I will be in Baltimore in early November. I plan to visit the B&O Railroad Museum. I would appreciate any thoughts about how much time I should plan to spend at the museum. In addition, I will be staying downtown at the Sheraton. What would be the most efficient and effective way to get to the museum. I won’t have a car with me.
I’ve not been there in 50 or so years…but my guess today, from what I remember and what I have learned about railroad museums, would be to not make other plans for the day, go there as early as you can, stay as long as you are still informed, amused, entertaind, and are enjoying yourself. Then have a nice dinner and take a ride on a train.
I agree with henry6. I was last at the B&O Museum before the roof fell in, about 15 years ago, and there was plenty to watch then. I’m going back the first chance I get.
As to transportation, the museum is not far from downtown and you may be able to use a cab. But the city of Baltimore was building public transport facilitis at a great clip when I was there, so I would check with the hotel.
Have fun!
I would say half a day would be fine. The last time i was there i took a cab from my hotel (Days Inn) to the museum and then walked back. Speaking as someone who lives in a a major city (New York City), my tolerance for walking through a “not-so-upscale” neighborhood is higher than I would suspect a non-city dweller’s tolerance would be. Since cabs really don’t go out that way, make sure you take down the phone number of a cab company so you can call them and have them send one out there for you if you don’t feel like walking back. I had no issues walking but like I said I was already accustomed to walking through neighborhoods like those between the museum and the harbor. it’s like a 10-15 block walk which isn’t too bad.
I was last there about a year ago, and have visited several times. I go to Baltimore for the Great Scale Model RR Show (next one is Oct 29 & 30). I’d say that planning on a half day would be fine. The only other people there in early November would be the possibility of a school group, so you can move about the exhibits at your own pace (my last few visits, it was not flooded with paying guests…).
From the Sheraton, just go up to Pratt Street and walk west. staying on the south side of Pratt. Ten blocks. Pratt is heavily traveled, and you shouldn’t have any trouble in the daytime. Can’t say that I’d recommend walking much further west beyond the museum, though. I had my camera in it’s squarish nylon camera case (no brand names on the outside), and didn’t detect myself getting “eyeballed” in midday. I was a police officer for 30 years and am pretty alert to those things, especially when visiting a large city.
If you go over around the east side of Camden Yard (just 2 blocks or so W from the Sheraton), you can get some nice shots of the light rail coming down through the City as well as the occasional MARC train or equipment. Tying in with the “big city awareness”, every time that I have hung around the lightrail stations there taking photos, I have been approached by the smooth-talking panhandler(s) with some line about being stranded by his church bus, needing money to bury a child, or some other extensive story. In Balmer, they don’t get discouraged by “no thanks” and it seems that they only go away when I use the stern voice.
B&O Museum is worth the visit - classic pieces.
Bill
Definitely a “must see,” but you already knew that since you want to go.
As with any such facility, a lot depends on what you want to take away. I’m sure you could spend all day there, but half a day, as mentioned, will probably be just fine.
You’re not far from the Inner Harbor, itself an attraction.
When I’ve gone there, I’ve had my own transportation, so I went directly to the museum.
Thanks for the directions and advice. I appreciate everyone’s input.
With the exception of my visit to the B&O Museum, as well as a visit to Fort McHenry, I will be taking the train every day from Baltimore to Washington. Although I said in a previous post that the Acela is not worth the money, I just may have to take it from Baltimore to Washington for grins.
Sam you should be able to sample all 3 RR routes to WASH. A quick 2 -3 block walk to Camden will get you to the MARC Camden line. Also at Camden station you can catch the light rail to Penn station and take MARC one day and Amtrak another. The MARC savings may make the ACELA trip easier on the pocketbook. Enjoy your trips…
And the way to get to Ft. McHenry is by water taxi, available there in the corner of the Inner Harbor. They should still be running some in early November, although not as frequently as during tourist season. I also enjoyed touring the WWII submarine Torsk on display there in the Inner Harbor (brings back all those great submarine movies we used to watch). The Frigate Constellation was going into drydock or something for repairs, but a search under “Constellation” should tell you if it is back. That is also worth the visit - it would not have been good to be a sailor back then and be 6’3", as the below-deck clearances aren’t much!
Bill
My wife and I were last there in October 1999 and if I recall we spent about 1/2 day and it was well worth it. Sadly in 2003 when the roof fell in my heart nearly stopped thinking about all those engines that are kept in there. Would be great to see photographs of the restoration since then…
If you have the time and inclination, there is also a trolley museum in Balto that you could visit. I haven’t been there (one of the things I regret not doing when we lived in MD), so don’t know any details about the collection or how to get there. Maybe another forum participant could furnish some details?
One of the neat things I liked about Baltimore was the Bromo-Seltzer Tower, which is visible from the baseball stadium (Camden Yards, near Pratt Street). When we were there, at night they lit windows or panels on the tower in the same shade of blue as the old Bromo-Seltzer bottles.
As I think someone mentioned, riding the light rail system is an interesting way to see some of the sights without a car. When we lived in MD (1992-1997), the Little Italy neighborhood had some great food.
Baltimore resident here.
First off, this answers your lack-of-car issues:
http://www.charmcitycirculator.com/
Scrutinize closely. The Orange Route takes you RIGHT TO the B&O Museum, for FREE. If you so choose, the Purple Route takes you to Penn Station and (with a short walk) the Baltimore Streetcar Museum, 1911 Falls Road.
Now, the B&O Museum: I should point out that it is only open 10 AM to 4 PM, Sundays 11-4, with last admission at 3:30. A “full day” there is NOT what it is at, say, the Smithsonian or the shopping mall.
How long to visit? If you are of the “short attention span” category that is happy just grabbing a token 3/4-view photo of everything you see and darting off, you could finish off with the place in 1-1.5 hours. If you actually stop, study, and pay attention to everything you can, including a video or docent presentation, the train ride, etc., you should expect to take 2-3 hours. If you REALLY want to pay attention to everything–you pay attention to the odd “rocking” valve gear of the early vertical-boiler locos or count rivets on the tenders, for example–expect 4 hours or so.
Baltimore Chapter NRHS meets second Monday of the month (Nov. 14) at the Streetcar Museum at 8 PM.
One of my favs and I visit every time I’m in town. I usually walk from the Inner Harbor. A couple of the blocks look dicey, but I have never had a problem. Give yourself a couple of hours at least. One of my favorite exhibits is the cutaway E-8 model. I could spend an hour on that alone. If you are also a modeler, MB Klein is Nirvana and reachable by light rail, almost to the door. You will leave needing a second mortgage.
I don’t have any photos handy but it’s nicer now than it was before the collapse. They took the opportunity to build new station platforms and such, do a new model railroad layout (this time, in an 85’ passenger car - the layout runs the length of the car), and clean up the roundhouse. My wife and I visit at least once a year. We recently joined the museum but haven’t stopped by since then. We plan to soon, though.
They recently unveiled one of the restored engines that was damaged in the collapse. The other victims are probably still behind plexiglas, looking pretty sad.
MB Klein is indeed a well stocked hobby shop but is not exactly “across the street” from the light rail. Take a MTA “Hunt Valley” car to the Warren Road stop. A lot of this line is on the former Pennsylvania Railroad line to York, PA. Then hike north up Beaver Dam Road to Cockeysville Road. Kleins is at 243 Cockeysville. Total distance is about a quarter mile.
This Web site will help you use the Baltimore transit system:
Baltimore Streetcar Museum’s “Home / Index Page”:
http://www.baltimorestreetcar.org/index.html
Roster of Equipment w/ photos: http://www.baltimorestreetcar.org/carstock.html
- Paul North.
Sam,
Go Early and divide your day between inside the roundhouse and out in the yard viewing the equipment. The outer exibits close a half hour earlier at 3:30 so you may want to see them first. There are light snacks from a machine but you may want to take a sandwich. There are restaurants if you don’t mind walking a few blocks but I would not take the time If you have only one day. And there is a pretty good gift shop.
BentFrog
The museum was great. And your directions were spot on. Perhaps you can answer a couple of B&O questions for me.
Amongst other things I took a MARC train from Washington’s Union Station to the Camden Yard stop in Baltimore. Was
[quote user=“Sam1”]
Beach Bill:
I was last there about a year ago, and have visited several times. I go to Baltimore for the Great Scale Model RR Show (next one is Oct 29 & 30). I’d say that planning on a half day would be fine. The only other people there in early November would be the possibility of a school group, so you can move about the exhibits at your own pace (my last few visits, it was not flooded with paying guests…).
From the Sheraton, just go up to Pratt Street and walk west. staying on the south side of Pratt. Ten blocks. Pratt is heavily traveled, and you shouldn’t have any trouble in the daytime. Can’t say that I’d recommend walking much further west beyond the museum, though. I had my camera in it’s squarish nylon camera case (no brand names on the outside), and didn’t detect myself getting “eyeballed” in midday. I was a police officer for 30 years and am pretty alert to those things, especially when visiting a large city.
If you go over around the east side of Camden Yard (just 2 blocks or so W from the Sheraton), you can get some nice shots of the light rail coming down through the City as well as the occasional MARC train or equipment. Tying in with the “big city awareness”, every time that I have hung around the lightrail stations there taking photos, I have been approached by the smooth-talking panhandler(s) with some line about being stranded by his church bus, needing money to bury a child, or some other extensive story. In Balmer, they don’t get discouraged by “no thanks” and it seems that they only go away when I use the stern voice.
B&O Museum is worth the visit - classic pieces.
Bill
The museum was great. And your directions were spot on. Perhaps you can answer
Here is a handy map showing the B&O original New York to Washington route via ferry (Green), the B&O belt line around the city (blue) and the PRR NY-WAS mainline (red)
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