All aboard! Holiday train returns to the New York Botanical Garden

I think there's no better place to be at Christmas time.”

Laura Busse Dolan, president and CEO of Applied Imagination

The Van Cortlandt House, Deno’s Wonder Wheel in Coney Island and Yankee Stadium are just a few of the miniature buildings at this year’s New York Botanical Garden Holliday Train Show.  

Since 1992, NYBG has delighted guests with scaled-down versions of iconic buildings across New York City, some still standing and some dating back to the 1700s, which have since been demolished. And what started with 11 buildings, the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage being one of the originals, has now turned into a dazzling show of nearly 200 replicas of iconic sites across NYC, filling the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory with hundreds of holiday lights and holiday warmth.

From the twigs made to create the Brooklyn bridge to the tiny seeds used in the sign of the Macy’s department store miniature, the replicas by Applied Imagination use organic materials sourced through “responsible foraging.”

“Pulling bark off of trees that are already dead, picking up nuts off the ground instead of removing them from trees, taking leaves that have already fallen,” are some examples of what responsible foraging looks like according to Michaela Wright, director of exhibition content and interpretation at the garden.

However, there are some items that are special ordered, like the cacao pods used in the Wonder Wheel, which come from the Netherlands.

Some buildings, created by a single artist or engineer, took between 150 to 300 hours to make. But bigger projects, like the Freedom Tower, can take between 600 and 1,000 hours and a collaborative team effort.  

This iteration of the train show took 40 individuals across 10 days to build, plus an additional 15 people four an extra four days.

“So, it takes an army,” said Laura Busse Dolan, Applied Imagination president and CEO.

Founded by landscape architect, Paul G. Busse in 1991, Applied Imagination was born from a love of gardens and model trains, with NYBG being their first major client. But Busse’s first public garden was at the Ohio State Fair in 1982 at the request of the governor. Over the years, Busse’s creations grew to include more gardens across the country and the company has more than 6,000 pieces in their collection to date. In his older age, Busse developed Parkinson’s disease and in 2017, he handed the company to his daughter, Dolan.

Under her leadership, the company expanded to gardens on the west coast, something they had never done before, and Dolan hopes to take them internationally as well.

Dolan’s father marvels at her success, singing her praises.

“He says, ‘you know, you continue to amaze me, you're taking this further than I ever dreamed’  and I always remind him, ‘I'm standing on your shoulders,” Dolan told The Press.

This year, the NYBG Holiday Train Show expands outdoors and will feature a new addition, something that hasn’t been done in years. The Hearst Building will be added to the collection,  although a date for when the building will be unveiled has yet to be set.

On Sunday, Nov. 17, Eli Ben-Meir of Central Riverdale was walking through the train show, marveling at the structures and admitted that he hadn’t seen the show since he was a kid.

“It gives a warm feeling,” he said.

Through Jan. 20, visitors young and old can enjoy NYBG’s 33^rd Holiday Train Show, with special holiday train nights for all ages and adult-only nights on weekends, where holiday lights twinkle in the darkness of the night.

“I think there's no better place to be at Christmas time,” said Dolan.