Botanic Garden's train exhibit chugs along
When the Model Railroad Garden opened for the first time 12 years ago, it was meant to run for one summer only. It proved to be so popular that the Chicago Botanic Garden brought it back again and again until it became a seasonal tradition.
“Model trains just seem to captivate people of all ages,” said Kristie Webber, the Botanic Garden's director of interpretive programs.
The exhibit, which runs through Oct. 30, features nearly 100 miniature buildings made from natural materials like bark, acorns and gourds. While the models are touched up annually, this year the exhibit got an overhaul, replacing all 26 of the garden's willow bridges and other aging structures and adding several new buildings and trains.
The garden's theme is landmarks of America, and the buildings are scaled to match the size of the 17 model trains that run through it. Horticulturists work hard to keep the garden's 5,000 plants in scale. They use small trees to resemble old-growth pines for a model of Yellowstone Park, complete with a version of Old Faithful that spurts water every 60 seconds and is incredibly popular with kids.
Another favorite is Mount St. Helens, which erupts every 30 minutes, pouring out fog and playing sound effects from actual volcanic eruptions.
Volunteers greet guests and can provide information on the structures, which include multiple Frank Lloyd Wright homes, the Seattle Space Needle and Mount Rushmore. They also encourage young guests to look out for figures scattered throughout the space like bears in Yosemite Park, sheep on a farm and dinosaur bones embedded in rocks.
“We have wonderful volunteers that put figurines in to make it more naturalistic,” Webber said.
The handmade structures are developed by the Kentucky-based family-owned company Applied Imagination, which makes exhibitions for botanic gardens and arboretums across the United States.
The structures are creative and detailed.
In a building meant to resemble an old general store, a seed pod is used as a trough and an acorn filled with red seeds plays the part of a basket of apples. Acorns with LED lights in their center serve as spotlights for model stadiums, chips of bark are used for rough roof shingles and red peppercorns are used as cherry tomatoes in a tiny garden in front of a model of the White House, complete with figures of President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama and a tiny version of Malia and Sasha's swing set.
The trains themselves excite train enthusiasts of all ages. Kids delight in seeing cars painted like butterflies and ladybugs pop out of tunnels and then reverse on tracks. They can also spot Thomas the Tank Engine and his friend Percy, who was added this year by popular request. Adults can check out a display showing size scales and view models of historic rails like the newly added Southern Pacific Daylight. Volunteer engineers help keep the rails moving smoothly throughout the course of the exhibit.
“To get all these trains out every day and put them away at night is kind of like running a real railroad,” Webber said.
Animals and wind sometimes knock the model trains into the plants or ponds, but Webber said that just makes things more exciting for the visitors.
“People love a good derailment,” she said. “The trains will go into the drink and then you have engineers doing a rescue.”
Model Railroad Garden
<b>Where: </b>Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake-Cook Road, Glencoe, (847) 835-5440, chicagobotanic.org
<b>Hours: </b>10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through Oct. 30
<b>Price: </b>$5; $3 for kids ages 3-12. Admission to the garden is free. Parking is $20 per car.