Chicago Botanic Garden

for immediate release

Model Railroad Garden Celebrates 10th Season
Delighting All Ages

Featuring new landmarks from Philadelphia; opening May 9

 

Media Only:
Julie McCaffrey
(847) 835-8213, direct
jmccaffrey@chicagobotanic.org

GLENCOE, Ill. (April 14, 2009)—The Chicago Botanic Garden is proud to open the Model Railroad Garden: “Landmarks of America” for its 10th season on Saturday, May 9. The enchanting outdoor exhibition features 17 model trains, close to 50 miniature American landmarks made with natural materials, and colorful small-scale gardens. The landscape is made up of over 5,000 tiny trees, shrubs, groundcovers and flowering plants in close to 300 varieties. Visitors of all ages get the feeling they are traveling from coast to coast, seeing the nations historical, architectural and natural wonders. Vignettes of miniature people and animals give the exhibition a storybook feel, while sound effects and working features capture visitors’ imaginations.

New landmarks added this year include Philadelphia attractions such as Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and the John Bartram House. A new train on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad line chugs around the White House. Also, discover many new details such as the Indiana Dunes and the new South Shore Line Train with South Shore Line Train platform, the "W" sign atop Wrigley Field and the return of Harry Caray singing "Take me out to the ball game."

Last year, visitors enjoyed the many new San Francisco features, including Telegraph Hill, Coit Tower, a California mission style church, cable cars, Lombard Street (America's most crooked street) and the Golden Gate Bridge. The Pacific Northwest area features Mt. St. Helens and Seattle's waterfront, including Pike's Place Market and its signature red neon coffee cup sign. Completing the Seattle scene are the Mt. Ranier lodge, the Seattle Space Needle and the Hammering Man sculpture at the Seattle Art Museum. Other western landmarks include John Muir House, Napa Valley, Yosemite National Park, Hollywood, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Yellowstone National Park, Corn Palace and Mesa Verde National Park.

Midwestern landmarks include Abraham Lincoln's home, the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio, Glencoe and Kenilworth train stations, Wrigley Field and Wrigleyville, a big top circus tent, Taliesin, a typical main street, a farm, Mt. Rushmore and Badlands National Park. Northeastern landmarks include Cape Cod, Fallingwater and the Statue of Liberty. Southeastern landmarks include the White House, Mt. Vernon, Blue Ridge Mountains, Kennedy Space Center, French Quarter of New Orleans and a Mississippi River paddle boat. Southwestern landmarks include Taliesin West, the Grand Canyon, Big Bend National Park and a Route 66 Diner.

Train and garden enthusiasts, both young and old, return year after year for the delightful architecture, landscapes and realistic effects in the exhibition. The buildings have been intricately handcrafted with natural materials, including seed pods, twigs, bark, leaves, acorns and pebbles.

Paul Busse of Applied Imagination, Alexandria, Ky., designs and creates the Model Railroad Garden buildings. Busse’s fascination with trains began at age five when he received an American Flyer train. He graduated as a landscape architect in 1972, but his career was put on track in 1982 with his first public garden railway display at the Ohio State Fair. Since then, he has enjoyed a career in train garden design. Busse’s exhibits are in numerous private and public spaces, including botanic gardens in New York and Philadelphia. Busse also created the Chicago Botanic Garden's indoor winter holiday exhibition, Wonderland Express.

The 7,500-square-foot Model Railroad Garden features 17 garden scale trains on 1,600 feet of track. Model Railroad Garden engineers Dave Rodelius and Larry Marchetti, along with a crew of assistants, work together to ensure trains run smoothly and on time. Volunteer greeters provide visitors with information about the trains and locations depicted in the garden. Train lines include the Santa Fe Super Chief, Chicago Northwestern Commuter (known as a fallen flag line), the Union Pacific and every child's favorite, Thomas the Tank engine.

Many visitors come to gather ideas for their own backyard garden railway. Garden railroading is the fastest growing segment of hobby railroading, and more and more gardeners are “getting railroaded.” Today, the United States has as many as 25,000 garden railways.

The exhibition is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through Sunday, Oct. 25, with special hours until 8 p.m. from Saturday, June 6 through Monday, Sept. 7, weather permitting. Model Railroad Garden admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children ages 3-12. Garden members receive $1 off these rates. A 10-visit pass is available for $28. Strollers are not permitted in the exhibition; however, stroller parking is located near the entrance.

For more information on the Model Railroad Garden, visit www.chicagobotanic.org/railroad, or call (847) 835-5440.

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Editors, please note: The Chicago Botanic Garden's newsroom is online at www.chicagobotanic.org/pr. For digital images, contact Julie McCaffrey at (847) 835-8213 or at jmccaffrey@chicagobotanic.org.

The Chicago Botanic Garden, one of the green treasures of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, is a 385-acre living plant museum featuring 23 distinct display gardens surrounded by lakes, as well as a prairie and woodlands. With events, programs and activities for all ages, the Garden is open every day of the year. Admission is free; select event fees apply. Parking is $20 per car; free for Garden members. The Garden is located at 1000 Lake Cook Road in Glencoe, Ill. Visit www.chicagobotanic.org, or call (847) 835-5440 for seasonal hours, images of the Garden and commuter transportation information.

The Chicago Botanic Garden is managed by the Chicago Horticultural Society. It opened to the public in 1972 and is home to the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden, offering a broad array of adult classes in plant science, landscape design and gardening arts. Through the Division of Plant Science and Conservation, Garden scientists work on plant conservation, research and environmental initiatives that have global impact. The Center for Teaching and Learning brings the wonder of nature and plants to children, teens and teachers. The Garden's Horticultural Therapy and Community Gardening programs provide nationally recognized community outreach and service programs. A program of the Chicago Botanic Garden, Windy City Harvest is an organic vegetable and plant production enterprise that provides instruction in sustainable horticulture and urban agriculture to residents of Chicago’s North Lawndale and West Side neighborhoods.

The Chicago Botanic Garden is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is a member of the American Public Gardens Association (APGA). The Chicago Botanic Garden is also host to Botanic Gardens Conservation International-U.S., and a member of the Center for Plant Conservation. In 2006, the Chicago Botanic Garden received the Award for Garden Excellence, given yearly by the APGA and Horticulture magazine to a public garden that exemplifies the highest standards of horticultural practices and has shown a commitment to supporting and demonstrating best gardening practices.