capitalregionusa.org
RIDE THE RAILS
Take a memorable journey
into the past and relax in
comfort in the present
W
ITH a museum that is universally recognised as the
birthplace of American railroading, the Capital Region
can lay claim to having a rail history second to none.
T_h e Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum (borail.
org) is based on the Baltimore site where, in 1929,
businessmen, surveyors and engineers began the B&O Railroad – the
fi rst commercial long-distance track – and invented America’s railroad
system. T_h e museum has the oldest and most-comprehensive American
collection of locomotives and rolling stock in the world. It also focuses on
the history of railroad technology, off ers train rides and hands-on exhibits,
and encourages visitors to have their photograph taken in period clothing
to share a piece of the railroading past.
In Roanoke, the Virginia Museum of Transportation (vmt.org) is
housed in the historic Norfolk &Western Railway freight station and
holds the largest collection of diesel and steam locomotives in the United
States. At Roanoke’s O Winston Link Museum (linkmuseum.org), in the
A SCENIC TRIP TO REMEMBER
★ Visitors taking the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad
(wmsr.com) excursion – a 32-mile round trip from Cumberland
to Frostburg – will delight in a wonderful mix of glorious
outlooks through the Allegheny Mountains and fascinating
local history, as well as having lively Main Street Districts at
both ends of the trip. A narrator guides visitors along the way
and fi lls in the gaps in their knowledge about the area’s past as
they climb through spectacular scenery.
Amtrak’s Crescent
crosses the Virginia
countryside
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