New Conductor at Historic Ellicott City B & O Railroad Station Museum

Ellicott City’s Railroad Station, the oldest station in America, will soon be led by a new conductor.

The current museum director, Travis Harry, has accepted a position at the B & O’s downtown Baltimore facility as its director of operations and volunteers.

Harry has been associated with the  for many years. He was a part of the transition that took place in 2005 when the B & O Railroad Museum in Baltimore took over management of the Howard County facility from Historic Ellicott City Inc., a preservation group.

The Howard County government owns the property, which is overseen by the department of recreation and parks.

World renowned by railroad buffs, the Ellicott City museum was the terminus of the B & O Railroad’s first 13 miles of track. Built in 1831, it consists of the original passenger station built from granite blocks locally quarried from the nearby banks of the Patapsco River. 

The museum also features an 1885 freight house which houses a detailed 40-foot model of those 13 original miles.  

New in Charge

Tom Hane will be taking Harry’s place in the interim and continuing his work of promoting the history of Ellicott City and the B & O.

Hane started with the museum as a volunteer in 2007.  Prior to coming to Ellicott City he was a locomotive engineer for CSX, driving diesel freight trains on the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Brunswick lines.

Appropriately, he began his railroading career as a freight conductor.

A Lifelong Interest

Hane says his interest in trains and their history started early. In 1995 he channeled that interest into hands-on experience with a job as a train attendant on the NYS & W rail excursion line. The line uses historic original steam and diesel trains for scenic train rides in upstate New York.

He also is a current member of the National Railway Historical Society.  While living in New York, Hane restored historical steam locomotives and Cold War era Diesel-Electric “E-units,” which ruled the rails in the 1950s.

A Close Call

His knowledge of trains came to the forefront on March 26, 2010. As a Floor Manager, Hane was often outside on the rear platform of the museum when the giant CSX freight trains passed by. The tracks are just a few yards from the museum's fence, where passengers once stood in bygone days.

As a two-locomotive, 60-car freight train passed, the noise was terrific and unusual. The sound was unlike that made by the many freight trains that passed every day. Hane could see debris being thrown from under the train, and a large cloud of dust rising as the train moved.

He knew that the wheels of a freight car had come off the track. And he also knew that the engineer at the head of the train might not have any idea of the danger.

Hane immediately made efforts to contact CSX authorities and warn the engineer of the danger. But the train was traveling at 40 miles per hour, and by the time his warnings were heard the train had derailed near Patapsco State Park.

Fortunately there were no injuries, but seven cars had gone off the track. The cleanup lasted several weeks.

Future Plans 

Hane is excited about the future of the museum and his part in it.   

Plans are already in place for the “The War Came by Train,” a Civil War program beginning April 15, the start of the B & O’s five-year commemoration of the Civil War's Sesquicentennial. 

The B & O was an integral part of the Union war effort, and was called “Mr. Lincoln’s Railroad” by some.

Besides the exhibits of artifacts and photos, Hane hopes to host appearances by re-enactors marching through town, fife-and-drum music and musket firing demonstrations to bring to life this exciting period of history for Ellicott City’s many summer visitors.

He also envisions more interactive displays about Ellicott City's mills and the B & O, and more hands-on history exhibits for children. He has gathered many ideas from his experience guiding tour groups of schoolchildren through the museum each spring.

One idea already implemented is a Morse code device linked to a computer monitor, decoding the arcane dots and dashes as words that scroll across the screen.

Another innovative program at the museum is “,” a four week interactive program that incorporates story time, crafts, games and more into a fun activity for children ages 2 to 5.

Hane says he is ready for his new role. 

Likening it to his work as an engineer, where he was “on call 24/7,”  Hane says he will be constantly working to improve the visitors' museum experience. 

Under his direction, Hane wants to provide Ellicott City visitors, and especially younger visitors, with the ability to step off Main Street and back in time, and into a place where they can actually touch America's history.