All Aboard! 'Where's Marty?' Heads To Baltimore's B&O Railroad Museum
Hi everyone!
We had an epic time Tuesday at the B&O Railroad Museum. Right off the bat, I will tell you I am a big fan of the place, and have been for years.
Some background: my family was involved in railroad salvage with the Louisville and Nashville (L&N) Railroad. My wife's mother also worked for the Norfolk Western, then Norfolk Southern, arranging how freight trains should be organized, so they could be assembled correctly at the railyard.
And when our kids were younger, we had a membership and took them to the B&O (which stands for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which was based here) museum a lot. It's super kid-friendly and it offers a big "golly!" factor for little eyes.
This museum takes us back to the era when American railroading began. The first mile of commercial track in the U.S. began at Mt. Clare station, which is where the museum is now located. And the rest, as the saying goes, is history.
If you visit the museum's website, you can find out how to take a train ride on that mile of track. In fact, thousands of people do just that each year. It's known as the "Mile 1 Express."
Recently, some very important information surfaced that the Mt. Clare station played a role in the Underground Railroad. That finding is being researched by staff at the museum, which will open a major exhibit on that topic sometime next year.
Besides the big trains, cars and engines from decades past, along with information about Baltimore itself, there is a model train garden that runs through a mockup of Baltimore City.
(P.S. I did ask if they decorate this nifty little feature during the holidays, and the answer is YES. So, it goes without saying that I cannot wait to return to see the train garden decked out for the holidays in a future chapter of "Where's Marty?")
By the way, on a completely unrelated note, Wednesday is National Crabmeat Day--who knew? Which means we might just be having crabs for breakfast. Crab omelets, why not?
Marty B!
