The B&O Railroad Museum, the birthplace of American railroading is located in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. At this museum, visitors have the opportunity to tour 40 acres of railroad history. See and experience the most important American railroad collection and the largest Civil War railroad collection in the world. The museum also offers train rides along the first commercial mile of railroad right-of-way in America on Thursday through Sunday, April through December and weekends in January. Children can enjoy interactive play at Choo Choo Blue Kids Zone, carousel rides, and educational exhibits throughout the campus.

American railroading began in Baltimore at the B&O’s Mount Clare Shops. In 1827, a small group of Baltimore businessmen came together and funded a new type of transportation, the B&O Railroad. Their vision and determination helped lay the first 13 miles of rail in America, creating a web of iron and steel that forms our nation today. This revolutionary invention shattered centuries-old methods of travel and communication, especially with the invention of the telegraph—its first message came to the B&O Railroad shops in 1844.

Today, this world-class museum is a nostalgic journey through the Roundhouse (1884), North Car Shop (1870), Mt. Clare Station (1851), and a railroad collection of locomotives and rail cars that are the first, best, last, and only of their kind in America. Learn the stories of these “iron horses” and the men and women who dedicated their lives to building and improving rail travel in America.

Photos of many items from the museum's collections can be found online.