On Presidents’ Day, February 16, 2003, amid a record-breaking snowfall, one half of the Museum’s massive roof collapsed. The collapse occurred as a result of the weight of drifting snow on the western side of the building. Eyewitness accounts depict the drifts nearly six feet in depth. The first alarm was received at approximately 11:40 PM on February 16th. Museum officials responded to find two sections of the 22-sectioned roof collapsed. Two more sections fell on the opposite side of the building around 5:30 AM the following morning. The remaining seven sections caved in before 9:00 AM on the 17th. As a result of the roof collapse, tons of snow, slate, wood, and cast iron fell upon some of the most historic and important locomotives, rolling stock, Pangborn models, and small artifacts in the Museum’s collection.

Work on restoration of the Roundhouse and rebuilding the Museum began immediately. Following a 22-month effort and a heroic fund raising campaign, the Museum reopened to the public on November 13, 2004. New and expanded visitor facilities and public programs were unveiled and an on-site, state-of-the-art locomotive and rolling stock restoration facility was designed to restore the damaged collections.

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.

Museum members receive FREE admission and train rides.

Add $2 to any admission price and visit both of the B&O Railroad Museums for one low price! The discounted combination ticket offers visitors admissions to both the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum and the Ellicott City Station valid for 6 months from the date of purchase.

Comprised of the oldest and most comprehensive collection of railroad history in the Western Hemisphere, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, Inc. is a unique cultural and educational asset for the city of Baltimore and the region. An unparalleled roster of the 19th and 20th century railroad equipment, original shop buildings, and surviving tracks at the historic Mt. Clare site provide an integrated resource to present virtually every aspect of American railroad development and its impact on our society, culture and economy.

Located among Baltimore City's historic southwest neighborhoods, at the original site of the historic Mt. Clare Shops, the B&O Railroad Museum is recognized universally as the birthplace of American railroading. It was here within the Museum's 40-acre campus that Baltimore businessmen, surveyors, and engineers set about building the B&O Railroad in 1829, laying the first commercial long-distance track, building the first passenger station, and inventing America's unique railroad

The first published history of an American railroad was William Prescott Smith’s “A History and Description of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad” published in 1853. At the 1876 United States Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, the B&O Railroad exhibited not only its newest and most powerful locomotive, but also the oldest in existence. This moment initiated the B&O’s commitment to preserving its heritage as “America’s First Railroad” and set in motion a corporate philosophy of heritage preservation. By the 1880s, with fierce competition at hand, the B&O chose to advertise itself as America’s most historic railroad traveling through America’s most scenic countryside.