B&O Railroad Museum, Railway museum in Baltimore, United States.
The B&O Railroad Museum stands at the Mount Clare Station site and holds more than 250 pieces of rolling stock along with roughly 15,000 railway artifacts. The collection spreads across several indoor halls and outdoor display areas featuring steam locomotives, passenger cars, and freight wagons.
The B&O began America's first railroad at Mount Clare in 1829, and on May 22, 1830, a horse-drawn train ran the 13 miles to Ellicott Mills, the first regular passenger service in the U.S. The brick Mount Clare Station was built in 1851, and the adjacent roundhouse designed by Ephraim Francis Baldwin followed in 1884. The museum opened on July 4, 1953, in the shops' car shop, and in 2026 it was renamed the National Museum of Railroad History & Innovation.
The museum's name survives from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, whose Mount Clare Shops opened America's first railroad here in 1829. The site holds 24 documented Underground Railroad freedom seekers, 8 of whom passed through Mount Clare; in 2021 the station became a National Park Service Network to Freedom site. An annual Day Out with Thomas event brings a non-powered Thomas replica.
The museum opens every day and charges $20 admission for adults, $17 for seniors, and $12 for children aged 2 to 12. Most exhibition halls sit at ground level, making the displays reachable for wheelchair users.
During warmer months, the site runs train rides along a section of track measuring about one mile (1.6 kilometers) to demonstrate historical equipment in motion. These rides let visitors hear the sounds and feel the mechanics of old engines firsthand.
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