B & O Museum

[Madman]

As I mentioned earlier today in the coffee lounge, we spent three days in Baltimore Maryland. Our children gave us tickets to the B & O museum. The roundhouse was destroyed by a snow storm in 2003, but was rebuilt and is quite beautiful to see. The locos and rolling stock in the roundhouse are in tip-top shape.

Outside there are more locomotives and rolling stock in various condition. As we have all seen, at railroad museums around the world, some of the equipment is in sad shape. Some of it was in operation not too many years ago. Of course money dictates what can be done to keep these priceless pieces from rusting into oblivion. We have to thank railroads like the Union Pacific. They have a program to keep historic railroad equipment from falling into total disrepair.

Here are a few photos from our visit on Friday.

 

[trammayo]

As I mentioned earlier today in the coffee lounge, we spent three days in Baltimore Maryland. Our children gave us tickets to the B & O museum. The roundhouse was destroyed by a snow storm in 2003, but was rebuilt and is quite beautiful to see. The locos and rolling stock in the roundhouse are in tip-top shape.

Outside there are more locomotives and rolling stock in various condition. As we have all seen, at railroad museums around the world, some of the equipment is in sad shape. Some of it was in operation not too many years ago. Of course money dictates what can be done to keep these priceless pieces from rusting into oblivion. We have to thank railroads like the Union Pacific. They have a program to keep historic railroad equipment from falling into total disrepair.

Here are a few photos from our visit on Friday.

Interesting exhibits. Post some more Dan (and thanks for posting these)! I am intrigued by the trucks under the hopper car!

 

[Rhinochugger]

Interesting exhibits. Post some more Dan (and thanks for posting these)! I am intrigued by the trucks under the hopper car!

Yes, they appear to be fully compensated but unsprung

 

[Madman]

Your wish is my chore..........Enjoy

 

[Madman]

And a few more. A model of an Electro-Motive, GM, E8. Note the drop lights hanging neatly in place.

 

[ECallinan]

Hi all,

I visited the museum back in July of this year, it was a great experience. There were a lot of Civil War-themed information panels by the exhibits, I'm not sure if this was part of a temporary theme or not but it was really interesting to see Civil War era equipment nonetheless. I think they do train rides on certain days, it seemed like they had the correct setup to do so, perhaps Madman can confirm? Unfortunately there were none at the time of my visit.

I certainly don't want to hijack another poster's thread but if ye wanted I could upload my own photos of the museum? I have a good few of information panels and of some different locomotives and rolling stock to those already shown by Madman.

Regards,
Eoin

 

[Rhinochugger]

And a few more. A model of an Electro-Motive, GM, E8. Note the drop lights hanging neatly in place.View attachment 229896 View attachment 229897 View attachment 229898 View attachment 229899 View attachment 229900 View attachment 229901 View attachment 229902

That's not a real horse


Fascinating piccies, though.

The famous horse drawn narrow gauge (3' - 6") in the UK was the Nantle railway in Wales which operated in horse drawn mode up until 1963

 

[PhilP]

Ohhh!
That '2-storey' coach looks very 'Emett' in style!!

 

[Madman]

Hi all,

I visited the museum back in July of this year, it was a great experience. There were a lot of Civil War-themed information panels by the exhibits, I'm not sure if this was part of a temporary theme or not but it was really interesting to see Civil War era equipment nonetheless. I think they do train rides on certain days, it seemed like they had the correct setup to do so, perhaps Madman can confirm? Unfortunately there were none at the time of my visit.

I certainly don't want to hijack another poster's thread but if ye wanted I could upload my own photos of the museum? I have a good few of information panels and of some different locomotives and rolling stock to those already shown by Madman.

Regards,
Eoin

Yes, please post your photos. We always like pictures. The train ride is only on Fridays, if I heard the clerk correctly. Our ride was packed with toddlers. The narration was difficult to hear over their chatter. But hey, they were having fun.

 

[Fred2179G]

As I live in Annapolis, I volunteered at the B&O Railroad Museum for many years, until the 2003 snow event. (After that, the insurance company woke up and required that all volunteers/docents be trained properly, and therefore the Museum insisted we work regular schedules. I couldn't commit to a regular one-day-a-week.)

If you visit, there's a couple of fascinating things to note. "William Mason" (the 4-4-0 used in many films) and "Thatcher Perkins" (4-6-0) both have only one driving axle with flanges - the rear one. They both rely on the front pilot truck to keep the driving wheels on the rails. [As the B&O was an early build, their curves were tight and this was one solution to the problem.]

A lot of the exhibits are reproductions or kit-bashes, but made in 1895 or 1927. Pangborn, the Marketing guy in the late 1800s, collected all the old stuff off the railroad and refurbished it for the Columbia Exposition of 1895. Then, for the centenary in 1927 ("The Fair of the Iron Horse") he got a lot of the old locos working by installing new boilers, etc. "William Mason" was one, as was the grasshopper(s). He also made replicas with new modern boilers, like the "Tom Thumb" and the "Lafayette", which are still steamable today (you can see the Baltimore Boiler Certificate on the tender sometimes.) I've had the fun of riding on the footplate of "Lafayette" - not much room for 3 of us!

 

[ECallinan]

Hi everyone,

My apologies for the delay, college was very hectic the last two weeks. I didn't have time to fiddle around with uploading all my photos as there are over 200. I hope you will be able to see them on this album I've created on Google photos:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RirFTRJ6iC8r9HTh2

I'm no photographer so some of them are pretty dodgy but at least they haven't been compressed in order to be uploaded.

Best regrads,
Eoin

 

[trammayo]

Hi everyone,

My apologies for the delay, college was very hectic the last two weeks. I didn't have time to fiddle around with uploading all my photos as there are over 200. I hope you will be able to see them on this album I've created on Google photos:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RirFTRJ6iC8r9HTh2

I'm no photographer so some of them are pretty dodgy but at least they haven't been compressed in order to be uploaded.

Best regrads,
Eoin

A great selection of some very interesting exhibits! I was hovering over a pic of the Shay and it surprised me by coming to life! Enjoyed looking at all of them. Thanks for posting.

 

[dunnyrail]

Hi everyone,

My apologies for the delay, college was very hectic the last two weeks. I didn't have time to fiddle around with uploading all my photos as there are over 200. I hope you will be able to see them on this album I've created on Google photos:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RirFTRJ6iC8r9HTh2

I'm no photographer so some of them are pretty dodgy but at least they haven't been compressed in order to be uploaded.

Best regrads,
Eoin

Nice album. The yellow and silver streamliner is a real beast, would love to see that in full flight.

Always a pain trying to take pics of Models through glass, understand the need to keep prying little and not so little fingers away. Just a pity that Museums do not use non reflecting glass. I have used it on a poster that I had framed and it is so much better.

 

[Madman]

Thanks for posting your photos. The C & O Hudson was not in the shop when I was there a few weeks ago. I would have liked to been there when it was on display.

 

[John Narvell]

Unfortunately, the B&O museum doesn’t get the kind of support from CSX they need to maintain the northern part of it’s heritage. They have moved quite a few things inside the car shop that used to sit outside. It’s a shame they can’t get more inside or at least under roof.

 

[ECallinan]

A great selection of some very interesting exhibits! I was hovering over a pic of the Shay and it surprised me by coming to life! Enjoyed looking at all of them. Thanks for posting.

Google Photos is a pleasant surprise, I haven't really used it too much but it does some cool things, for example it stitched several photos I had taken of a relative's back garden into one larger panoramic image without my asking, and it applies some nice filters to different photos to great effect. It also creates collages based on where photos were taken. I have yet to figure out the intricacies of it just yet but I will try and get it to stitch together a panoramic view of the Shay, I just couldn't get back far enough to get the whole lot in shot. It's also useful for backing up photos, with unlimited storage as far as I am aware.

Nice album. The yellow and silver streamliner is a real beast, would love to see that in full flight.

Always a pain trying to take pics of Models through glass, understand the need to keep prying little and not so little fingers away. Just a pity that Museums do not use non reflecting glass. I have used it on a poster that I had framed and it is so much better.

Thanks for posting your photos. The C & O Hudson was not in the shop when I was there a few weeks ago. I would have liked to been there when it was on display.

As I said, I'm no photographer so apologies for the glare!
The streamliner was incredible to see in person, it would have been truly awe-inspiring to see that streaking across the landscape in such a space age colour scheme.

There was also an Allegheny there in July, was that there for your visit? I couldn't get great pictures of it as it was hidden away behind the fireless loco, the sheer size of the thing was stunning.

Unfortunately, the B&O museum doesn’t get the kind of support from CSX they need to maintain the northern part of it’s heritage. They have moved quite a few things inside the car shop that used to sit outside. It’s a shame they can’t get more inside or at least under roof.

The selection of items in the parking lot would really benefit from some cover, they are completely exposed. Even just an open shed to keep the rain off them would help. I didn't know the museum was associated with CSX, what is their relationship?

 

[Madman]

Google Photos is a pleasant surprise, I haven't really used it too much but it does some cool things, for example it stitched several photos I had taken of a relative's back garden into one larger panoramic image without my asking, and it applies some nice filters to different photos to great effect. It also creates collages based on where photos were taken. I have yet to figure out the intricacies of it just yet but I will try and get it to stitch together a panoramic view of the Shay, I just couldn't get back far enough to get the whole lot in shot. It's also useful for backing up photos, with unlimited storage as far as I am aware.






As I said, I'm no photographer so apologies for the glare!
The streamliner was incredible to see in person, it would have been truly awe-inspiring to see that streaking across the landscape in such a space age colour scheme.

There was also an Allegheny there in July, was that there for your visit? I couldn't get great pictures of it as it was hidden away behind the fireless loco, the sheer size of the thing was stunning.



The selection of items in the parking lot would really benefit from some cover, they are completely exposed. Even just an open shed to keep the rain off them would help. I didn't know the museum was associated with CSX, what is their relationship?

Yes, I got the chance to see it. What impressed me, and has always impressed me, was the sheer massiveness of it's parts and machinery. That kind of "Real" moving machinery propelling a monster like that over the rails is surely a testament to the engineers who designed it, the men who built it and of course to the engineers that drove it.

I was born while steam was still here on the planet. But born too late to understand what I might have been seeing. The one steam locomotive I did see, up close and personal, was in New Jersey. Maybe I was ten years old. On a branch line, near my cousins home, a switcher came by, spewing smoke and cinders, which we could feel hitting us as the locomotive passed us. That was an exciting moment for me.

 

[John Narvell]

Google Photos is a pleasant surprise, I haven't really used it too much but it does some cool things, for example it stitched several photos I had taken of a relative's back garden into one larger panoramic image without my asking, and it applies some nice filters to different photos to great effect. It also creates collages based on where photos were taken. I have yet to figure out the intricacies of it just yet but I will try and get it to stitch together a panoramic view of the Shay, I just couldn't get back far enough to get the whole lot in shot. It's also useful for backing up photos, with unlimited storage as far as I am aware.






As I said, I'm no photographer so apologies for the glare!
The streamliner was incredible to see in person, it would have been truly awe-inspiring to see that streaking across the landscape in such a space age colour scheme.

There was also an Allegheny there in July, was that there for your visit? I couldn't get great pictures of it as it was hidden away behind the fireless loco, the sheer size of the thing was stunning.



The selection of items in the parking lot would really benefit from some cover, they are completely exposed. Even just an open shed to keep the rain off them would help. I didn't know the museum was associated with CSX, what is their relationship?

There isn’t any association although CSX has donated some equipment over the years. Sadly they don’t support it as it was separated back in the 70’s. As the B&O and associated family roads that were eventually merged with the seaboard family lines comprise a major portion of CSX, one would think they would at least provide some financial assistance. The CSX corp doesn’t give a damn about it’s history. Look at what the UP does restoring locomotives and NS does honoring it’s heritage with their heritage fleet. CSX put a couple stickers on the cabs.

 

[Riograndad]

Great photos,thanks for posting

 

[Riograndad]

There isn’t any association although CSX has donated some equipment over the years. Sadly they don’t support it as it was separated back in the 70’s. As the B&O and associated family roads that were eventually merged with the seaboard family lines comprise a major portion of CSX, one would think they would at least provide some financial assistance. The CSX corp doesn’t give a damn about it’s history. Look at what the UP does restoring locomotives and NS does honoring it’s heritage with their heritage fleet. CSX put a couple stickers on the cabs.

Yes a shame the CSX and its lack of interest,as for the UP is there any news on Big Boy and how tht restoration is going?