Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Sunday, December 14. 2008

The Holiday Train Show in The Bronx

We had the pleasure of attending a private showing of the Holiday Train show at the New York Botanical Garden yesterday, followed by a fine group brunch at the Cafe. As the Daily News says,

You want to get bowled over? You want to see something spectacular? Get to the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, where an only-in-New York holiday show opens..."

The highlight of the annual show isn't the trains - although they are set up wonderfully. It's the 140 architectural constructions of NY landmark buildings, past and present, constructed entirely from plant material collected in the woods by Kentucky  artist/designer Paul Busse. Even the windows are made of plant resins and saps. The rustic nature of the structures makes it more of a fairyland than slicker models would do.

Yankee Stadium of course:

 The Apollo Theater. See the acorn caps in the molding?:

 More below the fold -

St. Patrick's Cathedral:

Name that bridge:

The Haupt Conservatory at the Garden wherein the show is presented:

 

More, with another famous bridge in the background:

 

Posted by The Barrister in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 11:45 | Comments (4) | Trackbacks (0)

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There is a similar display in Omaha. The structures are indeed amazing.
#1 feeblemind on 2008-12-14 11:57 (Reply)
I was bitten for a spell by the garden railway bug. A Western narrow gauge logging train working its way up and down the backyard hill. So I had a guy who built his own railway in his backyard come and check it out. As if I could afford it. And as if I have the time. And the maestro said the grade would be "challenging." So my curving trestle around the big cedar and the logging camp among the rhododendrons are on hold. But hey, a Shay or a Climax or Heisler locomotive can handle most anything, right?
#2 Skookumchuk (Link) on 2008-12-14 12:35 (Reply)
Very cool, Barrister, the Botanical Gardens are an inspirational venue, especially this time of year. Surely there is an old Metropolitan Opera? Penn Station? Those two landmarks, tragically, were demolished right on the cusp of the historic preservation movement. I have a friend who does G gauge (garden gauge) modeling but the trains in the photo don't appear to be that large? G gauge scale is 1"= 1 foot? Skookumchuk?
#3 greenmtnpunter on 2008-12-14 16:17 (Reply)
"G" scale is a European model railway track gauge of 45 mm between rails. And on those tracks you can run a wide variety of narrow or wider gauge trains. So G Scale is really not a "scale" as such. Three foot narrow gauge equipment running on G scale track looks best (according to the High Priests of the National Model Railroad Association) when the equipment and buildings are about 1:20.3 scale. Larger gauge equipment again looks "best" when the equipment and buildings are about 1:32 scale.
#3.1 Skookumchuk (Link) on 2008-12-14 16:45 (Reply)

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