Scenic Train Rides in Maryland

Find Your Perfect Train Ride in Maryland Today

The Railroad Nation

The B&O Railroad Museum includes an historic 1884 roundhouse along with the largest collection of 19th century locomotives in North America as well as one of the most diverse and historic collections of railroad artifacts and rolling stock. You will find an actual turntable in action as the century old former Lake Superior & Ishpeming 4-8-0 #734 changes directions on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. The WMSR also offers locomotive cab and caboose rides and is home to the C&O Canal Museum.
Chesapeake & Allegheny Live Steamers offers free miniature train rides on the second Sunday of each month between April and November.

Did you know?

There are 29 steam locomotives listed in Maryland today, and over 20 of them are on display at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum. Notable locomotives on display include Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 No. 1309, Reading 4-8-4 No. 2101 and Chesapeake & Ohio 4-6-4 No. 490 .
Maryland is served well by a variety of both freight and rail commuter lines. Amtrak services include the Acela, Regional,and Silver Service New York-Florida trains. CSX, which runs over former Baltimore & Ohio routes, as well as Norfolk Southern and Maryland Midland transport freight consists over the states 700 plus mile routes.


Baltimore

Baltimore Streetcar Museum

The Baltimore Streetcar Museum runs year round street car rides and museum. Directions

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum

The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum is made up of several vintage buildings, including an 1884 domed roundhouse and turntable. Operable replicas of the 1831 Tom Thumb and the Lafayette are also on display. The B&O museum’s diverse and historic collection of railroad artifacts and rolling stock focuses primary on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. The engine that is believed to have pulled Lincoln’s Funeral Train, the 1856 built 4-4-0 William Mason is also on display. Seasonal family activity area provides fun for the entire family. Climb aboard a wooden train play set, participate in a pump car demonstration or watch toy trains make their way through a G-scale garden layout. Museum normally offers excursion train rides Wednesday-Sunday, April through December. Take a 20 minute round trip train ride along the first commercial mile of railroad track laid in America, recognized as the birthplace of American railroading!

Chesapeake & Allegheny Live Steamers

The Chesapeake & Allegheny Live Steamers is a non-profit club with public run days on the second Sunday of each month from April to November from 11:00am to 3:30pm. The train rides are free and there are picnic tables nearby for those who wish to make a day of it. Track consists of (depending on who measures) 3200ft-3400ft, 7-1/2″ double tracked main line, 1630ft of 4-3/4″ on the ground, and 1050ft of elevated 4-3/4″ and 3-1/2″ track located on about 11.5 acres. Directions

Bowie

Bowie Train Station Museum

Bowie Train Station Museum is a restored 1910 Penn Railroad station and interlocking tower. The Bowie Railroad Tower is the home of the National Railroad Historical Society’s Martin O’Rourke Railroad Research Library. The Station Museum is open to the public Tuesday – Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.,and for groups of 10 or more by appointment.

Brunswick

Brunswick Railroad Museum

The BRRM can be seen as two museums in one. On the second floor, the Museum’s exhibits tell the story of a town built by the B&O Railroad at the turn of the 20th century and the people who lived here. Recreations of late Victorian rooms are the centerpiece complimented by exhibits that recall the lives of the railroaders and their families in the early 1900’s.
Upstairs, on the third floor, is a 1700 square foot HO Scale model railroad that depicts the B&O Metropolitan Subdivision beginning at the west end of Brunswick’s railyard and running eastward through Montgomery County communities all the way to Union Station in Washington D.C. The model railroad comes alive with many new interactive elements installed during the renovation of the layout in 2007.Directions

Chesapeake Beach

Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum

Housed in the original Chesapeake Beach Railway station, the Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum houses photographs, artifacts and memorabilia from both the railroad and the resort. A parlor car is on display. Open daily May-September and on weekends the rest of the year.

Colesville

National Capital Trolley Museum

The National Capital Trolley Museum is a collection of various cars that operate on a one-mile track. Exhibits feature street railway artifacts and photographs. Open year round.

Cumberland

Western Maryland Scenic Railroad

The ever popular Western Maryland Scenic Railroad train rides runs May through December. Enjoy a 32 mile scenic train ride through the mountains of western Maryland in restored coaches headed by #734, a 1916 2-8-0 Baldwin consolidation. Your scenic train ride will pass through “The Narrows”, then steam around the historic Helmstetter’s Curve before traveling through the 814 foot Brush Tunnel. Murder Mystery and specialty train rides are also available. Locomotive cab rides and caboose rides are available for an extra fee. A 90 minute layover in Frostburg provides an excellent opportunity to watch WMSR #734 change directions on the turntable. Directions

Ellicott City

Ellicott City Station

First terminus of the B&O Railroad. The Ellicott City Station was built in 1831. Exhibits include a replica horse drawn passenger rail car, the Pioneer and a 1927 caboose. Museum houses a 40 foot HO scale model railroad showing the original thirteen miles of commercial rail track stretching from Baltimore to Ellicott Mills.

Gaithersburg

Gaithersburg Community Museum

The City of Gaithersburg’s Community Museum is located in the restored 1884 B&O Railroad Station complex. The Museum features educational exhibits and programs designed to spark visitors’ interest and imagination in our City’s history. The Freight House currently features the 1918 Buffalo Creek and Gauley 2-8-0 #14 steam locomotive.

Hagerstown

Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum

The Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum is filled with artifacts, photos, railroad art, model railroads, a library, a roster of Western Maryland employees, and a gift shop. There are trains for kids to run, and specials events that include the Trains of Christmas and Railroad Heritage Days.
Collection of historical equipment includes the #132 Diesel-Electric Locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, PA in 1944, two Western Maryland cabooses built in the Western Maryland shops during the 1930’s and Hagerstown & Frederick trolley #168, built in 1918.

Walkersville

Walkersville Southern Railroad

The Walkersville Southern Railroad scenic train ride travels an eight-mile round trip excursion, lasting about 70 minutes, through the Maryland countryside. Passengers ride in a combination of an open-excursion cars, passenger coach and an caboose. A wide variety of special event trains are offered, including a Murder Mystery trains and Santa trains. Museum includes an 1880’s station.