B & O Ellicott City Railroad Station Museum

I love trains. Everything about them so like a 4 year old I run to see museums that are focused on trains, their history and the impact they had local economies. The B&O Railroad Station in Ellicott City isn’t the most robust train museum. However, it is an original building that has been repurposed to educate the public on the railway during the Civil War.
Made up of three buildings, the first is the old station. On the first floor you buy your tickets to the museum in the gift shop. Tickets are a bit expensive, but gift shop prices are reasonable. The second building features a large model train display. The day we went the train wasn’t running, but there was a man dressed in Civil War garb who I am sure would to have shown us the layout. The third is a caboose. Visitors can climb on the caboose and experience the iconic red car at the end of the train.
There are no passenger trains that pass through Ellicott City these days from what I could tell. However, you may get lucky and see one of the CSX freight trains come through. There is no real set schedule for the CSX though so it is all about luck.

This is such a great little museum, and it is not nearly as little as you would think from the outside.
My family walked into the gift shop, with the idea of getting my nephew a Baltimore train shirt (he’s two, so naturally loves trains) for me to send with my parents when they went to see him. We didn’t actually plan to go in: from the shop, the museum appeared to be just a single mocked up 1800’s style room. For 6 bucks a person, that seemed steep.
Then we found that it was actually $ 5 for those over 60… and I thought it would be nice to support the idea anyway.
The «mocked up room» was attended by a woman who immediately told us that the «outdoor» section closed first, so we should head up there, then come see her. We followed her directions up the stairs, onto the second, floor past a guy in the telegraph room, and out the door. There, directly next to the active train tracks that run through Ellicott City, was the remains of the old tracks, a giant turn table for train engines, and (best of all) a somewhat preserved caboose that you were welcome to go in and climb around. Sure, it could use some restoration, but it was still in pretty good shape. Kids will love getting to climb to the upper seats (by kids… I also mean 30 year olds).
On the way back out we almost missed the room with the model train and model of what Ellicott City used to look like in the 1800’s, along with a 4 minute recap of the Civil war. Kind of fun, but I got distracted by the video, and didn’t get a great look at the scale model before I left. Fortunately the do a Christmas train display, so I’ll have to go back this winter to check it out.
On the way back out I had plenty of time to talk to the guy working the telegraph who answered lots of questions and told the story behind the telegraph that was actively being sent over and over again (I have no idea how someone then, or now, could sit in a room with that thing constantly going).
And then downstairs, we had a quick overview of life in the train station 150 years ago.
Many aspects of this museum are targeted at kids, but it’s reasonably cheap and a lot of fun, so even if you are on your own, it’s worth an hour of your time (we did it in about a 45 minutes a half hour before it was closing — but wished I had more time… and felt bad about keeping the staff there late).

This museum is on the smaller side but has a cute train garden and caboose you can walk through. I visited during the morning and admission was reasonable. The staff members were SUPER — friendly and knowledgable.

My kid had a fun 30 minutes, but not worth the 10 bucks. It seems like not much effort has gone into this place in many moons. I don’t recommend a visit.

Awesome (tiny) museum for train lovers. I enjoyed the historical layout, my kiddo enjoyed the train displays. There is not much here in terms of bulk so if you’re looking for more of a day at the museum, head to B&O Baltimore. same issues with parking there anyway.

We had our wedding ceremony this weekend at the B & O and they were wonderful! They staff was very helpful, and the museum was open so our family and friends could wander around if they wanted.
The museum is small but a great and unique place to get married. They have a lot of interesting places to have pictures taken, including a caboose and some interesting nooks and crannies inside.
I really liked the ambiance and the helpfulness of the staff and event coordinator.

Its a pretty little rural museum. Quaint and quiet –you can’t get into trouble here. The small stature of this place makes it an ideal place to take temper-​tantrum, restless kiddies without wearing out the patience of grown-​ups and older siblings. There’s definitely enough to look at if you stop and linger over each one; talk; and amble around at a moderate pace. Get something to eat. On a summer day – very pleasant; surrounded by trees.
You know I bet places like this won’t be around forever; but for the time being – they’re still so unique and memorable especially when you take children to see them. Kids always ask years later, ‘where were we that one day when we looked at big trains?’ Its just not something you see every day. Old textures; strange equipment, people dressed in funny clothes; how weird weird weird. History. The past. Imagination. Compare this to a Chuck E. Cheese? No comparison.
Sadly, today’s digital kids – when they grow up; you think they’re gonna see the sense in paying to maintain these ‘real world’ exhibits? They’ll wonder why they should bother; when they can just look at trains on the internet if they want to. In fact they may not even hear you ask the question, they’ll probably be absorbed by some handheld game.
Let’s KEEP going to little museums like this. Fer cryin’ out loud.

This is strictly a weekend mid-​day operation… Wed-​Sun 11 – 4. $ 5 admission. The historical info is interesting but not really the effort of finding parking off main street in Ellicott City. Could take you only 30 minutes to go through even if you look at every exhibit. A few interesting things, but it was just okay.