Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum HO layout

Scale: HO
Size: 6'x65'
Controls: Custom Block Control

CMR designed and built a new model railroad for the B&O Railroad Museum. The construction of the layout was a major part of the rebuilding process at the museum following the 2003 roof collapse of the roundhouse. The layout is housed inside of an 80 foot passenger coach and is used to demonstrate the role of railroads in our country and lives. The railroad begins in Baltimore and travels west towards a non-specific western destination.

The layout has Baltimore located on the east end with her landmarks: Camden Station, the Warehouse, The Bromo Seltzer Tower and the Baltimore skyline. Busy streets come alive with operating traffic signals, custom built structures and all the zany day-to-day activities of a busy city.



The Baltimore port features a coal pier with a high lift rotary dumper and an ocean-going bulk freighter, a car float with transfer deck, Blue Diamond tug boats, and a container ship. There are two operating cranes and many details. Many of these structures are scratch built to the highest level of detail.



Trains are operated by Digital Command Control and a signaling system designed and built by Oak Tree Systems. The system detects trains using current sensing technology, and then sets the signals to their appropriate colors.



The outskirts of Baltimore lead into the suburbs and finally into farm country. A farmer's co-op features grain silos and loading facilities for hoppers. A cornfield features over one thousand handbuilt corn stalks, patiently and tediously planted one at a time.



Fall colors created by Forest in a Flash dominate the countryside where bridges and trestles cross the Potomac as the Railroad moves west. Over eight thousand trees were used on this layout.

Finally we arrive at our western destinations. A coal mine provides raw materials, which are transported to the steel mill. The mill features a high line, two blast furnaces, a basic oxygen furnace "BOF" and a rolling mill. This is a busy place and features lots of details and custom-built structures.



Trains are operated by a control system designed and built by Oak Tree Systems. The system detects trains using current sensing technology, and then sets the signals to their appropriate colors. It runs the trains, slows them down for a yellow signal and brings them to a stop at a red signal. Once the coast is clear and the signals are green, the trains are brought back up to speed. It also runs the back and forth operations of the short lines and steel mill, as well as crossing gates and other accessories. As many as twelve trains may be run at a time.

The layout took over a year to build and is one of our finest projects. It is open to the public, for more information visit the B&O Railroad Museum web site at http://www.borail.org



Downtown Baltimore and the "world famous" Bromo Seltzer Tower.



A loaded coal train passes by the west end of the layout and the Steel Mill. The Rolling Mill is in the foreground, the Blast Furnaces are to the right, a Power Plant is on the left and the Basic Oxygen Furnace is in the back.