Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum, Hagerstown, Maryland

Hagerstown, Maryland is a railroad lover’s haven.  It is a town that is a major railroad hub that once served the Western Maryland, Pennsylvania, Norfolk and Western, Baltimore and Ohio and the Hagerstown and Frederick railroads but now serves CSX, Norfolk Southern and the Winchester and Western railroads.  The Western Maryland Railway had a roundhouse here as well as testing facilities and offices, but they were demolished in the late 1990’s.  A small foundry was purchased by the Western Maryland Railway, and this small foundry houses the Hagerstown Railroad Museum.

When you arrive here, you will already find yourself surrounded by trains.  The CSX yard is just hundreds of feet from you, and you may be fortunate enough to see a passing train.  You have an old locomotive from the Western Maryland Railway.  You have a few cabooses.  You can see and old streetcar.  You have seen so much, and you have yet to go inside.

Finally, you go inside.  You see old photos and memorabilia plus numerous displays.  Of course, you came to see the model trains, and there are five big displays here.  (One of them is their Christmas display that is open from Thanksgiving weekend to mid to late February.)  You stand and watch the many trains go around and around and around.  You see a model of what the original roundhouse looked like when it was in operation.  You see many old structures from various locations in the region.  It may be the only part of the roundhouse that remains, but to you, it is the best part of the roundhouse.

The Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum is located at 296 South Burhans Boulevard (U.S. 11) in Hagerstown, Maryland.  They are open year round on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 1:00pm to 5:00pm.  (They will close during snow emergency days.)  You can get visitor information and information of upcoming events at www.roundhouse.org.  Wherever you are coming from, it is worth your drive to see a great remaining piece of railroad history.