Model Railroad Garden: Landmarks of America

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Open May 12 through October 28, 2012
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, weather permitting
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ADMISSION
Model Railroad Garden admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children ages 3 to 12 (Garden members save $1 per ticket). Garden Plus members enter free on Wednesdays throughout the season. A ten-visit pass is available for $30.

Strollers are not permitted in the exhibit; however, stroller parking is located near the entrance.

New For 2012
Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House (from the Wonderland Express display) will be on exhibit in the Model Railroad Garden this summer. Cape Cod has new landmarks this year, including a fisherman's shack with wharf, Cape Cod cottage, and North Truro Highland Lighthouse and attached lighthouse keeper's house. New in the New Orleans French Quarter are General Beauregard's House and a French Quarter Shotgun House (modeled after an existing house on Constance Street). Main Street will have new landmarks including the Main Street Theater and the Main Street Corner Building. The White House vegetable garden will be replaced with a new one.

Fun Facts
• There are 18 model G-scale (garden-scale) trains runnig on 17 tracks (one track runs two trains)
• The longest track usually runs the Santa Fe Super Chief
• The shortest track runs the ladybug and caterpillar cars
• There are close to 50 miniature American landmarks
• There are 26 bridges throughout the Railroad Garden
• 5,000 plants (including annuals) in more than 300 different varieties are in this garden
• The trains travel more than 22,000 miles each season

IT'S A G-SCALE WORLD
The 7,500-square-foot Model Railroad Garden features trains running on 1,600 feet of track. The garden-scale trains are 1/29th the size of life-size trains. Train and garden enthusiasts, young and old, return year after year for the delightful sights and sounds of the miniature trains traversing high and low through tunnels, across bridges, and around buildings. All are intricately handcrafted with natural materials, including twigs, bark, leaves, acorns, and pebbles. More than 5,000 tiny trees, shrubs, groundcovers, and flowering plants of close to 300 varieties re-create the topographical landscape of America. Vignettes of tiny people and animals give the exhibit a storybook feel, while sound effects and a working geyser capture visitors’ imaginations.

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
The Model Railroad Garden can be the first of your fun outdoor activities for families at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Close to the city, on Chicago's North Shore, the Garden has a year-round calendar of family activities and entertainment, including free kids' concerts, drop-in activities, plant giveaways, weekend family classes, and outdoor family entertainment, while also offering children the chance to explore outdoors. The Garden is one of Chicago's premier attractions, where visitors walk, enjoy nature photography, and celebrate each season with outdoor and indoor activities for families and kids of all ages.

Activity Card Map