Myself, Elizabeth Alkire and Robin Bowers drove from the National Capitol Trolley Museum north on Interstate 95 to Baltimore and after working out the one-way streets here, arrived at the B&O Railroad Museum.
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad MuseumThe 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".
HistoryThe 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. As of September 2015, all damaged exhibits had been restored to their original appearance.
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.
Our VisitWe started with the trains in the parking lot.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Museum scene.
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.
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.
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 & Ohio Railroad SD35 7402 and train.
CSX SD35 4550, nee Baltimore and Ohio 7402 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1964. After its retirement, 7402 was stored at Queensgate Yard in Cincinnati, Ohio. When acquired by the museum, the locomotive was in Chessie System paint then in 1995, it was repainted to its as-delivered B&O paint scheme and returned to the number 7402.
Baltimore and Ohio bay window caboose C2943 built by the railroad in 1961. 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, cupolas 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, flag men, 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.
B&O C-2943 is one of the more modern cabooses that served many areas of the railroad with different color schemes. Its original colors were red with white lettering. Following that service, it was painted blue and yellow in 1966 for service in Dubois, PA and then the Chessie System painted it yellow when it served in Chillicothe, Ohio from 1973-79. In 1979, it was again moved for service to the Cowen, West Virginia area until 1993. In 1993, it was repainted to its original red and white color scheme for a convention in Clarksburg, West Virginia and remained in the area to work local service until 1995, when it was retired.
Baltimore and Ohio maintenance-of-way camp car X4055 1956, nee 12-1 sleeper "Thendara" built by Pullman in 1926. It was retired from passenger service in 1965 then converted to a mobile office and tool car, retaining its external appearance as a heavyweight passenger car, but with a paint scheme indicating it was no longer in passenger service. It was last used as an office in Somerset, Pennsylvania.
Railroads including the B&O regularly used older, surplus passenger cars for other uses. With many hundreds of miles of track to maintain, railroads would establish mobile maintenance-of-way camps near major track projects. These camps would provide living and working quarters for the project staff. When that project was complete, the railroad would couple a locomotive to the camp cars and tow them to the next job.
The three of us went inside, introduced ourselves and they gave us complimentary admissions. We went straight to the B&O Roundhouse and started to explore.
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.
A replica of "Pioneer", one of the first horse-drawn passenger cars to operate in the country, built at the Mt. Clare workshops in 1892. It was displayed at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, the 1927 Fair of the Iron Horse, the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair, 1939-40 New York World's Fair and 1948-49 Chicago Railroad Fair. The original was built by Richard Imlay and carried the Baltimore and Ohio company directors on their trip from Mt. Clare to Ellicott's Mills on May 22, 1830. The run from Mt. Clare was thirteen miles and took about one-and-a-half hours to complete.
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.
Replica of Baltimore and Ohio "The York" built by Baltimore & Ohio in 1927 for use in the Fair of the Iron Horse. The original was built in 1831.
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. 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.
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 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.
Baltimore and Ohio iron pot hopper 23001 built by the railroad in the 1880's. In 1842, the B&O Railway had reached the base of the Alleghenies, a range of the Appalachian Mountains, which increased the railroad's coal shipments east. To keep up with this increasing amount of traffic, the B&O created a circular hopper made of iron.
Prior to the implementation of the 23001, railroads used wooden gondolas to haul coal. The new, higher capacity iron hopper was a large pot tapered on the bottom, so it could dump coal on an open trestle. It received modifications over its life span to improve its functionality. The pot hoppers could haul 20 tons which included the 8-ton weight of the car itself. Their downfall was that they could not be further modified to meet eventual regulatory requirements.
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad 0-8-0 13 1884, nee Baltimore and Ohio 57 "Memnon" built under sub-contract to Baldwin by the Newcastle Manufacturing Company in 1848. In 1842, the B&O had reached Cumberland, Maryland and needed locomotives to haul coal trains from the mines there, something the lighter weight grasshoppers and one armed billies could not easily do. In 1844, the railroad had begun rostering Mount Clare built 0-8-0 type locomotives, as that wheel arrangement produced maximum tractive effort by evenly distributing all of the engine’s weight on its drivers. In 1848, the B&O the ordered six additional 0-8-0s from external manufacturers.
"Memnon" was rebuilt in 1853 and then served in the Civil War hauling troops and supplies for the Union. Since then, it has been known as the “Old War Horse”. It was retired from service in 1892 and rebuilt for display at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, IL when it returned to its original number. It last steamed at the B&O's 1927 Fair of the Iron Horse and is one of the oldest surviving freight locomotives in the United States.
Baltimore & Ohio coach 21, nee Central of New Jersey 21 built by the Wason Manufacturing Company in 1868. It is similar to the type of passenger coaches the B&O and other railroads used during the war (the B&O had 31 passenger coaches in 1861). Railroads played a critical role in enabling the North to win the Civil War by transporting troops and military supplies-- especially the B&O, which paralleled the border between North & South and became known as "Lincoln's railroad."
Passenger cars such as this one were more luxurious than their Spartan predecessors. But they were still quite uncomfortable and difficult to heat. Cast iron stoves were placed at each end of the car, resulting in a smoky passenger area and a high risk of fire in the wooden coach.
Number 21 and its sister, 22, were acquired by the B&O for the 1927 Fair of the Iron Horse, to represent a typical Civil War era passenger train. They have been featured in many pageants, fairs and motion picture films and became part of the core collection of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum. In the roundhouse roof collapse of 2003, 20 was destroyed beyond repair and 21 remains on permanent display.
Baltimore & Ohio box car 17001 built by the railroad in 1863. In the B&O's early years, freight revenue was a highly important source of income. For example, in 1857, freight revenue was five times higher than passenger revenue. This mostly involved transporting agricultural and coal products to East Coast cities and during the Civil War, the role of freight traffic with the need for transporting military supplies and equipment.
The first boxcars were made of wood; however, the B&O began experimenting with iron boxcars during the 1840's and by the end of the Civil War, 140 of the B&O's 1200 boxcars were iron. These boxcars were usually built to carry barrels of flour and gunpowder.
17001 features link and pin couplers and hand brakes that were typical of the time. Despite their durability, the new iron boxcars had their problems since they tended to sweat or rust and were also poorly ventilated for heat which could damage the cargo because of overheating. In the 1870's the B&O stopped production of iron box cars, although they became standard again by the 1930's and 17001 was retired in 1927.
Baltimore & Ohio 4-6-0 Camelback 305 "Ross Winans", ex. Baltimore and Ohio 187 1884, nee Baltimore and Ohio 305 built by the railroad in 1869. It was retired in 1892 and displayed at the 1893 World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago as 129 and then renumbered as 217 in 1927 for the Fair of the Iron Horse. It also appeared at the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair and the 1939-40 New York World's Fair.
The first camels were 0-8-0 types designed for the B&O by Ross Winans, in honour of whom the locomotive was named in 1927. Winans was an independent locomotive builder whose works were situated next to the Mt. Clare shops. He built one hundred and nineteen 0-8-0 camels for the railroad from 1848 to 1857.
Cumberland Valley Railroad 2-2-2 13 "Pioneer" built by Union Works in 1851. The CVRR was chartered in 1831 and built a line from Carlisle to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1837. It began operating over Franklin Railroad trackage to Hagerstown, Maryland in 1841, took over the Franklin in 1865 and, by 1889, had reached Winchester, Maryland. Daniel Tyler was hired to supervise the line's rebuilding in 1850, and took on Alba Smith as Superintendent of the Machinery Shop. It was Smith, who was Superintendent until 1856, who introduced lightweight "single-wheel" locomotives like the "Pioneer".
During the Civil War, the CVRR provided an important supply line carrying Union material and troops to southern Pennsylvania, western Maryland and northern Virginia. In 1862, Confederate troops raided Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, burning the engine house in which the "Pioneer" and several other locomotives were stored. Some of the locomotives were destroyed but the "Pioneer" escaped major damage. It continued to operate over the railroad until it was finally retired in 1901.
From 1901, "Pioneer" appeared at many exhibitions, including the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, the Fair of the Iron Horse in 1927, the 1933 Chicago World's Fair and the 1948-49 Chicago Railroad Fair. In 1961, the Pennsylvania Railroad , which had taken over the CVRR in 1919, donated "Pioneer" to the Smithsonian.
In 2010, the B&O Railroad Museum began restoring "Pioneer" to how it appeared at the end of its operational life in 1901. The work was completed in 2011.
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 4-4-0 25 1892, ex Baltimore and Ohio 55 1882, nee Baltimore & Ohio Railroad 25 "William Mason" built by Mason Machine Works in 1856. It was displayed at the Chicago's World Fair in 1893 then appeared at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904 and was named "William Mason" in 1927 when it appeared at the Fair of the Iron Horse. It was also part of the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair, the 1939-40 New York World's Fair and the 1948-49 Chicago Railroad Fair.
William Mason wanted to improve the symmetry of the American locomotive and his designs produced from 1853 until his death in 1883 had far less of the ornamentation more typical of the day. The Mason Machine Works turned out over seven hundred and fifty steam locomotives until it ceased production in 1889. Producing textile machinery then became the company's core business until its decline in the 1920's. It finally went out of business in 1944.
The "William Mason" is the oldest operating steam locomotive in the country and has had a long career, appearing in many films, including "The Swan" (1956) with Grace Kelley and Alec Guinness, as the "General" in Disney's "The Great Locomotive Chase" (1956) and in the Civil War drama "Raintree County" (1957). More recently, it was rebuilt as the "Wanderer" at the Strasburg Rail Road for the 1999 Warner Brothers remake of the "The Wild, Wild West" starring Will Smith and Kevin Kline and also featured in "Tuck Everlasting" (2002) and "Gods and Generals" (2003).
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
A 360 view around the B&O Mount Clare Roundhouse. Next we looked back behind the roundhouse.
Chessie System F7A 7170, nee Western Maryland F7A 236 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1952. It was one of the last F units on the Chessie System at the time of its retirement and donation to the B&O Museum.
A heavy load on this Western Maryland 50 foot well flat car 6011 built by Greenville Steel Car Company in 1953 and was transferred to the museum in 1992.
Western Maryland caboose 901803, nee Western Maryland 1803 built by the railroad in 1936. It maintained its red and white coloring until the 1970's, when black was added. In 1976, the 1803 was transformed into a safety caboose after the railroad was acquired by the Chessie System for their "safety first" campaign. In 1982 the 1803 caboose became the 901803 and its paint scheme was again changed to green and sported the slogan: "Near miss program. Are you doing your part?" By the 1990's, the 901803 was one of two original Western Maryland cabooses still in use by the newly merged CSX service. By 2002, it no longer passed inspection and was retired and restored to its original appearance for the 150th anniversary of Western Maryland.
Maryland Department of Transportation RDC-1 23 1989, ex. Maryland Arae rail Commuter 9913, ex. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad RDC-1 9913 1970, ex. Baltimore and Ohio DC-1 1903 1957, nee Baltimore and Ohio DD-1 6513 built by Budd Company in 1953.
It was never repainted or re-lettered and was the last car in service to retain its B&O lettering. 23 was retired from service in 1993 and donated to the B&O Railroad Museum in 1998.
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad snowplough X17 built by Russell in 1919. It battled Allegheny winters for 41 years and was retired in 1960.
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.
CSX GP30 4253, nee Baltimore & Ohio Railroad 6944 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1962. In 1996, it was retired and was donated to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum. The original number and paint scheme were reapplied in 1996.
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.
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.
We then entered the former car shop.
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.
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.
Next we looked out of the open rear door.
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.
Next was the B&O car shop.
The Maryland Merci Car. In 1947, the United States began a relief effort to war-torn France and Italy. States donated box cars of goods, food and clothes to an "American Friendship Train". The French responded with a forty-nine box car "Merci Train" (Thank You Train) two years later, one for each state at the time, and one to be shared between the District of Columbia, Alaska and Hawaii. The cars, called "40 et 8" (40 and 8) cars because the French military rated them to carry forty soldiers or eight horses, contained artwork, antiques and books.
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.
United States Army 0-4-0ST 714, nee St. Elizabeth Hospital 0-4-0ST 4 "St. Elizabeth" built by H.K. Porter in 1950. Switcher engines were used in areas with severe curvatures, such as within the property of an industrial complex. This switcher was used to pull coal hoppers from a B&O rail connection into the grounds of St. Elizabeth Hospital in Washington D.C. where the coal was used for heating. When the hospital switched to using oil for heating and no longer needed a locomotive, the St. Elizabeth was transferred to the United States Army at FT Eustis VA where it was used for training purposes. It was later used for excursions on the Cass Scenic Railroad in West Virginia until being retired from service and donated to the B&O Railroad Museum in 1980.
Potomac Electric Power Company 0-4-0 fireless steam engine 43 built by Heisler in 1938. It worked its entire life for PEPCO, first at the Buzzard Point Power Station in Washington DC, and then at the Potomac River Power Station in Alexandria, Virginia. It was retired in 1978 because it lacked the power to handle the 70-100 ton coal hoppers coming into use at that time.
Fireless locomotives had a number of advantages. They required little preparation to use, with no firing up period. They were easy to operate, with no complex controls or boiler to fire. Because they had no firebox, flues or smokebox, high maintenance items on traditional steam locomotives, they were easy to maintain. And there was no smoke or cinders, an important factor if operating inside a building or near flammable materials.
This unit is unique because it operated until 1978 and is one of only 50 built. It was restored in 1979 by PEPCO and donated to the Smithsonian Institution, who donated it in 2009 to the B&O Museum.
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.
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.
To exit we had to walk back through the roundhouse then went to the gift shop and purchased several items. As we exited the building, we thanked our hosts for an excellent visit to their very fine museum.
Signal display outside.
The B&O Mount Clare Museum from the parking lot. From here we drove to the west end of the property to see if anything was out to photograph, which there was.
Baltimore and Ohio GP7 6405 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1953.
Baltimore and Ohio GP7 6405 and B&O observation car "Royal Blue" (tavern-lounge-observation car, nee New York Central 50 built by Company Budd in 1948 used on the excursion train. We would make our way from here over to the Baltimore Streetcar Museum, our final stop of the day here in Baltimore, where we would meet up with Bob, if all went according to plan.
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