The B&O Museum reported the theft of several pieces of rolling stock to Baltimore City Police this morning.

"All we really know is that we showed up this morning and found enough room to switch cars at the west end of our museum and shops," said a museum official. "We thought someone had done a fine job of switching, until we started to count."

Museum officials were still trying to inventory what pieces were missing. Police suspected that thieves used the recently-arrived former B&O GP9 to swich out the cars, and began to dust the cab for prints, but then noticed that the fence locks had not been tampered with. Police then theorized that a helicopter may have been used, noting that the neighborhood is so accustomed to police helicopters and air ambulance helicopters at nearby Maryland General Hospital's Shock Trauma ward that they would have paid no attention to a helicopter...................

oh, that does it. Even I'm calling this too preposterous, even for April 1.

Here and I thought you were going to say the B&O Museum was leasing the EL-5a to the Virginian and Ohio for service out of Grafton.

Let me guess - the thieves pried the locomotives off of the builder's plates and carried them out the door?