Baltimore & Ohio Railroad No. 545 A.J. Cromwell is an E-6 Class 2-8-0 type steam locomotive which is on public display at the B&O Railroad Museum, and was designed for durability rather than speed.
History[]
Built in 1888 by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's Mt. Clare shops, #545 was designed by Andrew J. Cromwell, the B&O's Supervisor of Motive Power. It spent its entire operating life hauling freight.
When it was retired from service in 1926 it appeared at the Fair of the Iron Horse the following year when it was renamed “A. J. Cromwell”.
It then went into storage in the Hall of Transportation located on the Fair’s site in Halethorpe, MD. In August 1935, a major storm caused the roof of the building to collapse.
Today the locomotive is on static display at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, MD.
Trivia[]
- It is the sole remaining B&O locomotive of this type and the oldest piece in the museum's collection equipped with air brakes.
- In 1956, it appeared in the "The Swan", an MGM movie starring Grace Kelly, and Sir Alec Guinness.
- When it was featured in "The Swan" the locomotive received several removable, modifications to give it a European apperance.
- It was one of nine locomotives heavily damaged by the Roundhouse roof collapse on Feb. 17, 2003, and was fully restored and returned to the Roundhouse in 2012.