REVIEW: B&O Railroad Museum, Baltimore, Maryland

Travels and Kids Rating:  
4 out of 5 travel buggies
We recently visited Baltimore, Maryland.  It was our second time to the area with the kids and we wanted to do something different than a ballgame or a visit to the Inner Harbor.  We heard there were train rides nearby and with two boys who love trains, we traveled to the B&O Railroad Museum located close to downtown Baltimore.  Yes, most familiar to us with the help of Monopoly but also a truly famous train line in America's history.

Is this museum kid friendly?  Definitely. While we saw several adult train enthusiasts, there were plenty of children visiting with ample kid friendly activities.  It has a great balance between history, education and lots of fun and hands on opportunities. Upon arriving, you immediately notice the round house, large trains outside and ample parking.  In addition to the admission price (a bit pricey for a family of 6), you have the option of purchasing a ticket ($3/adults, $2/children) for a 20 minute round trip train on the first commercial mile of of railroad track in the U.S. (Tell that to your friends after visiting!)

We toured the exhibition gallery first.  It had models trains through the ages and a great display of the inner workings of a train engine. It was still a bit over our kids heads (ages 18 month to 5 years) but they enjoyed the models and the Morse Code stations where they could try to tap out a code.  We were soon in the Roundhouse.  It was very impressive to see the massive turntable and then all the various locomotives.  While some were for viewing only, they had a great display of real trains (accessible and fairly buggy friendly) where the kids can traipse through the cars (the mail car was very interesting) and pretend to be a railroad engineer.  Right behind these trains is a kids zone where they have toy trains, tracks, coloring sheets, books and more.  The boys could have stayed in this area all day playing trains but next up was our train ride. Check the schedule before going because on the day of our visit they only offered one train ride.

We lined up outside on the platform and soon heard the "All Aboard" call where we had a choice of seats on the train.  It's a quick 20 minute round trip up the track and back but the kids enjoyed taking their picture with the conductor.  There is brief commentary, not too many sights to see but again you are riding on the first commercial train track.  Back at the platform, the kids noticed the outdoor kids area.  There is small playground and a few more opportunities to spend some money. We skipped the train themed carousel but did opt for the $1 kiddie train ride (with 4 cars, our family filled the train for the 3-minute ride). I would recommend if you have younger children.

After about 3 hours, the kids were about at their limit of train exposure. But we did visit the North Car Shop to see some more giant locomotives and an opportunity to board another large locomotive (again buggy friendly) before visiting Platform 1 for a look through a caboose and a great model train with Baltimore scenes.

They had your usual gift shop and we didn't escape before purchasing a few train whistles. If this is your first trip to the Baltimore area this may not be your first stop, but I would definitely recommend adding this stop your list for a return trip or if you are in the area several days with children.

411 on the B&O:
http://www.borail.org
901 West Pratt St., Baltimore, MD 21223
Hours: Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.