If you have not been to Bar Car Night of the NYBG Holiday Train Show, this weekend will be your last chance. The entire week, the cold has softened into the sunshine and snow melt. It would be a wonderful time to go with friends, partner, spouse, lover, blind date, seeing date or just yourself. Have a few drinks, saunter through the gorgeous conservatory and various galleries appreciating Applied Imagination’s love letter to New York and NYC and go home refreshed and ready for a new week.

St Patrick’s, Manhattan, NYBG Bar Car Nights, Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

The Jewish Museum, NYBG Bar Car Nights, Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

NYC Row Houses, Bar Car Nights, NYBG Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

Row Houses against GW Bridge, Bar Car Nights, NYBG Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

GW Bridge, NYBG Bar Car Nights, Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

Another view from underneath the GW Bridge, Bar Car Nights, NYBG Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

Row Houses, NYBG Bar Car Nights, Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

The show’s main Palms of the World Gallery features the new exhibits of Mid Town Manhattan and the show is splendid with some of the seasonal decorations still hanging and lights twinkling. everywhere. One of the most popular of the NYBG shows, ‘Bar Car Nights’ is the time to leave the kids at home and enjoy the quiet, low surrounding conversations as you note the incredibly imagined replicas that pay homage to old world Victorian New York and the twentieth century.

Senator Clark mansion that was demolished, Bar Car Nights, Holiday Train Show, NYBG (Carole Di Tosti)

The show advances our historical knowledge of many buildings and structures that have either been demolished or destroyed. Five bridges of New York (Brooklyn, Queensboro, Manhattan, Hells Gate and the George Washington sparkle their lights as trolleys and passenger cars slip quickly over the bridge trestles. One also notes various sections of Manhattan-Museum Row, NYPL,Central Park, Morris Jumel Mansion, Park Avenue Armory, Mid-town Manhattan-Empire State Building, East Side/West Side Row Houses; Brooklyn-Coney Island’ Queens-the TWA Flight Center, the Bronx-Poe Cottage, NYBG Haupt Conservatory, Yankee Stadium, Hudson River Valley mansions and more.

Coney Island, Brooklyn Bridge, Luna Park, Steeple Chase, Bar Car Nights, NYBG Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

Brooklyn Bridge, Coney Island, Bar Car Nights, Holiday Train Show, NYBG (Carole Di Tosti)

Coney Island, Brooklyn Bridge, Bar Car Nights, Holiday Train Show, NYBG (Carole Di Tosti)

Elephant Colossus, Coney Island, Bar Car Nights, Holiday Train Show, NYBG (Carole Di Tosti)

Wonder Wheel, Coney Island, Bar Car Nights, NYBG Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

Whether you move slowly observing all of the sustainable, botanical wonder (stems, leaves, twigs, see pods, pine cones, acorn caps, cinnamon, etc.) that create finials, roof tops, gables, windows, decorative elements and stones, or just jet through taking in the overall sensual experience, you will feel wellness spark your soul. The creative energy, joy and love demonstrated by the details of the structures and placement among the NYBG’s finest living panoramas and water features will delight. It is worth it to take a trip for the evening magic and variety of visual and aural sights that will titillate, yet soothe your senses.

Queensboro Bridge close up, Bar Car Nights, NYBG, Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

Mid-Manhattan scene, Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, Bar Car Nights, NYBG, Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

Another view Mid-town Manhattan, Bar Car Nights, NYBG Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

Another view, Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, Mid-town Manhattan, Bar Car Nights, NYBG Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

Mid Town Manhattan, Palms of the World Gallery, Bar Car Nights, NYBG Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

St. Bartholomews, Bar Car Nights, NYBG Holiday Train Show, Palms of the World Gallery (Carole Di Tosti)

Mid-town Manhattan display, daytime view, Palms of the World Gallery, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)

The Bronx, old Yankee Stadium, Bar Car Nights, NYBG, Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

New York State mansions, Bar Car Nights, Holiday Train Show, NYBG (Carole Di Tosti)

Old Penn Station, Bar Car Nights, NYBG Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

The show enjoying 26 years at the New York Botanical Garden has been engineered, created and lovingly collaborated to delight and enthrall by the team at Applied Imagination. Applied Imagination’s baton has passed from creator and founder Paul Busse to his daughter Laura Busse Dolan. She discussed her Dad’s evolving the show over the years. Laura Busse Dolan has fulfilled and maintained her Dad’s intention to create a world of New York grandeur in miniature. And around the fantastic replicas wholly created with sustainable plant parts and biodegradable materials, 25 gauge trains leap, choo-choo, slip smoothly.

Bar Car Nights, NYBG Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

Bar Car Nights, NYBG Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

Bar Car Nights, Holiday Train Show, NYBG (Carole Di Tosti)

Another view of old Penn Station, Bar Car Nights, NYBG Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

Upstate New York Station house inn, Bar Car Nights, NYBG Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

Laura Busse Dolan, Owner Applied Imagination, NYBG Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)

The amazement of Bar Car Nights for me always becomes noting the differences of the daytime Holiday Train Show and the cold wintry evening in the shadowy NYGB. The Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, a fountain of sunlight streaming brilliantly through the latticework and glass cheers. The delicacy of the replicas, the intricacy of their botanical components from magnolia seed pods to cinnamon sticks, bamboo, eucalyptus, acorn caps and more fascinate. How does the team innovate the use of a twig or bark for various buildings to simulate Senator William Clark’s guilded-age mansion? Clearly, their intimacy and knowledge and experience with materials and collaborative efforts prompt them to top themselves each year as they place the buildings among gorgeous flowering shrubs, orchids, palms and water displays.

The NYBG Holiday Train Show ends on 15 January. This is the last week and weekend of the show.  You may check for tickets HERE.  Bar Car Nights end on 13 of January, this Saturday. Pick up tickets by CLICKING HERE.

The magic of the NYBG during the winter season on Bar Car Nights for the Holiday Train Show. 13 of January is the last evening you will be able to experience Bar Car Nights. (Carole Di Tosti)

If you missed The Holiday Train Show select programming this year because you were out of town, the show will be presented annually and you should mark your calendar for special events that happen during the winter season inclusive of the Holiday Train Show. From music to dance, from movies to poetry readings, the New York Botanical Garden is a hive of activity for the entire family. If you are a New Yorker, you probably are apprised of this. If you are a global traveler, this is one of the places to be during the Christmas and Holiday season. If you can’t make it this year, check for the show around Thanksgiving in November of next year.