District of Columbia

B&O Railroad Museum

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In the early morning of February 17, 2003, heavy snow from the Presidents' Day Storm collapsed half of the roof of the museum's roundhouse. Although the structure's central support columns remained standing, the supporting iron struts and ties of the destroyed roofing sections failed under the snow load. The museum suffered heavy damage not only to the roundhouse itself but also to the collection within the roundhouse. Some of the items were damaged beyond repair. Reporting on the devastation the following day, The Baltimore Sun said, "...hours after the collapse, columns of mangled steel stuck out from the roundhouse ... Locomotives and passenger cars in the museum's collection, some dating from the 1830s, could be seen covered with snow and debris." The roundhouse, with a newly repaired roof, reopened to the public on November 13, 2004, and the damaged locomotives and cars were surrounded by a plexiglass barrier. As of September 2015, all damaged exhibits have been restored to their original appearance.

After the roof collapse, subsequent fund raising and restoration allowed the museum to upgrade many of its facilities. In 2005 the museum opened a new service facility west of the roundhouse for restoration of historical equipment and maintenance of active equipment.

Back Story: 2003 blizzard caused B&O roof collapse



Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun
Half of the roof of the roundhouse collapsed at the B&O Railroad Museum on West Pratt Street during the snowstorm of Presidents' Weekend 2003.

By FREDERICK N. RASMUSSEN | frasmussen@baltsun.com
PUBLISHED: February 14, 2013 at 6:11 p.m. | UPDATED: May 30, 2019 at 10:43 p.m.

The Presidents’ Day storm of 2003 that swept into Maryland and dumped 26.8 inches of snow on Baltimore — a record-breaker — caused a partial collapse of the B&O Railroad Museum roof on Feb. 17, wreaking havoc on its collection of historic locomotives and cars.

It was this sickening sight that greeted us when my colleague Jacques Kelly and I made our way to the museum a day or two later through snow-rutted streets. There we met our friend, Courtney B. Wilson, the museum’s executive director, who with his characteristic ebullience and optimism was trying desperately to put a good face on a dire situation.

We were not allowed through the locked gates and onto the museum’s grounds and had to confine our inspection tour to the Pratt Street sidewalk with Wilson leading the way.

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The museum is located at 901 W. Pratt St. For information, call 410-752-2462.