B and O Railroad Museum

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was born of Baltimore's determination not to be left behind. In the 1820s, as canals threatened to funnel western trade toward rival ports, the city's merchants gambled on a new and largely untried technology, the railroad, to connect the port of Baltimore to the Ohio River and the growing West. The company was chartered in 1827, and the first stone was laid in 1828.

Those early years were full of experiment and improvisation. Cars were first pulled by horses, and inventor Peter Cooper built a small steam engine, the Tom Thumb, to prove that steam power could work on the line. From this ground the American railroad grew into the network that would knit the nation together, which is why the museum's location, on the site of the original shops and terminal, gives it a significance no later collection can match.

The museum's roundhouse is one of the most striking industrial buildings in the country, a great circular hall with a soaring roof, built so that locomotives could be rolled onto a central turntable and rotated onto any of the many tracks radiating outward. Standing at its center, surrounded by gleaming engines under the vast ceiling, is one of the memorable sights in American museum-going.

The collection itself spans the whole history of railroading, from the earliest experimental engines and reproductions of the first cars to massive steam locomotives and modern diesels, along with cars, cabooses, and countless artifacts. Because the B and O saved so much of its own history over so long, the museum can tell the story of the railroad more completely than almost anywhere else.

One of the museum's great draws is the chance to ride a real train down a stretch of the original Baltimore and Ohio main line, the very corridor where American railroading was born. On operating days, visitors board historic equipment for a trip along this storied route, feeling the rhythm and hearing the sounds that shaped nineteenth-century travel.

The rides run on a seasonal and special-event schedule rather than every day, so it is worth checking the calendar if the train experience is central to your visit. For families and railfans alike, actually rolling along the first commercial railroad in the country adds a dimension that no amount of static display can match.

The museum is a longtime favorite with families. Alongside the grand machines, there are hands-on exhibits, model layouts, and programming aimed at younger visitors, and the sheer size and drama of the locomotives tend to captivate children who have never seen a steam engine up close. Plan for a few hours to take in both the indoor halls and the outdoor equipment in the rail yard.

The museum sits within easy reach of the rest of Baltimore. The Inner Harbor, with its aquarium, science center, and historic ships, is a short distance away, and the city's other neighborhoods and museums are close at hand. A morning among the locomotives pairs naturally with an afternoon on the waterfront.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.