Delighting in the mini world of the Holiday Train Show

The Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Garden has delighted visitors for 23 years, and this time around, the NYBG is boasting a show that’s “bigger and better than ever.”

I had never been to the show before, but I was excited. I have loved miniature things like dollhouses and dioramas since I was very small. I even used to make little “fairy houses” out of twigs and leaves and pebbles in my backyard, so this wonderland was just my kind of exhibit.

The Holiday Train Show puts my young forays into architectural miniatures to shame. The name emphasizes the model vehicles, a great draw for youngsters and train enthusiasts. (Note to those enthusiasts: the trains are on the “G scale,” the largest model train size.) But what drew my attention were the buildings, replicas of iconic New York structures made almost completely from organic materials.

There are the usual suspects: a Statue of Liberty made from overlaid palm fronds, a towering Brooklyn Bridge that looks like it was made from a Linkin Logs set, a gorgeous New York Public Library complete with little wooden lions. The Empire State Building stands about six feet tall next to the Chrysler Building and Rockefeller Center in a compressed Midtown Manhattan.

All these large buildings were fun to see made out of barks and twigs, but I was particularly captivated by the smaller, more detailed structures. Take the model of the William K. Vanderbilt Mansion, originally built in 1883 and demolished in 1926. The roof is made of multicolored leaves arranged like shingles, and there is a wonderful round tower topped with successively smaller pinecones. Star anise seeds and cross-sections of cinnamon sticks offer decorative touches, and — my favorite part — little gargoyles fashioned out of seed pods guard the gables.