The War Came by Train exhibit at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum is the most comprehensive Civil War railroading project ever undertaken. The exhibit runs over a five-year period 2011 to 2015 and represents the sesquicentennial years 1861 to 1865. Each year of the war is given a subtitle that reflects the story line for that year of the war. To this, is added a specific technology associated with Civil War railroading and personalities and events are introduced that were significant during that period of time. Throughout the year, a number of guest lecturers and scholars highlight these events. The final year of the exhibit is entitled The Union Preserved and will include a reenactment of Lincoln’s funeral in Baltimore in 1865. We will also host a conference on Civil War railroading in 2015 entitled The Grand Review.  

This year’s title is The First Invasion. A reference to the Battle of Antietam, the story of the evacuation of the wounded and prisoners of war from the blood-drenched fields of Western Maryland to Baltimore City via the B&O Railroad and the National Road is told. Our technology for the year 1862 is the railroad hospital car and how it evolved from common freight and passenger cars to wholly dedicated hospital trains by the end of the war. The personalities of Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross and Brigadier General Benjamin F. Kelly, U.S.A., commander of the Railroad Division are highlighted.

The War Came by Train is presented in two unique ways. The first part, located in the Museum’s Alex. Brown & Sons Exhibition Gallery, changes with each year of the Sesquicentennial. Arrayed in display cases and wall panels, the visitor will see original artifacts including military items, personal items and photographs relevant to each year of the War. Many of these items are from private collections and on view to the public for the first time.

The second part of the exhibit is located in the Museum’s National historic Landmark Roundhouse that contains the largest collection of Civil War locomotives and rolling stock in the world and the only fully operating Civil War locomotive in existence – the William Mason. Here the visitor is given a full-scale and first person introduction to the B&O Railroad during the Civil War. As you walk among authentic railcars and locomotives, you will encounter life-like museum figures with the story of “real” people who actually worked, fought or traveled on the B&O and the National Road. The visitors experience is enhanced with enlarged period photographs, a camp scene and hands on activities along the way for children.

 


                                                             
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