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New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show and GLOW 2022-2023
It’s the 31st year of the NYBG Holiday Train Show starring New York’s architectural beauties in miniature from all the boroughs in New York City to Westchester County and beyond to upstate New York. Returning for its third year, NYBG GLOW in a multitude of colors lights the pathways, trees and landscape with vibrant greens, fuscias, reds and blues making the Garden even more magical than it is year round.
The Holiday Train Show and GLOW have boasted sold-out evenings the past two years. This is because NYBG GLOW is New York City’s largest outdoor holiday light extravaganza. This year it expands covering even more of the Garden’s spectacular plant collections. These include an all-new display of 60 glowing orbs in the designed waterfalls of the Native Plant Garden.
During the 23 special, select evenings, the Garden’s buildings, including the LuEsther T. Mertz Library Building become dramatic, striking pageantry. The Garden’s creative teams have dispersed thousands of lights (energy-efficient) in choreographed displays to twinkle and beckon to visitors throughout the landscape. The light production accompanied by a selection of music is designed to lighten New Yorkers’ hearts with a celebratory spirit of thankfulness. The botanical creators have captured beauty in their demonstrated love and talented artistry exercised in the service of joy and uplift for the 2022 winter season that is not under previous extreme duress of the pandemic that we’ve suffered through these past three years. However, if one feels to, though vaccination cards will not be checked, one may comfortably wear a mask in the Conservatory and when not eating in the Hudson Garden Grill and the Pine Tree Cafe.
The creative team of Applied Imagination in Alexandria, Kentucky reflects the energy and celebratory thankfulness in their differently arranged installations of the iconic landmarks that New Yorkers have come to appreciate more than ever during the past three years, two of which were spent in worry for older loved ones. Some of these amazing replicas include the Empire State Building, One World Trade Center, Rockefeller Center and more. The trains and miniature structures are spread throughout the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. Nighttime is the most mysterious and fun time to visit because of the dark beauty of the plants sheltering the buildings faithfully sculpted from plant parts arranged for the spectators’ maximum enthusiasm and delight.
This year’s show features a new addition to the190 miniatures previously displayed in the Garden’s wondrous exhibit enjoyed by children and adults alike. It is a brand-new version of an old favorite-The George Washington Bridge-with more elaborate detail and grandeur lighting. The new George Washington Bridge took Applied Imagination’s staff more than 1,000 hours to create.
Another new feature is the interpretative signage that presents illustrations and descriptions of some of the 150 different varieties of plants and plant parts used to create the Holiday Train Show miniatures. If you download the Bloomberg Connects app, you will discover the plant stories, using preserved plant specimens from NYBG’s William and Lynda Steere Herbariums, the largest plant research collection in the Western Hemisphere. The collection contains almost eight million specimens.
For the train lovers, as you saunter among the foliage and the luxuriously arranged plant designs among the replicas, you’ll see various type of trains trundling along tracks brushing apart foliage. A favorite house of mine is the miniature of Poe Cottage, the house in the Bronx where Edgar Allan Poe worked on some of his most famous poems. In previous years I’ve enjoyed watching a G-scale model locomotive moving past the house and imagining the train which Edgar Allan Poe took to visit cities in the Northeast from Philadelphia to Baltimore and then to parts of the South all in the service of his writing.
Some of the G-scale model trains include trolleys, American steam engines, streetcars from the late 1800s and modern freight and passenger trains. These move seamlessly along nearly 1/2 mile of track along overhead trestles, through tunnels, and across bridges high above visitor’s heads including all five New York City bridges from the Queensboro (Kock) to the Whitestone, from the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridge to Hells Gate and the renovated George Washington Bridge.
Beverages and light fare will be available at one of nYBG’s outdoor bars or the Bronx Nigh Market Holiday Pop-Up. Additionally, professional sculptors will create intricate ice carvings inspired by the Garden’s wonderland.
NYBG GLOW will take place on the following dates: Friday and Saturday, November 18-19; Wednesday, November 23rd; Friday, November 25; Saturday, November 26; Friday, December 2; Saturday, December 3; Friday, December 9; Saturday, December 10; Sunday, December 11; Thursday, December 15; Friday, December 16; Saturday, December 17; Thursday, December 22; Friday, December 23″ Monday, December 26; Friday, December 30,2022; Sunday, January 1; Saturday, January 7; and Saturday, January 14, 2023.
For more information and for ticket alerts, visit the NYBG website at: https://www.nybg.org/event/holiday-train-show/plan-your-visit/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA99ybBhD9ARIsALvZavW_okYP0jpG51EZp6LHNZdRAJSK2G7HaoVA5OoH_L24aU_xpDoQgNEaAtp2EALw_wcB
New York Holiday Train Show, NYBG’s 30th Year Milestone Celebration
The parking lot was jam packed on Member Day, November 19th, as long standing and new members of New York Botanical Garden came to see the amazing architectural wonders ingeniously constructed from a variety of plant parts that are the showpiece along with the fun trains that comprise one of the most enjoyable exhibits at the Garden. The Holiday Train Show® (Saturday, November 20, 2021 – Sunday, January 23, 2022 from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.) a favorite of New Yorkers, features new additions to its collection which now numbers over 190 structures.
After the trials of COVID, the shut down and restricted access of the last year, the Garden ushers in the 30th year for the train exhibit whose landmark building collection is designed by Applied Imagination’s team and then situated throughout the Haupt Conservatory and galleries in collaboration with the NYBG staff over a two week period.
In celebration of the NYBG Holiday Train Show’s 30th year, the creative team at Applied Imagination re-created one of the central aspects of the Garden: the LuEsther T. Mertz Library Building with the Lillian Goldman Fountain of Life, and the John J. Hoffee Tulip Tree Allee. These buildings and attendant features were declared a New York City Landmark in 2009. The care and effort taken to manifest these structures took thousands of hours of work. Take a moment to appreciate the designs and materials used to create the display. Especially appreciate the myrtle topiaries that simulate the Tulip Tree Allee.
The Holiday Train Show® may be appreciated on many levels. From the vantage point of a child’s, one delights as more than 25 model trains of various gauges careen, zip and plow along the miles of track laid down between the brilliant foliage and flowers and plantings graded to maximize happiness. For adults, there is always the astute appreciation of the craftsmanship and design of the New York landmarks.
Whether in daylight or evening twilight, there is magic in being swept away into a miniaturized world of perfection created with loving artistry and passion that spills out into the hearts of the visitors of the exhibit who return many times during the season bringing friends, grandchildren and sweethearts. The holidays wouldn’t seem complete without the Garden’s Holiday Train Show® accompanied by a wealth of activities for children and adults during the Winter season.
For children, there’s the “Evergreen Express” in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden (November 20, 2021–January 23, 2022). Make sure to dress warmly as you climb onto a kid-sized play train and move through additional activities at the mini-train table having fun with the wooden train cars. Along the way of your adventures which might including hiking through the landscape, stop at the outdoor musical instrument station for family jam sessions on marimbas, amadindas and drums. For self-guided explorations with your kids be aware of the times: daily (10 am-5 pm) Guided activities (click here) run on weekdays (1:30-2:30 p.m.) Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays (10 a.m.-2:30 p.m.) The Everett Children’s Adventure Gardens is included in all ticket types.
Exclusive benefits for Members of the NYBG are always welcome and prized. For members entrance to The Holiday Train Show® is free and the parking lot becomes swamped so you may have to park at the Fordham University parking lot across the street. Also, make your reservations online to schedule the days you want to visit so you aren’t closed out. The next Member Day is Friday, January 7, 2022 when you can take advantage of exclusive benefits, including free parking, 20% off at the NYBG Shop, 15% discount at all dining venues, and up to 4 half-price tickets for guests. For more Member benefits, CLICK HERE. If you aren’t already a Member of the Garden, sign up online today.
Throughout the show there are additional features to make your visit enjoyable and memorable. The Uptown Brass will be presenting festive selections of classical and popular holiday favorites. These professional musicians have been featured in venues throughout New York City. They will be performing for your pleasure on November 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, & 28; December 5, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, & 30th at the Leon Levy Visitor Center (1, 2, & 3 p.m.) For more information about The Uptown Brass CLICK HERE.
In the Garden’s Sounds of the Season, listen to solo performers roll out the red carpet and rouse your spirits on weekends through December 26th in the Conservatory Entry Tent from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. beginning with Louis Apollon (November 19 & December 4). Louis Apollon is a Brooklyn-based jazz-folk singer-songwriter. Other musicians include the Bronx-based DJ Collective and Community Organization Uptown Vinyl Supreme (November 27, 28, December 5, 11, & 12) and Darren Solomon (December 4) the Clio and Cannes Gold Lion award-winning composer, producer, bassist and keyboard player. For more on the musicians and additional performers CLICK HERE.
Another favorite, Holiday Classes are back where you will learn how to fill your home with the warm scents, tastes, and textures of the season. Interesting offerings include styling magnolia leaf wreaths and making decadent fruit preserves. For more information on other class offerings CLICK HERE.
As a part of the festivities during the Winter Season, celebrate the waning of sunlight with the brightening of NYBG’s GLOW, an enchanting outdoor color and light experience (November 24, 26, 27; December 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30; January 1, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22 from 5 p.m. – 10 p.m.). GLOW’s pageantry lights up NYBG’s iconic landscape and historic buildings turning them to whimsical beauty after the sun sets. This otherworldly illumination has been expanded to an additional 1.5 -miles of spectacular.
If is possible to see both The Holiday Train Show® and GLOW at a reduced price and savings. CLICK HERE. You will feel welcome with all of the activities offered. Talented performers dressed up in holiday costumes, stilt-walkers and other artists will stop for your selfies and family photos. And returning is the deft ice sculptor, always fun to watch as chips of ice are narrowed into figures and shapes. Taste local cuisine from the Bronx Night Market and enjoy a cocktail, beer, wine, and more from one of the festive. seasonal bars. For additional information and ticketing CLICK HERE.
Look for my future posts with specific details about the wondrous architectural collection created by Applied Imagination from natural materials i.e. twigs, leaves, seeds from trees and fruits, pods, gourds, acorns, bark, fungi, pine cone scales, nut shells, nuts and more. I absolutely love The Holiday Train Show and GLOW to usher in winter and waning sunlight as we move to the darkness of the shortest day of the year. Knowing I can venture to the Garden to lift my spirits with family and friends makes the light deprivation in our northern clime seem worth it. CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS AND PROGRAMS.
‘Bar Car Nights,’ NYBG Holiday Train Show 2019, a Beautiful, Evening Event
Grand Central Stateion, 28th Holiday Train Show, Bar Car Nights, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Once again the New York Botanical Garden presents its train extravaganza to usher in New York City’s Holiday season. This year’s 28th Holiday Train Show® promises many unique features exhibited in an immersive indoor winter wonderland adjacent to the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, while the palm dome of the conservatory undergoes refurbishment.
NYBG’s 28th Holiday Train Show, an immersive indoor winter wonderland, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
NYBG’s 28th Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
NYBG’s 28th Holiday Train Show, an immersive indoor winter wonderland, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
The immersive wonderland housed in two, spacious, climate-controlled structures located on the conservatory lawn is a boon that highlights the amazing craft and ingenuity of Applied Imagination’s artisans. This year visitors may more easily walk around and get a close up view of how the natural plant part materials are made into gorgeous architectural structures that replicate buildings found throughout New York City and upstate New York.
‘Bar Car Nights,’ NYBG’s 28th Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Bar Car Nights which occur on select Fridays and Saturdays for adults 21 and over, prove to be a variation on the years I’ve attended before. The after-dark viewing of the Holiday Train Show® is the centerpiece of festive winter activities. The night I was there couples, friends and partners sauntered slowly down the aisles viewing the miniatures and identifying the plant parts that comprised doorways, windows, bricks, lintels, finials, entablatures, moldings and ornaments on facades of the mansions built during the Gilded Age.
Senator William Clark House, NYBG’s 28th Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
One striking example is the The Senator William A. Clark House which was known as Clark’s Folly. Clark’s Folly cost $7 million to build at the time ($188,225,000 in current inflationary dollars) and was demolished twenty years later to make way for a luxury apartment building on 960 Fifth Avenue, one of New York City’s A-plus buildings filled with elites at “the pinnacle of what many consider world society.”
Downtown Manhattan, Oculus, 1 World Trade Center, The Statue of Liberty replicas, NYBG 28th Holiday Train show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Downtown Manhattan, 1 World Trade Center, The Oculus, NYBG 28th Holiday Train Show, Bar Car Nights, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Applied Imagination’s (the creators of the models in Alexandria, Kentucky) attention to detail on these replicas is museum quality artistry. On a profound level, their work with the NYBG is a celebration of the history of New York that most New Yorkers are unfamiliar with and that codifies for all time the buildings that are representative of aspects of New York culture and society. Replicas include the newest iconic structures, like the Oculus in downtown Manhattan, and some of the oldest buildings in the city that date back to the 1700s (Queens). Poe cottage in the Bronx dates back to the early 1900s.
28th NYBG Holiday Train Show, ‘Bar Car Nights,’ Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Each building was constructed with painstaking care from the most insignificant of plant parts, a twig, an acorn, a pistachio nut shell (KyKuit) barley and pepper flakes (Macy’s Building) over the twenty-eight years that visionary and founder Paul Busse conceived that it would be more intriguing and forward thinking to create replicas from bio-degradable, plant materials fitting for a garden or park around which trains would chug, zip and race past. Such miniature organic architecture is reminiscent of what Frank Lloyd Wright believed: that buildings should be in harmony with humanity and their environment.
28th NYBG Holiday Train Show, ‘Bar Car Nights,’ Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Applied Imagination’s prodigious work on its miniatures manifests Wright’s philosophy on steroids with incredible finesse and joy. The evening I attended, I noted that the couples spent more time at the displays which they could easily approach. I heard exclamations as they recognized iconic landmarks that are featured prominently.
28th NYBG Holiday Train Show, ‘Bar Car Nights,’ New York Public Library, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
One example was Yankee Stadium whose lights blazed against the outside backdrop of darkness, which peered in from the Garden’s towering conifers section. The Stadium is a favorite with the guys who recognize the Old Yankee Stadium which was torn down. Also, the quips usually follow about Yankee Stadium taking preeminence over The Mets Stadium which has yet to be represented in the show, nor is Ebbets Field which only those from the previous generations who lived in Brooklyn in the 1950s would remember that stadium which has since been torn down.
Yankee Stadium replica, NYBG 28th Holiday Train Show, Bar Car Nights, Thomas The Tank, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Jewish Museum, Bow Bridge, NYBG 28th Holiday Train Show, Bar Car Nights, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
This year the main feature of the show is Central Park, some of whose structures have been given an uplift. Designed by landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, Central Park is a miraculous wonder of the city that has seen a number of battles to keep it the way it was conceived (google Joseph Papp, Robert Moses). It is visited by more people than any other urban park in the United States and is a historical treasure which sports a wide variety of buildings and architectural elements which complement the natural setting.
28th NYBG Holiday Train Show, ‘Bar Car Nights’ (Carole Di Tosti)
Most importantly, Olmsted and Vaux’s “Greensward Plan” inspired cities across the country to set aside large open spaces as public parks with the intention of giving city residents respites from the heat, dust and sun-scorched open spaces absent trees which were cut down haphazardly for developer’s convenience and profits. Since then urban centers have noted the value of trees and cities like NYC under Mayor Michael Bloomberg are assiduous about their care, pruning and planting of trees in the city. To take one down is a major event that requires petitioning the city government.
Belvedere Castle, Central Park Display, NYBG 28th Holiday Train Show, Bar Car Nights, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Whether you visit The Holiday Train Show® in the daytime or the evening (which is actually when its mystery and beauty are®® most remarkable) you will see a number of changes in the Central Park display. The Belevedere Castle has been refurbished for this year’s show. The Castle was built as a Victorian “folly” (not having a utilitarian purpose) on the highest natural elevation in the park and includes Gothic, Romanesque, Chinese, Moorish and Egyptian motifs.
Bethesda Terrace, Angel of the Waters (center right) Naumburg Bandshell (left, Central Park Display, NYBG 28th Holiday Train Show, Bar Car Nights, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Bethesda Terrace opens on the Lake at the heart of Central Park with the Angel of the Waters sculpture crowning the Terrace’s lovely Bethesda Fountain. An interesting note is that the designer of the sculpture (Emma Stebbins-the first woman to receive a public art Commission in NYC) placed a lily in the angel’s hand to signify purity and recall the importance of Croton Reservoir and the Croton water system which supplies NYC with fresh, clean water since 1842 up until today.
The Dairy, Central Park Display, NYBG 28th Holiday Train Show, Bar Car Nights, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
The Dairy has been enlarged and brightened. It is a replica of the Central Park “Dairy” built in 1870 as a place where children could enjoy a glass of fresh milk which was not easy to acquire in NYC at the time. The Naumburg Bandshell is a neo classical structure of cast concrete built in 1923. Performers Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington and the Grateful Dead have played there, though now it features mostly classical musicians and classical concerts. The Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater, the Old Bandstand, the Bow Bridge (the first cast-iron bridge in the Park) and Oak Bridge are in the Holiday Train Show®. The two bridges are new to the collection.
Gothic Arch, Central Park Display, NYBG 28th Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
There are more than 25 G-scale model trains and trolleys that jet along nearly a half-mile of track past the history of NYC exemplified in these replicas of magnificent buildings from the 1700s to the 21st century. The five bridges towering over the heads of the visitors are constructed from plant parts and birch twigs then shellacked to maintain the life of the recreation. The bridges usually link into each borough that they grace: Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, Hell’s Gate, George Washington Bridge and the Queensboro Bridge.
NYBG 28th Holiday Train Show, Bar Car Nights, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Bar Car Nights are a favorite to experience in the Garden in the brisk, festive evenings during the seasonal delights of The Holiday Train Show®. You can purchase a spiked hot chocolate or Holiday specialty cocktail from one of the festive bars throughout the area. If you are interested in snacks, you may get an offering from the Bronx Night Market Holiday Pop-up (they have yummy pulled pork sandwiches and veggie menues). After you’ve eaten you may walk with your drinks to the artisan ice carving whose expertise will astonish you as he carves large figures in ice. There are festive performers, contortionists and acrobats from the American Circus Theatre doing balletic moves or flips; and in past years there have been stilt-walkers. After sauntering by the confers you will reach the Levon Levy Center where you may warm up at the handcrafted fire pits. And if you stop in to the Pine Tree Cafe, you can enjoy a sing along with dueling pianos. There is also dancing to DJ sets curated by Uptown Vinyl Supreme.
NYBG 28th Holiday Train Show, Bar Car Nights, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
NYBG 28th Holiday Train Show, Bar Car Nights, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
The Holiday Train Show® runs until January 26, 2020. The Garden is open Tuesday-Sunday, and Monday, December 16, 23, 30 and January 20, 10:00 am-6 pm. Extended hours are 10:00 s.m.-7:00 p.m. December 26 and 29. The Garden is closed all day December 25 and it closes at 3 p.m. on December 13 and 24.
NYBG 28th Holiday Train Show, Bar Car Nights, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Bar Car Nights run from 7-10:30 p.m. December 7, 14, 20, 21, 27 & 28, 2019. In January the evening hours are January 3, 4, 11 & 18, 2020. But a word to the wise. Go to Bar Car Nights if you can in December. January books up quickly because everyone piles on and they have to close down ticket sales because the Garden doesn’t want it to be ridiculously crowded with holiday visitors.
Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, 28th NYBG Holiday Train Show, Bar Car Nights, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
There are so many activities at the Garden during the winter season and the presentation of The Holiday Train Show®, noting them all will make your head spin. I’ve mentioned a few here, but rest assured there are other events. The most popular events have add-ons and new events promise more enjoyment for the entire family. Some of these include the Evergreen Express events in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, Sounds of the Season Performances, Annual Bird Count (December 14, 2019, at 11:00 a.m.) The Poetry of Trains: Billy Collins and Young Poets (Sunday, December 15 at 2 p.m.) Holiday Favorites Film Festival, Winter Wonderland Tree Tour, Holiday Landmarks Tour, and All Aboard with Thomas & Friends™.
NYBG 28th Holiday Train Show, Bar Car Nights, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Members Holiday Shopping Weekend will be on December 14 and December 15. And members early morning access will be every weekend and December 26 & 27. If you don’t have a Garden membership, in these trying times, do your soul some good and purchase one. You will have free access to the Garden and depending on the type of membership, you will be able to bring a guest or guests and have access to free parking which can add up. You also receive a 20% on member shopping days, like December 14 & 15.
Additional Seating with Indoor/Outdoor effects, Hudson Garden Grill, NYBG 28th Holiday Train Show (Carole Di Tosti)
For additional information on exciting events and additional programming during The Holiday Train Show® CLICK HERE.
The Holiday Train Show 2019, New York Botanical Garden’s Wintry Season Treasure
The New York Botanical Garden, The Holiday Train Show 2019, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Each winter tourists, visitors and New York City children of all ages look forward to the Holiday Train Show®, now in its 28th year. Because the dome on the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory is being refurbished, members wondered whether the NYBG would be having a train show. The Garden’s forward thrust of #plantlove ensures that the seasonal events of the Garden continue with prodigious care and ingenuity. The Holiday Train Show® presented at the Garden with Applied Imagination’s efforts and over 175 creations is one of the Garden’s traditions which would never be cast aside. Too many hearts would be broken.
Holiday Train Show 2019, NYBG, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
This year the Holiday Train Show® offers a unique experience with 360 degree views in what looks to be a larger space. The theme showcases Central Park, the most well known and storied park in the nation, featured in films and plays because of its easy access and gorgeous fountains, spacious acreage and unique structures. The show has been characterized as an “immersive indoor winter wonderland” and is adjacent to the Conservatory. The structure created specifically to house The Holiday Train Show® is climate controlled. You will find it on the conservatory lawn and it is superb.
Carrie Rebora Barratt, Ph.D., CEO and President of NYBG introducing the Holiday Train Show 2019 at a press event (Carole Di Tosti)
The history of Central Park featured in Ken Burns documentary on New York City replete with Robert Moses’ attempted interventions and fights with Joe Papp and his “upper west side moms” and fans who are credited with saving the sanctity of the Park’s area around Tavern-on-the Green is fascinating. Designed in 1858 by landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the Park is a sanctuary in the middle of Manhattan’s grid design and is truly a wonder. It offers a seasonal respite and refuge from the traffic and hurly burly of car horns, sirens and the humming, gyrating energy of Manhattan. Central Park is home to extensive wildlife species, birds and woodland creatures and even has sheltered foxes and coyotes visiting from the Bronx as they hunt for an easy meal.
Coney Island Exhibit, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2019 (Carole Di Tosti)
One of the most popular favorites of the NYBG, the Holiday Train Show® is a cool place to go to celebrate the festivities of the season with friends, family and partners. Children, plant aficionados and collectors adore the trains. There are more than 25 G-scale model trains and trolleys which careen, chug, buzz and fly along almost 1/2 mile of track. They unceremoniously zip past model structures from all five boroughs of New York City, the Hudson River Valley and other historic locations in New York State, for example Tarrytown. What I always find gobsmacking are the incredible models, the gorgeous designs fashioned by the natural plant materials which are employed as unique architectural features.
Grand Central Station model, Holiday Train Show 2019, NYBG, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
For example shelf fungus, acorns, twigs, leaves, pistachio shells, barley seeds and pepper flakes are employed to construct the models. Can you divine how the Applied Imagination team whose workshop is located in Kentucky created the Macy’s Building? What was the wood? What are the windows made of on the elaborate Jewish Museum? I really get off on the ingenuity of the creators and artists to look at a banana gourd and imagine that it would be perfect as an elephant trunk. There is the model of the Elephantine Hotel in the Coney Island exhibit and that is one of the plants that Applied Imagination artists used to configure the smashing model. The hotel burned down, but Applied Imagination celebrated the hotel with this enchanting and detailed model. Don’t forget to look for it!
Holiday Train Show 2019, NYBG, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
This year’s Central Park theme segues beautifully with the Garden which is the perfect backdrop as you look at the models and your gaze flows outdoors to the evergreens and rolling landscape of the Garden’s conifer section. As new structures that Applied Imagination included as counterparts to their real Central Park buildings, you will note Belvedere Castle, Bethesda Terrace, the Dairy, the Naumburg Bandshell and more.
Bethesda Terrace, Angel of the Waters Fountain, NYBG 28th Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
These four buildings have an interesting history. Belvedere Castle (Belvedere in Italian means beautiful view) was built as a Victorian “folly.” Located on the then highest natural elevation in the park, it offered a lovely view. That was then. Ironically, the view is different now. Victorian folly refers to a fantasy structure that provides a great backdrop and views, but without a functional purpose. The turreted castle includes Gothic, Romanesque, Chinese, Moorish and Egyptian motifs and the model represents these beautifully.
Central Park scene, Belvedere Castle, Bethesda Terrace, 28th NYBG Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Bethesda Terrace opens on Central Park Lake in its heart. The Angel of the Waters (1873) sits at the top of Bethesda Fountain. Emma Stebbins, designer of the fountain, was the first woman to receive a public art commission and she referenced the Biblical symbolism of the angel stirring the waters for those who needed healing. After the angel left, the waters had healing properties and all the lame and blind who had the faith the waters would heal them jumped in. Emma Stebbins likened the Croton water system as the healing waters that brought unpolluted water to the city in 1842.
The Dairy, 28th NYBG Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
The Dairy an oft overlooked model in the Holiday Train Show® exhibit has been enlarged and given an uplift. Built in 1870 the Dairy was purposed as where children could get a glass of fresh milk, not easily accessible in 19th century Manhattan.
The Naumburg Bandshell, 28th NYBG Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
The Naumburg Bandshell is the only neoclassical structure in Central Park. It is made of concrete was finished in 1923. The model in the Holiday Train Show is constructed of plant parts. And it is lovely to imagine that Irving Berlin and Duke Ellington once played there along with Benny Goodman and Victor Herbert.
Yankee Stadium, 28th Holiday Train Show, NYBG, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
The Central Park theme this year has been uniquely featured in the train show which is like a large miniature woodland of various shades of greenery and iconic New York models beautifully recast as if one could live in them. The melding of the indoor and the outdoor green of the Garden is refreshing and fitting.
NYBG 28th Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
There is so much to see and appreciate with each of the building models painstakingly recreated. I am always awestruck and find myself visiting the show (I am also a member) not only during the days when I can get up close and see how the natural plant materials are employed, but I also go in the evenings during Bar Car Nights. For me in the evenings the show becomes a fantastical mystery with shadows and shades with gentle background music and the murmur of adults sitting, strolling and talking in whispers romantically or just laughing at a shared joke.
Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, 28th NYBG Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, 28th NYBG Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
You can go with friends or take a date. There is the Bronx Night Market Holiday Pop-up with great bites to eat. There are fire pits and festive performers, acrobats and contortionists and dueling pianos in the Pine Tree Cafe. And there are DJs curated by Uptown Vinyl Supreme to dance your energy into the happiness of the season. It’s the most fun and reasonable theater in New York City This year Bar Car Nights are on select Fridays and Saturdays exclusively for adults 21 and over and take place between 7-10:30 pm. Check it out and put it on your calendar, but don’t wait until the last minute or you will be out of luck. The dates are November 23, 29, & 30; December 7, 14, 20, 21, 27, & 28, 2019; January 3, 4, 11, & 18, 2020.
Macy’s, 28th NYBG Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
The Holiday Train Show® hours are from November 23, 2019-January 26, 2020. The Garden is open Tuesday-Sunday, and Monday, December 15, 23, 30, and January 20, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. The extended hours are 10 a.m. -7 p.m., December 26 and 29. The Garden is closed all day on November 28 (Thanksgiving) and December 25 (Christmas); it closes at 3 p.m. on December 13 and 24 (Christmas Eve).
NYBG, 28th Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
During the Train Show, there are ADULT EDUCATION HOLIDAY WORKSHOPS. These look like fun. A few examples are creating “Winter Wonderland Wreaths,” and workshops where one may create decorations from fresh, fragrant, conifer branches and wreaths from magnolia leaves. A real boon offered is a workshop to create a botanical building, a replica with natural materials in the style of The Holiday Train Show®. There are workshops for “Floral Arrangements” and creating “Tabletop Holiday Topiaries” as well. All of these materials and their creation add to the enjoyment of this season which initiates winter.
NYBG, 28th Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Finally, during the Train Show, festivities include the following events: The Evergreen Express, the Sounds of the Season Performances, Holiday Tree & Menorah Lighting Ceremony, The Poetry of Trains with Billy Collins and Young Poets, the Holiday Favorites Film Festival and more. For all the programming and events during The 28th Holiday Train Show® CLICK ON THE NYBG WEBSITE.
New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show 2018
27th NYBG Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination, Historic Pennsylvania Station (building demolished 1964), (Carole Di Tosti)
Regardless of how busy I am, I always attend the Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, NY. One of the most well attended of their shows along with their Orchid Show and special summer exhibits, The Holiday Train Show holds lustrous wonders. And whenever possible before the start of the show, I enjoy speaking with Applied Imagination personnel. For they have conceptualized, designed and created the innovations for the NYBG Holiday Train Show since its inception.
Thomas the Tank Engine steaming around the Queens County Farm replica (1772) at the NYBG 27th Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
3000 foot display at NYBG 27th Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Now in its 27th year the show’s expansion continues. Indeed, more trains have been added. Also, the materials used to perk up the displays appear fresh and more vibrantly colorful than ever.
Applied Imagination Studios are in Alexandria, Kentucky, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018, (Carole Di Tosti courtesy of the NYBG introductory film)
Crafting a replica from organic plant parts and other organic or biodegradable materials, Applied Imagination Studio, 27th Holiday Train Show at NYBG (Carole Di Tosti courtesy of the NYBG introductory film)
The introductory film, referencing Applied Imagination Studio workshops in Alexandra, Kentucky, discloses a behind the scenes look. From Alexandria, the miniature botanical sculptures rise from their humble plant-part beginnings.
(L to R): Leslie Salka, Laura Busse Dolan, Paul Busse, Applied Imagination Studio in Alexandria, Kentucky, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018 (photo by Carole Di Tosti-courtesy of the NYBG introductory film for the Train Show 2018)
In addition to showing the workshops at Applied Imagination Studio, staff and the team of the NYBG (for example Karen Daubmann, Todd Forrest) and for Applied Imagination (Leslie Salka and Laura Busse Dolan) explain which replicas are their favorites. Indeed, each year Applied Imagination adds excitement and grandeur to their New York collection. This year the newest replicas shine in the reflecting pool of the Palms of the World Gallery.
Replicas of the ferry and buildings in lower Manhattan, Palms of the World Gallery and Reflecting Pool, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018, (Carole Di Tosti)
Palms of the World Gallery and Reflecting Pool, Manhattan ferry replica detail, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
The best way to see The Holiday Train Show is to visit a few times. One time, visit with family. Especially bring children who will adore the variety of trains from trolleys, to passenger liners, to freights, locomotives and diesels. And come on Member Day. Then you will receive a 20% discount in the Garden Shop to spend on gifts.
Replicas: Elephantine Colossus, Luna Park Gate, Coney Island, 27th NYBG Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Replica detail, Elephantine Colossus, Coney Island, banana gourd tusks, seed decorations, citric eyes, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Also, meander through the conservatory taking your time, if there aren’t crowds. Appreciate the intricate detail of each replica. Compare the plant parts to architectural structures, like roofs, cornices, columns, bricks, slate, stone and more. Try to identify what plants are used. Look for the moss, the leaves, the shelf fungus and the gourds. Look for the seed pods and acorns.
Stephan A. Schwarzman Building replica, NY Public Library, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Detail, shelf fungus used on the steps of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building replica, NY Public Library, 27th Holiday Train Show, NYBG, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Lion statue detail carved from a seed pod, Stephan A. Schwarzman Building , NY Public Library, 27th Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
On the New York Public Library, the lions faces are carved from pods. Look for the berries used for color on Poe Cottage. You will perhaps take in only 1/100 of the detail present. And then you will probably forget it by the time you visit the show next year. Why? The various replicas will be arranged in completely different displays. And there will be new innovations and new replicas with their maverick conceptualizations. If there is one thing about the Museum quality spectacles with the NYBG exhibits, they are always unique with tremendous variety. It is almost impossible to keep track unless you have photos or maps of the display changes each year.
Applied Imagination craftspersons design the replicas to miniature scale and they, like engineers attempt to get the proportions correct. That takes consummate drafting skills. Constructing with precision, they follow archived historic photographs. What most amazes me is their assiduous attention to biological forms, for example how a banana shaped gourd might follow the shape of an elephant tusk. Or how the breadth of shelf fungus would simulated a roof. Truly, through years of experience, they have mastered the art of replica-making and have brought us to the edge of heaven by using plants which you would never imagine could entertain and delight in the way they use them.
Poe Cottage replica, NYBG 27th Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Detail Poe Cottage replica, berries, floral petals, herbs, sticks, NYBG 27th Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Building completed 1956-1959, Model completed, 2001), the roof is made of shelf fungus (Carole Di Tosti)
Only when I move slowly do I appreciate the botanical replicas of buildings that once sat in high esteem during New York’s Gilded Age. These buildings so expensive to maintain, owners demolished (Senator William Andrews Clark House). This made way for modern apartment buildings to house the growing uban population.
Museum Mile replicas, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
The Jewish Museum replica (The Felix M. Warburg House),, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018 (Carole Di Tosti)
Manhattan Bridge in the background, various mansion replicas, NYBG 27th Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
In the case of The Samuel J. Tilden House (The National Arts Club), The Morris-Jumel Mansion and The Felix M. Warburg House (The Jewish Museum), un-affordable grand mansions became museums, funded by non profit organizations. By profoundly, carefully viewing the structures in the Holiday Train Show, you take a stroll back into the history of New York. And what an amazing and precious stroll this is, for it inspires your imagination to reflect about the past. And this reflection grounds you front and center in the present.
Rockefeller Center replica, Channel Gardens, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018 (Carole Di Tosti)
Detail Rockefeller Center, Channel Gardens, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018
Angel detail of plant parts, Rockefeller Center, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018 (Carole Di Tosti)
Applied Imagination and the NYBG team collaborate for months beforehand. After they agree on the innovations and drawings and their placement in the conservatory, then begins the next phase. They construct the replicas from botanicals (sticks, fungus, moss, leaves, gourds, bark, acorns, nut shells, pepper flakes, etc.). Some of these plant parts come from around the fields of Alexandria, Kentucky. Other bits and pieces (various gourd parts, etc.), come from suppliers.
NYBG Holiday Train Show, Museum Mile Manhattan, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Park Avenue Armory (Building completed 1881, Model completed, 2008), NYBG Holiday Train
Detail, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
NYBG Holiday Train Show, 2018 detail, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
After the construction Applied Imagination ships the replicas to the NYBG. Then additional fun begins. Within the span of two weeks, volunteers and staff set the stored and new models in beautiful plantings. Indeed, the arrangements accommodate permanent conservatory trees, etc. And a variety of completely new floral plantings (orchids, violets, bromeliads, cyclamen, Christmas Cactus, lilies, etc.), and various ferns, bamboo, ivy, pothos, dracena, Norfolk Island Pines and other shrubs and greenery volunteers and staff position to complement the 25 gauge model trains sweeping down 1/2 miles of railroad track.
Replica of the Terminal Warehouse 27th and 12th Manhattan, 1891, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018 (Carole Di Tosti)
Bedford Hills Station, Hudson and Harlem Line, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018, applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Bedford Hills Station replica, Hudson and Harlem Line, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Quaintly, the trains peek out from low hanging branches and water displays. Then they emerge and whip around the tracks like racers. In the 3000 foot expansion a myriad number and type of trains fly above on trestles and bridges.
360 degree display, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Grand Central Station replica, 2018 Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Locomotives, freights, trolleys and passenger liners whoosh around The Enid A. Haupt Conservatory replica. And they bustle through replicas that include Grand Central Station and historic Pennsylvania Station (demolished 1964). What a fantasy wonderland! It is an unparalleled treasure for New Yorkers, Manhattanites and tourists who come to the city for the holidays.
A vista of NYC bridge replias (Hell’s Gate, GW Bridge, Brooklyn, 5 in all), NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
As the piece de resistance this year, the Holiday Train Show presents the birthplace of New York City, Lower Manhattan as its star attraction. Of course the central feature is One World Trade Center. Branches form the sides of the building and the emphasis is on freedom and a resurrection from the destruction in 2001. Also in the Palms of the World Gallery and Reflecting Pool, you will find the replica of the Beaux-Arts Battery Maritime Building. Gliding in stasis on the pool surface are two vintage ferry boat replicas (Bronx and Manhattan).
Palms of the World Gallery and Reflecting Pool, replicas of the Woolworth Building, One World Trade Center and Maritime buildings NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018 (Carole Di Tosti)
Another view, lower Manhattan scene, ferry replicas, maritime buildings, Woolworth Building, One World Trade, 2018 NYBG Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Upside down reflection, One World Trade replica, Palms of the World Gallery and Reflecting Pool, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018 (Carole Di Tosti)
Detail of the Oculus replica, One World Trade Center, Palms of the World Gallery and Reflecting Pool, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Detail, the Oculus replica at the foot of One World Trade Center, Palms of the World Gallery and Reflecting Pool, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018 (Carole Di Tosti)
Other buildings include the Battery Park Control House, the 60-story Woolworth Building, the Terminal Warehouse (1890), and the crown jewel replica, One World Trade Center. One World Trade remains the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the sixth-tallest building in the world. Additionally, the unique Oculus replica is placed at the foot of One World Trade Center. The Oculus that opened in 2016 connects 11 lines of NYC’s subways, New Jersey’s PATH rail system and the Battery Park City Ferry Terminal.
Lower Manhattan Display, Bronx ferry and buildings, Palms of the World Gallery and Reflecting Pool, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018 (Carole Di Tosti)
Replicas of ferry and buildings lower Manhattan, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018 (Carole Di Tosti)
For specific programming, go to the New York Botanical Garden website. To sum up look for Bar Car Nights on select Fridays and Saturdays (December 15, 21, 22, 28, 29; January 5, 12). Warm up around the fire pits in the Leon Levy Visitor Center. Indeed, for the artist in you, watch live ice-sculpting demonstrations. Or sing along with dueling pianos in the Pine Tree Cafe and listen to roving a cappella groups.
Finally, enjoy former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins for a special poetry reading. Collins will select 12 winning poems by students submitted to the Kid’s Poetry Contest. The poems will be displayed at NYBG during the Holiday Train Show. And the student authors will share their work during this special reading on Sunday, December 16, at 2 p.m. For more information about how to enter the Kids’ Poetry Contest visit http://www.nybg.org/poets
The New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show 2018 ends on 21 January.
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The 27th New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show Splendors
Replica of Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, NYBG, 27th NYBG Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
27th Holiday Train Show, 3000 ft. 360 degree extension, New York Botanical Garden, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Once a year The New York Botanical Garden gets dressed up in the reds, greens, whites, sparkles, golds and silvers that echo all that is bright for the wintry weather and coming cold and snow. Though some dislike all the fuss of the holidays, I enjoy it, because I visit family and friends. Thankfully, I don’t have a tree and pets to wreck it.
27th New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
27th NYBG Holiday Train Show, Metro North, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
I help decorate my family’s trees and enjoy the celebration of present giving especially with my young nephews and nieces. For folks like me who tangentially celebrate with friends and family, but don’t do a lot of decorating at home, the New York Botanical Garden is the place to go to feel festive. And what makes the Garden especially celebratory during the holidays is their annual train show.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
A vista of Bridges, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Each year various innovations are made. Displays change. Sometimes, I find I lose whole areas of New York City replicas (Coney Island, Central Park, Museum Row,) that normally are featured together. When I don’t see them, I wonder if they have been saved and stored for next year. But then I find them again in a different section of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory than they were the previous year. Indeed, there appears to be an infinite variety of placements of the over 175 replicas that compromise the permanent Holiday Train Show collection that collaborators Applied Imagination and NYBG create for one of the most well attended events the Garden offers.
Elephantine Colossus, Luna Park Gate, Coney Island, 27th NYBG Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Thousands of first-time tourists, visitors and members attend each year, participating in Bar Car Nights, the Holiday Tree and Minorah Lighting Ceremony, the Annual Bird Count and much more. However, the central themes of winter reside in trains as a throwback of the past. Ironically, they are the most mechanized feature of the train show along with the colorful lights interspersed throughout. For Founder Paul Busse eschewed using the plastic villages that came with model trains. When he decided to make his architectural “villages” of organic plant parts to husband the environment and throw down the “fake,” it was a boon. For every model, ever bridge, every house, gate, feature he and later others on his staff designed, use as their building blocks plants: twigs, bark, acorns, gourds, fruits, seeds, leaves, ferns, fungus, moss, nuts, nut shells, plant fiber and much more.
Palms of the World Gallery and Reflecting Pool, One World Trade Center and Maritime buildings NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018 (Carole Di Tosti)
Detail of the Oculus, One World Trade Center, Palms of the World Gallery and Reflecting Pool, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
The Oculus at the foot of One World Trade Center, Palms of the World Gallery and Reflecting Pool, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018 (Carole Di Tosti)
Both Applied Imagination who creates the stupendous replicas of iconic New York City buildings and the New York Botanical Garden team work like Santa’s elves for two weeks. During that time they set up the more than 25 HG model trains that skip and breeze over 1/2 mile of track non-stop during the daytime when the Garden is open through 6 pm when it shuts down. Then the trains glide from 7-10:30 pm on select Bar Car Nights, their headlights glinting through the dark mystery of the Garden’s dense, exotic evening atmosphere.
Lower Manhattan Display, Bronx ferry and buildings, Palms of the World Gallery and Reflecting Pool, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018 (Carole Di Tosti)
What those who have been attending the show for a while and certainly the newcomers do not realize in this 27th year of the Holiday Train Show is its evolution. Each year buildings have been added to the collection. Paul Busse always strives to forge out and tackle the different and unique, so he and his creators in Applied Imagination’s Alexandria, Kentucky Studio plan ahead with conceptualizations. After decisions in collaboration with the NYBG team, then the drawings are finalized. Then the construction begins and all is completed around the time the Garden staff strikes down the fall exhibits in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, the soil is regraded and plants chosen and prepared to feature the Holiday Train Show’s old and newly fabricated models.
Exquisite detail of the seeds, flower petals and twigs that comprise the stained glass windows of St. Patrick’s Cathedral replica, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018 (Carole Di Tosti)
Laura Busse Dolan, owner of Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
The journey from start to finish is a prodigious one, but the Applied Imagination team headed up by owner Laura Busse Dolan are practiced artisans. Clearly, they enjoy giving children and adults pleasure which one can easily assess just walking from one end of the conservatory to the other listening to the kids screams (daytime exhibit) and seeing adults relaxed amble with drink in hand through sections of the conservatory during Bar Car Nights. Those nights or Member Days are a great time to reconnect with friends, lovers and partners while enjoying the splendors of the Garden’s wintertime loveliness.
New York Public Library replica, NYBG Holiday Train Show 2018, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
The festive and popular Bar Car Nights on select Fridays and Saturdays from 7-10:30 pm, December 15, 21, 22, 28, 29, January 5, 12. for adults over 21. Have a bite to eat fro the Bronx Night Market Holiday Pop-up, There are fire pits in the Leon Levy Visitor enter. Watch live ice-sculpting demonstrations, sing along to favorite tunes with dueling pianos in the Pine Tree Cafe and listen to roving a cappella groups as they guide you through the Garden.
Join former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins for a special reading of poems on December 16 at 2 pm. New this year as part of the Kids’ Poetry Contest and in partnership with the Poetry Society of America, Collins will select 12 winning poems to be displayed at NYBG during the Holiday Train Show. And the student authors will share their work during the special reading.
For special programming during the Holiday Train Show 2018, go to the New York Botanical Garden website.
New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show ‘Bar Car Nights’ One Last Time
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.
New York Botanical Garden ‘Holiday Train Show’ Lights up The Season
Enid A. Haupt Conservatory replica completed in 2014, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
The Holiday Train Show is always a spectacular reaffirmation of what is beautiful, shining and creative in the human spirit. This year seems more so against a backdrop of tumultuous, grimy political scandals and redundant “breaking news” moments that jar the nerves and chill one’s core. I heartily appreciate an escape from the unsettling thesis of chaos to the antithesis of children’s screams of laughter and twinkling, colorful Holiday lights of assurance. The felt innocence is more lovely than the low details of worldly goings on. And I am uplifted to remember that throughout the labored struggles of men and women who strive to retain power, there is something more worthy and spiritual in the human soul that the season reminds us to seek and direct our attention to.
All trains (more than 25 varieties) are G-scale, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ by Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Passenger train speeding over Brooklyn Bridge, above the Coney Island exhibit, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
Locomotive with engineer in at the helm, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
Thus, for me especially this year, and for the friends I visit with, The Holiday Train Show in the New York Botanical Garden is a sanctuary of refinement, a haven of peace. Amidst the lovingly arranged pageantry, the plantings strike poses between the stunning miniature replicas of New York’s icons, historical landmarks and stupendous structures of the gilded age, made into museums or torn down because they were too expensive to maintain.
Senator William Clarke mansion (Clarke’s Folly) the end of the Gilded Age, finished 1911, demolished 1927, created by Paul Busse and his team at Applied Imagination, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
Detail, Senator William Clarke’s mansion, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ by Applied Imagination and Paul Busse (Carole Di Tosti)
Window detail of leaves, twigs, berries, bark on the replica of Senator William Clarke mansion, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
As I note the complexity of the constructions from plant parts as tiny as a barely seed and as large as a gourd, and wander slowly in amazement at the specificity of creation, solace is delivered in cupfuls and happiness in bushels. I take picture after picture, trying to stir my memories about the location of the recreations in previous years.
Replica of Poe Cottage, Fordham in the Bronx, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show, Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
If I take my time without rushing to the show finale, my memory serves me. The Poe house is situated more prominently this year on the opposite side of the central theatrical showcase. I am glad because I am writing a play about Poe and I feel akin to this replica. For example, I know that Poe’s wife Virginia Clemm died of tuberculous in Poe Cottage which is in Fordham in the Bronx a few miles from the Garden. The replica is modest, a no frills structure which is a miniature facsimile of the real Poe Cottage. The Poes were impoverished for all of their marriage a terrific irony considering just one of Poe’s short handwritten letters brought in almost $100,000 at auction a few years ago.
Replica of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (NYPL), NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ by Applied Imagination team (Carole Di Tosti)
Coney Island Exhibit, Brooklyn Bridge, Wonder Wheel, Luna Park and more, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
Coney Island display, Elephantine Colossus, Cyclone, train of plant parts, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
Elephantine Colossus Hotel replica, Coney Island Display, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show,’ by Applied Imagination team and its founder Paul Busse (Carole Di Tosti)
I see that the New York Public Library (Stephen A Schwartzman building) is up front and center as it should be. The Fifth Avenue Manhattan library with the stentorian lions is under renovation and receiving technological updates that will be completed by 2020. I note that the Coney Island display is prominent with the Elephantine Colossus, Wonder Wheel (now a film of the same name by Woody Allen about Coney Island and gangsters), The Steeple Chase, Luna Park, the Cyclone (with moving parts) and more. These structures backdropped with waterfall and reflecting pools are encircled by sauntering trains lazily enjoying their pace in the 360 degree central showcase of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. Last year they were in the Palms of the World Gallery.
Coney Island display, Wonder Wheel, Lighthouse, Brooklyn Bridge, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show,’ by Applied Imagination team (Carole Di Tosti)
As I appreciate the Elephantine Colossus so carefully and brilliantly created out of variously shaped gourds and other plant pieces, I consider Leslie Salka’s (Director of Applied Imagination whose creations we love) comments about the construction of the replica of the Elephant shaped hotel. The unusual structure was an example of the period’s novelty architecture, designed by James V. Lafferty to bring in tourists. The seven-story building, which served as a hotel, concert hall and amusement bazaar, stood above Surf Avenue from 1885 to 1896 when it burned down. Leslie decided they should include the hotel in the Coney Island display in memoriam of Topsy the female elephant who was electrocuted in Coney Island’s Luna Park in 1903.
Elephantine Colossus Hotel replica at Coney Island display, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
Mushrooms, gourds in detail of Elephantine Colossus Hotel replica, Coney Island display, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti
Detail of plant parts, Elephantine Colossus Hotel replica, Coney Island display, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show,’ Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Topsy’s demise had been all but forgotten until someone noted a film had been made of her electrocution and clips of it were included in a Ric Burns documentary about Coney Island. After Burns’ film the subject of Topsy’s death has been featured in popular culture and media and has been the subject of poetry, fiction, songs and journalist Michael Daly’s book about her. Contrary to belief there is no purported direct association of Topsy’s death at Luna Park with Thomas Edison. Though Edison did electrocute animals 15 years earlier during the War of Currents when he was attempting to demonstrate the dangers of alternating current, he was not responsible for Topsy’s death. The Elephantine Colossus replica is gorgeous and the backstory of Topsy’s life and death, the preservation of the film clip, and her rise to celebrity is a notable piece of history found in The Holiday Train Show if you enjoy digging deeper.
Macy’s sign is made up of white barley seeds and cayenne pepper flakes, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
Novelty car, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
Painted butterfly on novelty car, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show,’ Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
What I particularly appreciate about The Holiday Train Show is that there is something for everyone young and ancient. Children see the trains and love to hear and watch them. Adults see the history, and depending upon their day and mood go deep or gloss over the displays. No one sees all of it during each visit. If you glean 20% of the entire production which pays homage to history, trains, New York, the five New York City boroughs and their landmarks interspersed fancifully throughout the Garden’s botanical kingdom, you will have walked away with a treasure.
Angel of the Waters replica, Central Park display, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show,’ Applied Imagination (Carole Di Tosti)
Detail berries, mini pine cones, seeds, leaves, twigs, bark, pods, Angel of the Waters, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
The Show is overwhelming. So one may jaunt through it appreciating the overarching dazzling spectacle and briefly glance at the replicas, taking a few moments to identify the name of a particularly striking recreation. Or you may more closely observe, inspect and take a leisurely microscopic view of how each of the replicas was assembled ingeniously with twigs, varieties of flower and grain seeds, pine cones, stems, leaves, nut shells, acorn caps, pods, gourds, varieties of moss, mushrooms, flowers, herbs, spices and more.
streetcar over Brooklyn Bridge, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
And the trains? Use your phone video feature to capture the particularly cool passenger trains or trolleys flying over the Manhattan or Queensboro bridge high above your head. Most NYC bridges (five out of the nine) are featured. Or snap the cute novelty cars painted with butterflies or other insects trolling back and forth over the tracks. All of the trains are G-scale, whether ancient or modern, whether locomotives and freight cars or diesel engines, electrified passenger trains, trolleys and streetcars. There are over 25 full fledged train set ups clanging, whirling, zipping, steaming, chugging, purring and careening over 1/2 mile of track situated between rocks, over bridges and water features, through tree stump tunnels and under low hanging tree branches throughout the conservatory.
Trains coming out of historic Penn Station, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
Hudson Valley train station, since demolished, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti0
Historic Penn Station demolished in 1963, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
In the 3000 foot 360 degree display whose extension was added a few years ago, you’ll see a grand memorial to traindome. You’ll note various New York historical station replicas that are throwbacks to a time when travelers stayed at inns before they journeyed to relatives. These have since been torn down to make way for flat-looking, rectangular, unappealing buildings signifying what has been lost to progress. You will note Grand Central Station saved by Jacqueline Onassis and the magnificent station that developers couldn’t wait to get their grimy hands on, the Beaux Arts beauty, built in 1910, Pennsylvania Station. The Applied Imagination replica is a memorial to history, grand architectural effort that remains timeless though Penn Station itself was torn down in 1963. But there the miniature building stands for us to admire at The Holiday Train Show. Just consider that for a second or two.
Palms of the World Gallery, mid-town Manhattan display, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
The Palms of the World Gallery exhibit is the glorious conclusion that sends you out into the sterling night of stars if you go to Bar Car Nights (December 22, 23, 29, 30, January 6, 13) with a date, friends or are just slumming by yourself. Or if brushing by the palm fronds with goodbyes to Garden staff dressed as train engineers you slip from the tropical paradise into the bright, cold atmosphere and sunshine with a beaming smile on your face because the final exhibit is just…just. Well! You’ll have to go and see the show and come up with your own descriptors. Marvelous? Rising? Scintillating? Neat? Memorable? Illustrious?
Ellis Island display, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
Chrysler Building, Empire State Building, GE Building replicas renovated as new. NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
Palms of the World Gallery, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
Palms of the World Gallery, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
St. Bartholomew replica, Palms of the World Gallery, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
Statue of Liberty drape is made of bamboo, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
It’s all of that and more as the display in the large reflecting pool glimmers and splits into double images which lengthen the buildings and set them skimming across the water. This segment in particular memorializes why Manhattan is its own tribute to itself: skyscraper-particular, iconic, architecturally astonishing, mesmerizing, glowing. Whether its Rockefeller Plaza, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, the GE Building, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, St. Bartholomew’s Church, this is what tourists, natives and even botanical adventurers love about New York City. Take some time to especially view the last four replicas listed here, all of which are new.
Reflections in water, Empire State Building replica, St. Bartholomew replica upside down, Palms of the World Gallery, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
Upside down reflections, Queensboro Bridge in mid-Manhattan display, Palms of the World Gallery, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
I was struck by the extravagant details and was rather gobsmacked at the illusion which is created in this gallery. These buildings effect their namesakes, but are built with completely organic, sustainable materials, unlike their reality of concrete, glass and steel. The effect will draw you in as you remember the essence of the Applied Imagination’s vision to set a monument to nature’s ineffable and infinite botanical variety and the wonder of at plants’ creative usefulness as building blocks for humans. Read that sentence again, to ken the full meaning. Heart!
Mid-town Manhattan display, another view, Palms of the World Gallery, NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show’ (Carole Di Tosti)
Laura Busse Dolan, owner of Applied Imagination, daughter of Paul Busse. NYBG ‘Holiday Train Show,’ Palms of the World Gallery (Carole Di Tosti)
There is no leaving the Palms of the World Gallery after the first minute of arrival. You leave when you receive the full effect of the display upon your senses and decide that The Holiday Train Show is a celebration of the best of who we can be as creators and lovers of nature’s bounty of which we are an integral part.
For all the intriguing programming during the Train Show, from the Evergreen Express and family events, Billy Collins poetry reading and more, go to the Garden website HERE. For BAR CAR NIGHTS, HERE. To learn about Paul Busse artistic visionary, founder and 25 year creator of Applied Imagination replicas and themes with his team click HERE.
CAROLE DI TOSTI 