Maryland | Pennsylvania | Virginia

MARYLAND

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, 901 W. Pratt Street, Baltimore.  410-752-2490, www.borail.org. The museum is home to one of the oldest, most comprehensive collections of railroad artifacts in the Western hemisphere, including a roster of 19th and 20th century railroad equipment.  The 40acre historic site is regarded as the birthplace of American railroading and includes the 1851 Baldwin Roundhouse, and the first mile of railroad track in America.  More than 150 locomotives and other pieces of rolling stock, ranging from replicas of the first locomotives to the present are available to see. Open Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm, Saturday, 10am-5pm, Sunday, 11am-4pm.

Baltimore Streetcar Museum, 1901 Falls Road, Baltimore.  410-547-0264, www.baltimorestreetcar.org.  A street car ride museum and 5’4 1/2” gauge trains. Visitors can relive tail transit in the city of Baltimore from 1859 to 1963 through a 16 car collection.  Cars operate over 1 ½ mile roundtrip trackage.  The visitor’s center contains displays, a museum store, and the Trolley Theatre.  Visitors can view 1888, 1889 single truck closed car, 1913 double track crane, 1896 single truck summer car, 1900 double truck summer car. 1930 Peter Witt car, 1936 St. Louis Car Co. PCC car and a 1944 Pullman Standard PCC car along with many more. Open June 1 through October 31, Saturdays and Sundays 12N-5pm, year round Sundays 12N-5pm,

Bowie Railroad Station Museum, Chestnut Avenue & 11th St.  Old Bowie, Md. 301-809-3089, www.cityofbowie.org/comserv/museums. A restored Pennsylvania Railroad 1910 depot with interlocking tower, caboose, and a model trains.  Collections illustrate local rail history, 1870 to today, alongside Amtrak/MARC corridor. Open Wednesday-Sunday 12-4pm. 

Brunswick Museum, 40 W. Potomac St. Brunswick.  301-834-7100, www.brrm.net.  
A Museum with model train layout in HO scale.  Brunswick yards handled all B&O Passenger and freight on the east west main line.  There are 863feet of track in an interactive HO layout that traces the route from Washington DC to Brunswick, Railroad artifacts include historic photographs, tools, signals, equipment, and uniforms, exhibitions of life circa 1900 in a railroad town plus much more. Open year round Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday, 1-5pm, April-September additional Thursday and Friday 10am-2pm.

Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum, 4155 Mears Ave., Chesapeake Beach, Md.  410-257-3892, www.cbrm.org. Open daily May-Sept, 1-4pm, weekends, April-Oct. 1-4pm, daily 1-4pm during April as staffing allows.  A museum and historic railway station building.  The Chesapeake Beach Railway brought people from Washington DC to the resorts of Chesapeake Beach and North Beach from 1900 until 1935. The museum exhibits photographs and artifacts of the railroad and resort.  Hours April, May, September and October, weekends 1-4pm, May 1-September 30, weekdays 1-4pm, and June-August weekends 11am-5pm.

Ellicott City B&O Railroad Station, 2711 Maryland Ave. Ellicott City, MD.  410-461-1944, www.ecborail.org. Model train layout, HO scale. Dubbed the oldest railroad station in America, the B&O Railroad Station houses a 40’ layout of the first 13 miles of the B&O. Friday and Monday, 11am-4pm; Saturday, 11am-5pm; Sunday, 12-5pm, closed Mondays after Labor Day. Hours Friday and Monday, 11am-4pm, Saturday, 11am-5pm, Sunday, 12-5pm, Closed Mondays after Labor Day.

Gaithersburg Community Museum, 9 S. Summit Avenue, Gaithersburg, Md.  301-258-6160, www.gaithersburgmd.gov/museum. Outdoor display of steam locomotives, rolling stock and baggage wagons.  Historic railroad photos on display in restored brick B&O freight house.  There is a operating model railroad display. Open Thursday –Saturday, 10am-2pm. 

Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum, 300 S. Burhans Blvd., Hagerstown, Md. 301-739-4665, www.roundhouse.org.  The museum houses memories of the Western Maryland Railway Complex, artifacts, photos, and for kids to run, model train layouts on display.  Open year round, Friday-Sunday, 1-5pm.  Specials include Spring Heritage Days, summer and fall excursions, and trains of Christmas, December-February

National Capital Trolley Museum, 1313 Bonifant Road, Colesville, Md. 301-384-6088, www.dctrolley.org.  A Streetcar ride, museum and standard gauge trains. Visitors can see streetcar communities and visit the computer based exhibit.  From Streetcars to Light Rail.  There is also a 1 ¾ mile, 20 minute round trip available in Northwest Branch Park on cars selected from the museum’s collection.  The National Capital Streetcar Museum was founded in 1959.  The collections consist of 17 streetcars, many are operated on a one mile demonstration railway.  There is also an O-scale model layout representing a Washington streetscape from the 1930s, a film program, and traditional exhibits of street railway artifacts and photographs.  Hours January-November weekends 12-5pm, additional hours June-August, October 1-November 15, and March 15-May 15, Thursday & Friday 11am-2pm.

The Train Room, 360 S. Burhans Blvd., Hagerstown, Md.  301-745-6681, www.the-train-room.com. The museum houses a large O scale model railroad display.  There is a collection of rare and unusual items from Lionel and Marx.  Much of the collection is pre WWII.  Open year round, Monday & Friday, 9am-8pm, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, 9am-6pm, and Sunday, 12-6pm.

Walkersville Southern Railroad, 34 W. Pennsylvania Ave, Walkersville, Md. 877-363-WSRR, www.wsrr.org.  The Walkersville Southern Railroad takes passengers on an 8 mile, 70 minute round trip that goes through the woods and rural farm country north of Frederick, Md. Open May through October, Saturday departures 11am, 1 & 3 pm, May, June, September and October, Sunday departures at 11am and 1pm. Walkersville Southern Railroad offers Mystery Dinner Trains, Midweek Teddy Bear Picnic, Fathers and Mothers Day Specials, 4th of July Fireworks Special, Track Car Days, Jesse James Day, Haunted Rail & Trail and many others.

Western Maryland Railway Historical Society, Inc. 41 N. Main Street, Union Bridge, Md. 410-775-0150, www.westernmarylandrhs.com.  A former Western Maryland office building and the adjoining passenger depot form a museum complex that houses an extensive collection of artifacts and memorabilia.  Holdings include a photo archive, archival material directly from the Western Maryland Railway, an extensive railroaders library featuring historical and technical publications about the WM and other roads in the region, and a model train layout. Open year round, Sundays 1-4pm, Wednesday, 9am-12N and 1-3pm.

Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, 13 Canal St. Cumberland, MD.  800-TRAIN-5O or (301) 759-440, www.wmsr.com. Offering Mystery Dinner train, standard excursions, and other specialty trains. Museum with Standard gauge trains. From May to mid-December trips are available aboard a train powered a restored 1916 Baldwin steam engine and vintage diesel locomotives that travel the scenic mountains of western Maryland! This 32-mile round trip runs between Cumberland’s restored Western Maryland Railway station and the 1891 Cumberland Pennsylvania depot in Frostburg.  Departures begin at 11:30am. 

PENNSYLVANIA

Choo Choo Barn, Route 741 East Strasburg, Pa.  800-450-2920, 717-687-7911, www.choochoobarn.com. This 1,700 sq. ft. miniature display of Lancaster County was built mostly by one family.  It inclue4ds 22 O, HO, and N guage trains and more than 150 engines and vehicles.  It was selected by Lionel Trains for participation in their Historic Layout Series.  Open April-December, daily 10am-5pm.  

East Broad Top Railroad, Route 994, Orbisonia Station, Rockhill Furnace, PA. 814-447-3011, www.ebtrr.com. The East Broad Top Railroad is an operating narrow gauge railroad that was chartered in 1856.  The road hauled coal, freight, mail, express, and passengers for more than 80 years.  Today it offers passengers a 10 mile, 60 minute ride through Aughwick Valley.  On display is the railroad yard with shops, an operating roundhouse, and a turntable.  Open June through October weekends, 11am, 1 and 3pm. 

Franklin Institute Science Museum, 220 N. 20th Street at Ben Franklin Pkwy, Philadelphia, PA. 215-448-1200, www.fi.edu.  The Baldwin 60000 steam locomotive has become part of an exciting new attraction.  The Train Factory transports visitors to an active turn of the century train works where they feel the steam, hear the noise of the machines, and meet some of the people who worked to create America’s locomotives.  Visitors explore original and modern train technology as they journey through the sections of this exhibit, including The Machine Shop, The Track Shop, Research and Development, Accident Investigations, and the Baldwin 60000 test run. Open year round, daily 9:30am-5pm. 

Friends of the East Broad Top Museum, Main Street, Robertsdale, PA.  814-625-2388, www.febt.org. Located in two historic buildings at the former southern operating terminus of the East Broad Top Railroad.  Exhibits and displays illustrate the history of the East Broad Top Railroad and the men and women who constructed, maintained, and operated the railroad.  Open June 4-Sept. 4, Saturdays, 10am-5pm and  Sundays 1-5pm. 

Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad, 136 Brown St. Middletown, PA.  717-944-4435, www.mhrailroad.com. An 11 mile, 75 minute narrated train ride aboard 1920s vintage Delaware, Lackawanna and Western coaches.  Trains depart from an 1891 Freight Station or Indian Echo Caverns Platform.  The train follows the towpath of the historic Union Canal and alongside the peaceful Swatara, and crosses a 35 foot bridge above Swatara Creek.  Displayed rolling stock includes a trolley freight car built in Middletown in 1903, a wooden box car from the 1800’s with link and pin couplers, a trolley snow sweeper, streetcars built in the 1930s and 40s and a 1906 Convertible trolley, which ran until 1947.  Some of the special trains include the Easter Bunny Express, Mothers Day Dinner Train, Moonlight Dinner Trains with Sinatra Sounds and Murder Mystery trains and many, many more.  Open weekends Memorial Day through August, Sundays in September, and weekends in October and December.   

New Hope and Ivyland Railroad, 32 W. Bridge Street, New Hope, PA.  215-862-2332, www.newhoperailroad.com. Travel into a scene from the past and enjoy a 45 minute, 9 mile round trip to Lahaska Station through the rolling hills and valleys of historic Bucks County on the ex-New Hope Branch of the Reading Company.  The train goes along the some route that was filmed in the 1914 movie series “Perils of Pauline.”  Purchase tickets in the authentic 1891 Reading Company “witches Hat” train station which once was the location of the railroad telegraph operator who sent and received all messages for the town of New Hope.  Special trains include the Easter Bunny Express, Fathers Day cab ride, song and story hour, fall foliage excursions to Ivyland, Halloween trains, Trick or treat trains, Railfan weekend, Santa trains, Polar Express Trains, and dinner trains.  Trains operate year round.  Check the website for complete departure times.

National Toy Train Museum, 300 Paradise Lane, Strasburg. Pa.  717-687-8976, www.traincollectors.org. Five operating layouts feature toy trains from the mid 1800s to the present.  The toy trains on display are presented in a colorful and exciting tur of the century setting.  The museum also has a vast collection of floor toys, electric trains, and train related accessories.  Open May 1-October 31 daily, weekends 10am-5pm, April, November and December.  

Pennsylvania Pioneer Lines Scenic Railway, 106 N. Washington St. Gettysburg, PA.  717-334-6932, www.gettysburgrail.com. A scenic excursion runs through the heart of Adams County, traveling through the north end of the battlefield at Gettysburg as the conductor gives a narrated history of the surrounding sites.  The tour lasts approximately 1 ¼ hours. Special events include ghosts trains, murder mystery dinner trains and several other specials.  Open year rounds.

Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Route 741, Strasburg, Pa.  717-687-8628, www.rrmuseumpa.org. A world class collection of over 100 steam, electric, and diesel electric locomotives and passenger and freight cars, as well as railroad related art and artifacts.  The 100,000 sq. ft. Rolling Stock Hall and outdoor restoration yard exhibit equipment dating from 1825 to 1992.  Other features are the Stewart Junction Interactive education center, Steinman Station replica depot and Whistle Stop Shop museum store.  Open Monday-Saturday 9am-5pm, Sunday 12N-5pm. 

Red Run Express Washington Township, 13013 Welty Road, Waynesboro, Pa.  717-762-3128.  A miniature train ride around a 700 foot track and through tunnel building boards.  Open Memorial Day through Labor Day.  Special events include a Christmas Ride with Santa.

Rockhill Trolley Museum, Meadow Street, Rockhill Furnace, PA.  610-692-5094, www.rockhilltrolley.org. A three mile, 30 minute ride over the former Shade Gap branch of the East Broad Top Railroad aboard a restored trolley.  A new 3,000 foot track extension takes riders into Blacklog Narrows.  The collection has nine operating open car, a Philadelphia PCC, high speed interurban cars, and fascinating maintenance of way cars like a huge snowplow and a 106 year old snow sweeper.  Open Memorial Day through October, weekends.  Special events include 4th of July, Labor Day, Ice Cream Night Trolley, Fall Spectacular and Santa’s Trolley.

Strasburg Rail Road, Route 741 East, 301 Gap Road, Strasburg, Pa.  717-687-7522 or www.strasburgrailroad.com. A 45 minute ride aboard a shortline railroads goes through Amish farmland.  Visitors can ride a vintage steam train to Groff’s Grove for a picnic or dine aboard the Dining Car.  They can also see the Cagney Steam Train, try out the people powered Pump Car, tour the mechanical shop, and see Reading car no. 10, a turn of the century mansion on wheels for railroad tycoons and dignitaries.  See website for schedule.  Specials include A Day out with Thomas, Easter Bunny Trains, Trains and Troops and Santa Trains

West Chester Railroad/4 States Railway Service, 230 E. Market St. West Chester, Pa. 610-430-2233, www.westchesterrr.net. A 16 mile round trip runs from West Chester to Glen Mills.  This line is the unused portion of SEPTA’s R-3 Elwyn line, which is a very scenic as it follows Chester Creek in Western Delaware County through eastern Chester County.  Open April-December.  Special events include the Easter Bunny Express, Fall Foliage, Holiday Express and Santa Express.

VIRGINIA

Virginia Fairfax Station Railroad Museum, 11200 Fairfax Station Road, Fairfax Station, Va.  703-425-9225, www.fairfax-station.org. Restored Southern Railway depot is rich in Civil War and local history.  American Red Cross founder Clara Barton was a nurse here after the Second Battle of Manassas.  Open year round Sunday, 1-4pm, model train layouts open third Sunday of each month 1-4pm and Labor Day 12N-5pm.

Harpers Ferry Toy Train Museum & Joy Line Railroad, 937 Baker Road, Harpers Ferry, WV. 304-535-2291, 304-535-2521.  One half mile of 16” gauge track and a collection of antique toy trains.  Open April – October weekends 9am-5pm.