Former Baltimore & Ohio business car donated to Western Maryland Scenic

CUMBERLAND, Md. — The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad has made a notable addition to its excursion fleet with the generous donation of former Baltimore & Ohio business car No. 905, Silver Spring. The donation  is the result of a collaborated effort by Kelly Lynch, executive director of the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society, and a benevolent private donor.

Built by Pullman in 1925 as the East Newark, No. 905 was part of the executive car fleet for Baltimore & Ohio’s premier passenger trains. Following an incident in 1944, the B&O purchased the car for $8,000, and had it rebuilt into its business car configurations at Baltimore’s Mount Clare Shops in 1945. No. 905 was eventually sold into private ownership by the 1960s, and crisscrossed the U.S. as an Amtrak-certified car until 2019.

“For years, Silver Spring traveled the mainline behind the railroad’s flagship Capitol Limited, making regular visits to Cumberland and representing the B&O’s executive class on one of its most iconic trains,” states a June 9 post on the WMSR social media pages. “Now, decades later, it returns not only to the region it once frequented but to a community that celebrates and preserves the legacy of American railroading.” 

Currently stored at the Adirondack Railroad in Utica, N.Y., No. 905 will be relocated to Cumberland for excursion service under the Western Maryland Scenic banner. Wesley Heinz, executive director of the tourist railroad, confirms that the car will retain its B&O scheme, as requested by the donor. “The donor also will name the car at a future time, most likely to be tied to railroad history of the B&O.”