Railroad story line full#

As the B&O began serious planning to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 1927, interest in the “old trains” returned. However, the Museum turned its interests instead to natural history and much of the B&O equipment returned to Baltimore and languished in obscurity. At the close of the hugely successful Exposition, it was expected that at least portions of the railroad exhibit would be placed under the care of Chicago’s newly formed Field Museum. The B&O, the country’s first railroad company, assigned Joseph Pangborn, an Assistant Passenger Agent, to create a great show. American railroads, as the largest and most aggressive US industry at the time, committed to showing their best in speeding locomotives and splendid passenger cars. It all started with the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. When the Museum was prospering, so too was the financial and corporate health of the Railroad - the reverse also was true. When reading this story, please remember that until the museum became an independent nonprofit in 1990 from the railroad companies, its victories, and the vicissitudes during its early years mirror those of the B&O Railroad.

Railroad story line full#

The museum’s history is full of openings, fearful closings, glorious re-openings, and enlivening initiatives. The history of the B&O Museum stretches for many years preceding its 1953 official opening, reaching back at least to the 1890s.