NYBG's Holiday Train Show: Model Trains Circle 200 Plant-Made Landmarks
At the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, nearly 200 plant-built New York landmarks fill the Conservatory from Nov 14 to Jan 10, with live jazz on 15 evenings.
🚂 Inside the Glasshouse
🚂 Nearly 200 Landmarks, Made of Plants
Model trains thread past nearly 200 miniature New York landmarks inside the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, and each one is built from plant material. Look for palm fronds, pinecones and cinnamon sticks worked into bridges and building fronts. New this year: a botanical One Vanderbilt, its tapered tower rebuilt entirely from natural materials. A glowing mountain-scape just outside the glass adds more trains.
🎷 After Dark, With a Jazz Trio
On 15 evenings the Conservatory stays open until 8 p.m., with last entry at 7:15 and programming from 5 to 8. Trios play at 5:15, 6:15 and 7:15, and train conductors pose for photos. The dates run Nov 27 to 29, then 11 nights in December and Jan 2. The Samantha Louise Trio plays jazz and American Songbook standards on most of them, and the Skyler Floe Trio takes Dec 11, 12, 20, 26 and Jan 2. On other days, the show runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday.
🎟️ Tickets, Transit, Calmer Mornings
The show rides on the All-Garden Pass: $35 for adults on weekdays and $39 on weekends, $31 and $35 for seniors and students, $15 and $17 for children 2 to 12. Everyone needs a ticket, and weekend and holiday slots go first, so book on nybg.org; a weekday morning is the calmest visit. Metro-North's Harlem local line runs from Grand Central to Botanical Garden station in about 20 minutes, and the Mosholu Entrance is right across the street. With kids, the Evergreen Express in the Everett Children's Adventure Garden, daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., lets them conduct big outdoor toy trains. Two sensory-friendly mornings, Nov 21 and Jan 9, run 9 to 11 a.m.
