The 1927 “Fair of the Iron Horse”

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Some called the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad’s centenary celebration “the biggest thing that has ever happened in Baltimore.”

The 1927 Fair of the Iron Horse, which marked the 100th birthday of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, was a very big deal.

From the end of September through early October it was like Epcot came to Maryland. B&O carted all their old trains from storage to a fairgrounds in Halethorpe, where 500 employees from the railroad — and at least 30 members of the Blackfoot tribe of American Indians — staged a two-hour-long parade that illustrated the history of American transportation. The show included a Conestoga wagon and canal barges, a horse-drawn train, and of course, plenty of trains.

β€œ[M]any say β€˜it is the biggest thing that has ever happened in Baltimore,’” The Sun reported that year.