Since 1968, the Baltimore Streetcar Museum has operated its distinctive and unique collection of streetcars and other transit equipment. In recent years, the collection’s scope has expanded slightly to include cars from Philadelphia and New Jersey.
Choices
At the Baltimore Streetcar Museum, take a 1-mile round trip up the former right-of-way of the Maryland & Pennsylvania RR in the Jones Falls Valley, passing the historic former Ma & Pa freight house and roundhouse before turning on a loop for return. The visitor center houses museum displays, a gift shop, an auditorium, and a research library.
When to go
The museum is open Sunday afternoons from March through December and Saturday afternoons from June through October; summers in Baltimore can be excessively hot and muggy. Holiday events run in December, and private and school charters occasionally run during the week.
Good to know
There is a family admission plan as well as individual admission; all include unlimited rides, car house tours, museum access, and a guide pamphlet.
Worth doing
Baltimore is a historic city full of things to see, from the B&O Railroad Museum and the Baltimore Civil War Museum (in a restored rail station headhouse) to the National Aquarium and the USS Constellation. The Mt. Vernon neighborhood, with the Walters Art Gallery, Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, the Peabody Institute, and shops and restaurants, is a short distance to the south.
Don’t miss
A total of 13 Baltimore streetcars, ranging from a horsecar to the city’s last PCC, plus four Philadelphia and Newark PCCs and snowsweepers, as well as several buses and “trackless trolleys,” are in the museum’s collection.
Getting there
The museum is in the northern part of the central section of the city, two blocks west of the major north-south streets of Charles St. and Maryland Avenue. Amtrak’s Penn Station is a couple of minutes’ walk to the east. The MTA Light Rail also serves Penn Station. The Purple Route of the city’s free Charm City Circulator bus service connects downtown and Federal Hill with the aforementioned Penn Station.
Location: 1901 Falls Road, Baltimore, MD
Phone: 410-547-0264
Website: baltimorestreetcarmuseum.org
E-mail: info@baltimorestreetcarmuseum.org
