(rshsdepot) Ellicott City, MD

["Jim Dent" <james.dent_@_itochu.com>]

=46rom the Baltimore (MD) Sun...

Telling B&O history
Station: A slice of Americana survives in Ellicott City, thanks to the
efforts of a dedicated group of train and history aficionados.
By Laura Cadiz
Sun Staff

August 23, 2001

When flooding from Hurricane Agnes tore through Ellicott City nearly 30
years ago, it threatened the nation's oldest railroad station, wiped out
tracks and damaged its structures off Main Street.
After the station survived the high waters, a group of concerned citizens
decided it was time to restore the nonfunctioning station and turn it int=
o a
museum.
Now Ellicott City B&O Railroad Station Museum is celebrating its 25th yea=
r
of educating the public about the rich history of the station and railroa=
d.
"It amazes me how many people come to the museum that don't know about
trains - how they helped the economy," said Lisa Mason-Chaney, the museum=
's
director. "We're here to teach people."
Built in 1831, the station was the first permanent structure of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The nation's first western-bound railroad
became a leader in transportation - contributing to a nationwide economic
revolution - and helped turn Baltimore into a major city.
The station was a freight depot until 1972 and a passenger station until
1949. Historic Ellicott City Inc. took on the structure's renovation in 1=
973
as the group's first project, restoring it to its 19th-century appearance=
=2E
The station, at Main Street and Maryland Avenue, opened as a museum three
years later.
"The flood gave us an opportunity to bring attention to the town," said
Enalee Bounds, past president of Historic Ellicott City Inc. "We all know
that it's a very historical area, and there have been times in the past
where people seem not to be concerned about historical areas, so you had =
to
make people aware about how important they are."
Bounds, who has owned Ellicott's Country Store on Main Street for 39 year=
s,
said that when the store first opened, the station held an important role=
 in
town as a place for Howard residents to pick up freight. But she said it
wasn't nearly as popular as it once was.
"At one time it was the place to visit," she said.
When they went to ride the B&O, which will celebrate its 175th anniversar=
y
in February, men and women had to wait in separate rooms, according to a
museum exhibit. The women needed privacy to feed their children, and the =
men
had some unsavory habits.
"They'd smoke cigars, gamble, swear," said Alex Harris, the museum's floo=
r
manager. "So they'd have to be separated."
The women's waiting room has what Harris calls "one of the most important
doors" in the town's history - its first indoor bathroom.
The station, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places=
 in
1968, attracts about 25,000 visitors annually from around the world durin=
g
its three seasonal programs. It is playing host to "Roads to Rails: The
birth and early development of the B&O," which runs through November.
December through January is the most popular time for the museum, when it
holds the holiday model train exhibit.
The museum's workers - six staff and about 100 volunteers - dress in
19th-century garb as part of the living history aspect of the museum.
Earlier this week, Aislinn Hein, 13, of Germantown and Owen Budd, 14, of
Ellicott City were acting out their parts as children of the era, sitting=
 in
the station's residential quarters.
Owen said he volunteers at the museum because he's fascinated with trains
and the railroad's history. "I have been miraculously interested in them
since I was ... 8 years old," he said.
The museum's 1885 freight house has perhaps the most eye-catching exhibit=
 -
a 40-foot operating model of the original 13 miles of track that stretche=
d
=66rom Baltimore to Ellicott City. Twenty-six people spent three years
building the model, used as a teaching tool.
"We had someone once ask if they could borrow it," Mason-Chaney said. "I'=
m
not quite sure if they knew what they were asking."
Although the station is no longer functioning, visitors might be able to =
cat
ch a glimpse of a moving train - CSX runs trains on the tracks behind the
museum, usually twice a day.
The force of the train can shake some of the museum's items and cause dus=
t
to fall from the granite ceilings.
"We have to be careful where we put things," Mason-Chaney said.
Copyright =A9 2001, The Baltimore Sun

------------------------------