Everyone has something they thought was pretty cool in first grade, but only learned how absolutely amazing it truly is after a deep dive into it in their teenage years. No one told me — until I went down a research rabbit hole about it in middle school — that the sculptures for the annual New York Botanical Garden’s (NYBG) Holiday Train Show were made almost exclusively with plant materials. Or maybe I wasn’t listening, too busy poring over the flying cars on my family’s monthly trip to the gardens but it may take about 30 minutes to see everything.
These memories surface as I open the doors to the temporary tent leading to the NYBG’s Haupt Conservatory that’s hosted the train show since 1992. I round a corner, and I’m greeted with a wondrous winterland. Ornamentally adorned Christmas trees are the only artificial flora that surround the preserved organic matter comprising the miniature landscape ahead. I must emphasize: every building in the train show — each a near-scale model of significant historical sites, landmarks and skyscrapers — is constructed from sticks, leaves, flowers, acorns, bark, berries, pinecones, pods, seeds and even thorns, all intertwined beautifully with scale trains and tracks from L to G. The Wonder Wheel replica spins dizzyingly fast on a truss of twigs, and hits you first on walk-in (especially if you move your face too close to it). Lost to time, the Elephant Colossus model has fungi for ears, lichens for skin and little leaves that seriously resemble slate tiles. Their Luna Park Gate is made with the tops of the world’s largest pinecone species. One highlight is how tree bark uncannily resembles roof/wall shingles on Dutch-style structures like the Marine Railway Station. Grand Central Terminal almost seems boring, until you appreciate the details. Those cherubs around that 13-foot-in-real-life clock are all painstakingly recreated with seed pod shells and twigs. Same for old Penn Station, magnificently royal like a fairytale palace magically resurrected after ruin. We could stay here all day, but the show must go on. No, literally, that’s less than half of it.
Entering the greenhouse, you’re smacked with warm humidity. There’s the original Yankee Stadium, the iconic bridge motif made of twigs and spotlights of acorns. The Garden’s Mertz Library’s meticulous facade are more pod halves; even more intricate is that dumbfounding fountain statue masterpiece that can’t possibly be plant material. And behind that model is one of the Haupt Conservatory itself. Resplendent in golden hues, this amazing tribute’s even prettier than the actual conservatory itself. The tiniest flowers have become the column crowns of the greenhouse.
My gosh — we haven’t even gotten to the flowers. Poinsettias galore, evergreens abound, ferns far as the eye can see, bonsai-looking stuff… ooh, orchids? There’s so much to see and mention. Honorable mentions are the Central Park fixtures, a shout-out to the brownstones and credit to the cottages, bridges, mansions and museums. You might think that as I’ve told you all about the show, you need not go, but you’d miss out on the rest of the breathtaking 180 structures, landscaping and trains. Did I mention the trains? They’re spellbinding. Everything is.
Don’t miss the show so that you can see how they’ve relocated Manhattan’s greatest hits — the Empire State building, St. Patrick’s, Rockefeller, Ellis Island and Lady Liberty herself — to the greenhouse pond. It’s astounding to behold, like when little-kid-you living in New York City realizes, “Oh, this city actually means a great deal to people.” After visiting it since your conscious memories began, there’s a point where fifth-grade-you realizes, “Wow, this train show’s an even bigger deal than I thought.” That’s likely the same case for first-time train show-goers, who’re likely old enough that they’ve bought a model train set for their/someone’s kid(s) before. This “whoa” is also the case for me, a Queens native who’d been to the show each year from 2003-13, and somehow hadn’t been back since. Yes, I saw it so many times, I’d tell myself — but suddenly 10 years slipped by, and I found it’d been a decade since I’d indeed last seen it. Those full-grown adults experiencing this profound restoration of their best childhood memories, emotions and exclamations (“ooh, look at that locomotive”)? I’m one of the wider-eyed ones. So, go to the greenest holiday train show on the planet, maybe with that special someone. Make unforgettable memories that’ll last long after it’s packed away year after year.
See you there.
