The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum possesses the oldest, most historic and most comprehensive American railroad collections in the world. Dating from the beginning of American railroading, the collection contains locomotives and rolling stock, historic buildings, and small objects that document the impact of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) on the growth and development of early railroading and cover almost every aspect of an industry that left a permanent mark on the folklore and culture of America.
The Museum’s locomotive and rolling stock collection contains many unique examples of historically significant pieces from the B&O and other Maryland railroads and includes the finest collection of 19th century steam locomotives. The Museum’s roster of locomotives and rolling stock represent the first, last, best or only of their kind in existence today.
The small object collection covers almost every facet of railroading and includes clocks, pocket watches, textiles, lanterns, dining car china, silver, fine art, communication devices, signals, shop equipment, and an assortment tools and artifacts used on historic occasions such as the laying of the B&O’s ceremonial First Stone on July 4, 1827, which marked the beginning of construction of America’s first railroad.
