the State of West Virginia in 1962 to operate on the Cass Scenic Railroad.

The locomotive was acquired by the museum from the Cass Scenic Railroad in 1980 after swapping Western Maryland Shay 6, which had been in the museum's collection since 1953.

Central of New Jersey boxcab switcher 1000, nee General Electric 9681, built by American Locomotive Company, General Electric and Ingersoll Rand in 1925. It was the first commercially successful diesel-electric to operate in the America.

1000 switched at Central of New Jersey's New York Yard and in 1928, replaced CNJ's 0-4-0 tank engine at the railroad's Bronx Terminal yard. The change was necessary because of the city's new smoke ordinances, although the 0-4-0T was used off and on as a standby engine. It served the yard for more than 30 years then was retired and donated to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum on June 13, 1957.

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad boxcab electric CE-1 10 built by General Electric in 1909 to work at the railroad's Fells Point terminal in Baltimore where, in 1860, the B&O built a network of track along the waterfront. The track was laid in a three block area and served the warehouses on the waterfront. The track laid at Fells Point could only be reached by tug boat and car float from Locust Point, which was across the harbor. Originally, the terminal at Fells Point was operated by horses because of an 1831 city ordinance prohibiting steam power on the streets. In 1896, the B&O decided to use electricity, which was a new form of power for the railroads. The B&O tapped into the nearby streetcar line and placed trolley wires over the tracks. They also purchased a five-ton single truck electric locomotive from General Electric.

In 1909, the B&O purchased a ten-ton all steel locomotive from General Electric to replace the first electric switcher at Fells Point. Number 10's design was suited for tightly curved track and was able to take sharp curves and fit into small spaces, essential for the narrow streets of Fells Point. It looked very small compared to the freight cars of the early 1900's. In 1954, the Number 10 lost its power source and was forced to retire, being replaced by a tractor. It had worked for 45 years before finding its final stop at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum.

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad wooden bobber caboose C-1775 1931, nee Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad C-1775 built by the railroad in 1907. The Buffalo & Susquehanna Railroad was a Pennsylvania coal and lumber line. It was retired in 1953 and restored for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum as the only surviving caboose of its type.

Cabooses like C-1775 were primarily in use from the 1870's through 1930's. They earned the name "bobbers" because, for cost-saving reasons, they had only four wheels and "bobbed" along at the end of the train, lacking the stability provided by the standard eight-wheel/two-truck design. The "bobbers" were not only very uncomfortable but also dangerous, subject to violent jerking due to train motion. In 1911 and 1913, Ohio and Minnesota outlawed the use of four- wheel cabooses for crew safety reasons.

CSX GP40 6500, nee Baltimore and Ohio GP40 3684 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1966. It is an example of the railroad's continuing innovation in diesel locomotives and was the first B&O locomotive with a 3000-horsepower engine and alternator, using a rate of change wheel slip developed by B&O Chief Electrical Engineer, C.M. Machin. This system detected wheel slip by the rate of current flow to the traction motors, rather than by a pre-determined voltage difference.

3684 was the very first of the 380 GP40 locomotives ordered by the B&O in 1966, which had the largest fleet of this types in the country. They were versatile locomotives at handling manifest and heavy tonnage trains. 3684 was later repainted in CSX's colors and was restored to its original B&O paint scheme by the B&O Railroad Museum in 2006.

Replica of Baltimore and Ohio 4-2-0 13 "Lafayette" built at the Mt. Clare workshops in 1927 for the Fair of the Iron Horse where it was displayed as the "William Galloway". William Galloway had driven the first, horse-drawn train from Mt. Clare to Elllicott's Mills in 1830. He later became an engineer on the B&O and apparently worked in that capacity for over fifty years. The Fair of the Iron Horse marked the 100th anniversary of the chartering of the B&O by the states of Virginia and Maryland.

William Norris and his Norris Locomotive Works in Pennsylvania built the Lafayette for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1837. Named after the Revolutionary War hero, the 4-2-0 engine was the world's first locomotive to feature a leading truck that swiveled as the engine went around curves in the track, thus improving performance. In addition, the Lafayette may have been the first standardized production model locomotive, leading to more engines being built in a shorter period. The positioning of the cylinders ahead of the smokebox and the horizontal boiler, rather than vertical as on earlier engines, established the familiar configuration that steam locomotives would follow until the end of the steam era over a hundred years later.

The Lafayette began service with the B&O Railroad on a premier passenger route from Baltimore to Washington, DC. Not too dissimilar to the trains following the same route today, the locomotive pulled closed coaches with platforms at both ends and an aisle down the middle. In 1839, new and more up to date locomotives began service with the railroad and the Lafayette and her sister 4-2-0s were finally retired in the 1860's.

This replica Lafayette has been featured in numerous feature films, including "Wells Fargo" (1937), "Stand Up & Fight" (1939), "The Great Locomotive Chase" (1956) and "Amistad" (1997).

Baltimore and Ohio 4-6-0 282 1884, nee Baltimore & Ohio Railroad 117 "Thatcher Perkins" built by the Baltimore and Ohio in 1863 to meet increased demand arising from the Civil War. The B&O had built its first 4-6-0 in 1853 to tackle the heavy grades in the Appalachian Mountains of what was then Virginia, now West Virginia. West Virginia broke away from Virginia after the 1861 Wheeling Convention during the Civil War. Seceding from the Confederate States, the new state was admitted to the Union on 20th June 1863.

147 was one of eleven Ten Wheeler locomotives designed by B&O Master of Machinery, Thatcher Perkins. After the Civil War, it continued in passenger and freight service and was preserved by the railroad in 1892, when it was renumbered to represent another Ten Wheeler built in 1863, 117. The railroad gave it the name "Thatcher Perkins" for the 1927 Fair of the Iron Horse to honour its designer. It also appeared at the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair, 1939-40 New York World's Fair and the 1948-49 Chicago Railroad Fair.

The locomotives with a frame around them is from the damage sustained during the the roof collapse from the heavy snowfall in February 2003.

Baltimore and Ohio 2-6-0 600 "J.C. Davis" 1893, ex. Baltimore and Ohio 918 1884, nee Baltimore & Ohio Railroad 2-6-0 600 built by the railroad in 1875. Designed to haul mail and passenger express trains over B&O's Keyser to Grafton, West Virginia division, it was the first 2-6-0 passenger locomotive rostered by the railroad and weighs 90,400 lbs.

600 won first place at the US Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876, where it was displayed as the then heaviest locomotive in the world. When re-numbered back to 600, it was named "J.C. Davis" in honour of the-then Master of Machinery, John C. Davis. Retired in 1926, it appeared at the Fair of the Iron Horse the following year.

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad 2-8-0 "A.J. Cromwell" built by the railroad in 1898 and designed by Andrew J. Cromwell, the B&O's Supervisor of Motive Power. 545 was retired in 1926 and appeared at the Fair of the Iron Horse the following year when it was renamed "A.J. Cromwell". It then went into storage in the Hall of Transportation located on the Fair's site in Halethorpe, Maryland. In August 1935, a major storm caused the roof of the building to collapse.

545 is the sole remaining B&O locomotive of this type and the oldest piece in the museum's collection equipped with air brakes. In 1956, it appeared in "The Swan", an MGM film starring Grace Kelly.

Replica Baltimore and Ohio Railroad horse car built in 1926; the original was built in 1828. When the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad began operating in 1830, the first passenger cars were pulled by horse-drawn cars. In August 1830, the B&O Board of Directors were pulled by the "Tom Thumb" in the open-air car to Ellicotts Mills. The replica was built for the Fair of the Iron Horse and was also used in other pageants, displays and exhibits. In 1977, it was used to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the B&O. Once again, the Director's Car pulled B&O dignitaries to Ellicott City behind the Tom Thumb.

Baltimore and Ohio 0-4-0 8 1851, ex. Baltimore and Ohio 3 1884, nee Baltimore and Ohio 0-4-0 "John Hancock" built by George Gillingham and Ross Winans in 1836. It worked at Mt. Clare until 1892 when it was retired and rebuilt for display at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. At that time, it was incorrectly named the "Thomas Jefferson", which had been the original 3 "Grasshopper" locomotive. The engine was also displayed at the 1927 Fair of the Iron Horse, the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair and the 1939-40 New York World's Fair. It appeared again at the 1948-49 Chicago Railroad Fair.

Replica of Baltimore and Ohio "Atlantic". The original "Atlantic" 2 was an 0-4-0 built in 1832 by Phineas Davis and Israel Gartner of York, Pennsylvania, after winning the competition to design a suitable locomotive for the line. It was scrapped in 1835. This "Atlantic" is actually the "Andrew Jackson" 7, built at the Mt. Clare shops in 1836 by Ross Winans and George Gillingham, and adapted in 1892 to resemble "Atlantic" 2 for the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, IL. It appeared at the Fair of the Iron Horse in 1927.

The story of the "Atlantic" began with another locomotive on display in the museum. Phineas Davis developed the original "grasshopper", the York, in 1831 for the B & O Railroad and won a contest. As a result, he was hired by the railroad to develop new engine designs. His first design as an employee of the railroad was the 0-4-0 engine known as the "Atlantic." These engines were nicknamed "grasshoppers" because of the way they resembled huge grasshoppers with bobbing beams and rods as they drove down the track.

In 1833, the "Atlantic" pulled a coach that took the sitting president at that time, Andrew Jackson, from Ellicott's Mill in Maryland to Baltimore. It continued in service until being scrapped in 1835. Many of its sister engines remained in service well into the second half of the 19th century.

Peter Cooper Baltimore and Ohio Tom Thumb and Director Car replica built in 1927 for the Fair of the Iron Horse. The original was built in 1830 by inventor and businessman Peter Cooper as a demonstrator locomotive. On August 28, 1830, it carried the Baltimore and Ohio directors in a passenger car to Ellicott's Mills, to their amazement, travelling at the then impressive speed of 10-14 miles per hour. It was later dubbed "Tom Thumb" because of its small size and weight of less than a ton. "Tom Thumb" was the first successful American steam locomotive, although it only hauled passengers until March 1831 and never went into regular service. It was salvaged for parts in 1834.

Horse car display.

The rebuilt roof of the Mt. Clare Roundhouse.

Greenbrier, Cheat & Elk Railroad Three Cylinder Shay 1 and Central of New Jersey Camelback 592. I had now gone full-circle around the Mt. Clare Roundhouse.