New York Botanical Gardens Holiday Train Show

As we are currently approaching the holiday season, I felt that it was appropriate to write about another iconic holiday event in New York State! Today, I am going to be talking about the Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Gardens. This is an event that first started in 1992 and has since become one of the most famous events of the holiday season. In this post, I will be discussing its history and its many features in hopes that it will encourage all of you reading to want to go.

Its history dates back to 1991, one year before it actually started, when a man named Paul Busse founded a company called Applied Imagination. This company was described as an artistic convergence of his work with landscaping, garden railroads, and his creative use of plant material to create “botanical architecture.” In 1992, he brought his landscapes of trains and plant-based structures to the first Holiday Train Show, and they have been one of the main features of it ever since. The company is now run by his daughter Laura and all their botanical creations are made in their workshop in Alexandria, Kentucky, which is right outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. The layouts are made by a team of 15 full-time artisans, fabricators, and model train experts. 

I remember when I went there when I was younger one year, they had a giant prop of Thomas the Tank Engine. I can’t remember much about it, as it was so long ago, but I’m sure they let kids take pictures in front of it, as I have some pictures of it in an old photo album, but I don’t think they let any kids climb on it. 

I also have a book about the event that my parents got me when I was younger because of how much I loved trains that has a lot of information about it. What I found is that at the time that this book was published in 2003, it took a total of ten days to set up the layout. The process of setting it up consisted of laying out 1,200 feet of track, getting the trains running, constructing the trestles, positioning the buildings, tucking in the hundreds of plants there, and placing the lights. 

The book also talks about the types of trains that run during the show. They are G-gauge trains, which are designed to be run outdoors and have motors and gears that are housed in weatherproof casings. They are also powered with low voltage on gauge-1 brass track, which measures 1 ¾ inches between the rails, and a large-scale steam locomotive can measure over two feet long and weigh as much as ten pounds. The locomotives and railroad cars that are used in the show represent American trains from late-1800s steam engines to today’s most modern high-speed passenger trains. I was surprised to find out that the number of trains running this year is 25, as I would have expected the number to be much higher for such a big event. 

One of the main features of the layout is the recreations of various New York landmarks. I will now go over the landmarks that are part of the layout according to the book and how they were made.

The first landmark is the New York Public Library. The lions on the steps are made from pear-shaped pods with grapevine tendril tails, okra seed eyes, and wild meadow grass manes. The stonework on the library itself is made from bark and the central roof is made of magnolia leaves. 

The next landmark is Grand Central Terminal. The façade is made of sand and blocks of sycamore bark and roofed with southern magnolia leaves. The lampposts are made from honeysuckle stems and acorns. The sculpture on the rooftop is made from dried strawflowers, arborvitae, and yarrow.

The next landmark is the Guggenheim Museum, which is made from several large black locust shelf fungi.

The next landmark is Radio City Music Hall. The marquee is made from willow, pear-shaped pods, and tinted radish and catalpa seeds. The façade is made from maple bark with doors made from red twig dogwood and grapevine tendrils. The window frames are dyed lemon branches, and dyed lemon leaves appear between the windows to recreate the art deco detail on the actual building.

The next landmark is the Metropolitan Life Insurance Tower, which is made from honeysuckle, pinecones, corkscrew hazel, and bamboo. 

The next landmark is the Plaza Hotel, which is decorated with canella berries, bamboo pieces, corkscrew hazel, and grapevine tendrils.

The next landmark is the Flatiron Building. The rounded corners are made of white pinecones, lotus pods, and dried beans. The horizontal orientation is made from lemon and oak leaves, and the spire is a pomegranate with a honey locust thorn. 

The next landmark is the Municipal Building. The sculpture at the top is made from cattail stems, sunflower seeds and stems, shelf fungus, and acorns, while the rest of the building is made from bamboo, acorn caps, basket reed, and lotus pods and seeds. 

The next landmark is the Chrysler Building. It has a ginkgo leaf surface with corkscrew hazel branches making up the contoured areas. The roof is made from sugar pinecone scales, while the gargoyles on the roof are made from small gourds, and the spire is a honey locust thorn.

The next landmark is the Empire State Building. Its façade is made from a lotus pod, hemlock cones, walnut shells, acorn caps, honeysuckle twigs, and sand in grout for masonry. 

The next landmark is Saks Fifth Avenue. The balcony rails and posts are made of Virginia creeper and screwbean mesquite. The pillars on the fourth floor between the windows are made from sugar pinecone scales, yew bark, and acorn caps. The railings on the top floor made from sugar pinecone scales, eucalyptus pods, and bittersweet vines, while the cornice is made from willow, Russian sage, and white pinecone scales, and the doors have juniper berry handles. 

The next landmark is the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is made from dried zinnias, grass fiber rope, arborvitae cones, walnut shells, canella berries, eucalyptus leaves, cinnamon sticks, and various pods. 

The next landmark is the Apollo Theater. The marquee and signs are made from tinted radish and catalpa seeds for the letters, while the backgrounds and borders are made from white sand and willow sticks. The detail on the façade is made from cut cinnamon sticks, canella berries, poppy seed capsule tops, and a variety of seeds.

The next landmark is the Washington Arch, which is made from willow, canella berries, walnut shells, and pine bark. 

The next landmark is the Statue of Liberty. The robe was made from palm fronds and grasses, the necklace was made from stalks of wheat, and the torch flame was made from a dried monarch flower inside a pomegranate half.

The next landmark is the United Nations Headquarters. The façade of the building was made of sand and colored tile grout, while the national flags are all different leaves. 

The next landmark is the South Street Seaport Historic District. The corner building is made of white oak leaves, cinnamon stick slices, walnut shells, bark, and honeysuckle, and sliced branches are used for the sign. The other buildings are made of eucalyptus seed pods, magnolia leaves, honeysuckle, cinnamon sticks, and pinecones for the roofs. 

The next landmark is Sunnyside, Washington Irving’s home in Tarrytown, right here in Westchester County. The façade is made of sand in tinted grout. The roof, shutters, and door are made of leaves, and twigs frame the windows while cedrella pods provide the dormer eave decoration. 

The next landmark is the Lighthouse on Roosevelt Island. It is made from sand in tinted grout with pine and hickory bark accents, and the details are fashioned from pear-shaped pods, grapevine tendrils, tinted magnolia leaves, and moss. 

The next landmark is the New Amsterdam Theater, which is adorned with pepperberries, eucalyptus pods, cinnamon stick slices, acorn caps, pinecone scales, dried orange slices, bittersweet berries, star anise, nigella seed pods, and pear-shaped pods.

The next landmark is the Luna Park Ticket Booth, Arch, and Central Tower. The Ticket Booth is made from cinnamon sticks and grapevine tendrils. The Arch is made from gourds, eucalyptus root, basket jute, and hung with strands of canella berry light bulbs. The Central tower is made from sand in tinted grout, tree branch slices, star anise, walnut shells, dried orange slices, rose petals, and various seeds and gourds. 

The next landmark is the Galveston Flood Building. The façade is made from sand in tinted grout, leaves of magnolia, moneta, and red-tinted eucalyptus. The Star of Texas, which is on each side of the building, is made from red-bud twigs.

The next landmark is the Brooklyn Bridge, which is made from maple, oak, and elm bark and branches.

The next landmark is the TWA Flight Center. Its roof is made from enormous grandleaf seagrape leaves.

The next landmark is the Mott House. Its roof is made from scales from the longest pinecone in the world that belongs to the sugar pine.

The next landmark is the Lott House. The shingles on its roof are made from pale colored birch bark.

The last landmark is the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory at The Botanical Gardens, the building where the layout is located, which is made from reeds and casting resin for the glass. 

The show has seen several changes in recent years, as the layout is also outside the Conservatory, which I’m guessing is a recent change, as I last went there in 2015, and I don’t remember seeing any trains outside then. They are also offering an after dark event called Holiday Train Nights. It will give visitors a chance to see the layout with even more Christmas lights to make the experience more magical. There will also be live holiday music performed in the Locomotive Lounge, sweet and savory treats, spiked cider cocktails and mocktails, and hands-on gingerbread fun. 

As you can see, there are many fun things to see and do at this event. It starts on November 16 and goes until January 20, so get your tickets ready and go see an amazing train show!