There be TRAINS Running @ the Biltmore Estate!

Where is this Biltmore?

Asheville, NC

http://www.biltmore.com/

Sam

So when will you be working the layout so I can get me own personalized tour?

Steve

Sam, thanks for posting the photos, it looks like a fun place to go and visit.

Very cool. Thanks for sharing, Sam.

Sam, what year was this started????  Have not been up there for several years but never knew anything about this.

Ron

Hmmm, I got 'em running too! 

not much of an estate here though! 

c.sam posted:

The Biltmore Estate has a really nice outdoor RR operating through the first week of Sept in the Antler Village section near the Biltmore Winery. A regional cub, The Piedmont Garden RR Society, was asked to help staff the display to assure good operation for the guests. A handful of us volunteered and had to officially become Biltmore employees to function in that capacity. It was involved with a drug test, background check and a two day on site orientation that was quite interesting and fun. We took an OSHA class as well as back room tours of the main house and winery so that we can be better informed of the place to talk with guests. Us 'older' fellas were in stark contrast to the large groups of 17 - 25 year olds who were hired through various education programs or for regular positions.   The grandson of George Vanderbilt who built the estate who was grandson of 'Cornelius' Vanderbilt talked with us on day 1 for about 30 minutes. He was quite an interesting man and I sensed that he genuinely cared for his employees and it showed in the programs available to us and genuine feeling of 'family' that prevailed among the established employees. If I were a young person I would consider becoming involved in some capacity. Great company!

The display was created by Applied Imagination, a nationally-recognized, award-winning crew of artists, botanical architects, and landscape designers. Depicting the history of the Vanderbilt family and George's marriage and honeymoon, it is very nice and an eye catcher. 5 independent loops wind through the lush landscape. Many flowers are beginning to bloom and the whole thing has a magical, whimsical feel to it. Asheville area has been getting a LOT of rain this past week and today it only let up for a few minutes at a time. Quite a few guests came in spite of the weather and many little faces beamed as they ran around the display, dressed in raingear in wonder.

The layout opened last Friday in the rain and we have been adjusting the locomotives and cars experiencing numerous derailments and breakdowns. Today was a better one - I started the trains by pulling track cleaning cars for 8 - 10 laps on each loop and then let them run with their consists. They performed flawlessly with nary a glitch! In the rain. Without a break. It was a good day...

Great Display, by chance any of the structure's barrowed from the Bronx NY Display?

Engineer-Joe posted:

Hmmm, I got 'em running too! 

not much of an estate here though! 

Looks like a MANSION to me! I will be right over with a six pack!

Can you show us some video?

Each of us works one day with the weekends split in two shifts. Open from 11a to 7p and 9p on weekends. We get there by 9a to clean the track and wheels. They layout is track powered but would be much better if they would go to on board batteries. I'm scheduled for Tuesdays all summer so come on over Steve!   This started last summer and was quite a hit.

Joe, yours is very nice and much larger but do you have a full-fledged Winery next door? Or an Ice Creme parlor?  :-)

Nick, this may be the same outfit but I don't know much about Applied Imagination. You can look them up....

Still raining over here!

I had been there years ago for a vintage car show on the grounds.  When there much later, restoration has been done, and l balked at entrance fee.  In the area again at a Narrow Guage convention, a friend visited it but l did not.  Dunno but will ask if they saw this, but was probably before this was added.

colorado hirailer posted:

I had been there years ago for a vintage car show on the grounds.  When there much later, restoration has been done, and l balked at entrance fee.  In the area again at a Narrow Guage convention, a friend visited it but l did not.  Dunno but will ask if they saw this, but was probably before this was added.

I'm with you on a lot of these things. I just looked it up and it's $57 per-person during the week. I'm sure it's nice, but not sure I would feel I got my money's worth. There's plenty of places to go that I enjoy for a lot less if not free.  

 no and no.... Wait! I do have ice cream!

WOW, wish that had have been there when I lived in Asheville back in 1990-1991.  I was 13 and we had season passes to Biltmore.  Loved just hanging out there.  Haven't been since then.

Sam, who is the artist who made all the wood structures?  Those look like ones made by a local guy.  I had a house made out of a stump from the guy I am referring too but don't know what happened to it.  Would love to find one again.

I really LOVE that layout.  Is there a video of it?

Ohio based Applied Imaginations, founded by fellow Ohio State alum, Paul Busse, has been around for a long time constructing garden railways all over the country (too many to list here). His specialty. along with his crew of artisans, has been in making use of natural materials whenever possible. The results are often astounding.

Sam: 

Wow, that's quite an impressive display and its only temporary!  They always decorate the mansion and the grounds for the Christmas Holidays, do you know if they will have a train display, too, this Christmas?

Bill

You had to become an employee in order to volunteer?  Wow.  That's dedication.

See you on Tuesday, June 19, 2018 after lunch

palallin posted:

You had to become an employee in order to volunteer?  Wow.  That's dedication.

Ha!  They actually do pay us and better than minimum wage plus we get some nice perks. I can go to the grounds anytime and take a guest. There's good fishing in the rear along the French Broad River. A guest would need  a ticket however to go through the house itself. If you've never been, it's worth the price of admission to see it and what they accomplished in the late 1900s. The house itself covers 4 acres - that's 175,000 sq feet.  Just the house. The largest private home in America. I enjoy reading and viewing the old photos taken during construction in the basement. Hard to imagine how they built structures like this at the time.

They have interesting exhibits during the year. Recently was one on the Titanic as the Vanderbilts were scheduled to travel on the maiden voyage when they became homesick and departed a short time earlier on another ship. One of their valets however stayed with their luggage on the Titanic and perished.

Presently, there is a vast amount of blown glass artwork by artist Chihuli that is interesting. Reminds me of John Carpenter's remake of the sci-fi classic 'The Thing' with all the tendrils...

We're having some problems in the area with all this rain - as I was driving out last evening the river that is normally quite tranquil and serene is a raging torrent. I spotted this very large snapping turtle that had escaped the fast water and was crawling into a filed. It's shell was about 21"-23" in length and the tail was almost a foot long! That's a LARGE terrapin...

Sam,

Thank you for the photographs!  That garden railroad certainly was not what I was expecting at the Biltmore, but I like it a lot.  Yes I agree with Allan that they are very creative folk!!  

Wow, I only saw a snapper once.  Back 40 years ago I was stopped at a rest stop along Interstate 80, and a guy asked if I wanted to see his watchdog.  I didn't really care, until he threw back a tarp in his pickup bed and there was a snapper with a hole in the edge of it's shell, chained to the bed.  He said someone stole his tools once, but no one goes near his tools with this whopper there.  True story.

c.sam posted:

Hey, I even have that tower! (Sorry Sam, couldn't resist.)

Sorry Joe but here size DOES matter! This one is 14' and has lights!

Did you have any rail corrosion or is it just crud from moisture and particulate?

c.sam posted:

Sorry Joe but here size DOES matter! This one is 14' and has lights!

WOW. I didn't get that from the picture! 

That ain't a terrapin... that's a snapper. (Commonly called an "Alligator snapper".) Give him room... some of 'em can have a downright nasty temperament. Don't let the "turtle" part mislead you about being slow... they can leap quite a ways when attacking. They are also territorial... I've seen one kill one of its own ilk for invading "their" territory.

Andre

Pardon my ignorance, but how do these outdoor setups survive inclement weather?  Are the tracks made of brass or stainless steel?

laming posted:

That ain't a terrapin... that's a snapper. (Commonly called an "Alligator snapper".) Give him room... some of 'em can have a downright nasty temperament. Don't let the "turtle" part mislead you about being slow... they can leap quite a ways when attacking. They are also territorial... I've seen one kill one of its own ilk for invading "their" territory.

Andre

Amen to that Andre!  I was surprised at how quickly the snapper moved to attack the stick of wood the "owner" held into the back of his pickup truck.  I was expecting powerful jaws.  That was the only one I have ever seen!

Yup, Mark! Mean moheenies, they can be.

Saw one bite a broom stick in two like it was a matchstick!!

Andre

I remember coming up on one of those big snappers at a small bridge on winding back road outside of Boone.  Biggest turtle I had ever seen.  A couple then pulled up in a truck going the opposite way and stopped.  The lady gets out and nonchalantly walks over to the big boy, grabs it by the tail and throws it in the pickup bed.  Told us they would be eating it.  I do love turtle soup but wasn't about to approach that thing.  I know they can snap fingers.

Don't think I have ever seen a snapper that big sense.  I know we say everything is bigger here in Texas, but Western NC owns the snapping turtle title in my mind.

I recall the man 40 years ago had an Indiana plate on this truck.  I don't know if any snappers live in Indiana or if he got it elsewhere.

c.sam posted:

The Biltmore Estate has a really nice outdoor RR operating through the first week of Sept in the Antler Village section near the Biltmore Winery. A regional cub, The Piedmont Garden RR Society, was asked to help staff the display to assure good operation *  *  *

Thanks for sharing, Sam!  Wonderfully clever and creative display. You can keep the snapper.

Kind regards,

I'm visiting and staying right beside this layout on July 11, 12, and maybe the 13th, going to ride on the The Great Smoky Mountain Railroad on the 11th also, the steam engine.

That sounds great, Frank!

laming posted:

That ain't a terrapin... that's a snapper. (Commonly called an "Alligator snapper".) Give him room... some of 'em can have a downright nasty temperament. Don't let the "turtle" part mislead you about being slow... they can leap quite a ways when attacking. They are also territorial... I've seen one kill one of its own ilk for invading "their" territory.

Andre

The turtle pictured is a Common Snapping Turtle. The Alligator Snapping Turtle is a different species, with a different appearance. The Common Snapping Turtle is the more aggressive of the two species.

c.sam posted:

If you've never been, it's worth the price of admission to see it and what they accomplished in the late 1900s. Hard to imagine how they built structures like this at the time. 

The late 1800s. Actually, building engineering and design were very sophisticated then. Lots of magnificent structures were built at that time which involved far more expertise than the Biltmore, from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Eiffel Tower. Looking at an enormous European cathedral built in the 1200s - now that is something that's hard to imagine. Or the Taj Mahal, built in the 1600s. Or the Pyramids, for that matter. The Palace of Versailles in France, home of King Louis XIV, built in the 1600s, has over 721,000 sq ft, 700 rooms, and 1250 fireplaces. The Biltmore has about 179,000 sq ft. 

The Biltmore is worth seeing, though. Also worth seeing are the grounds, which were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, America's most famous landscape designer (who also designed Central Park, among other things). 

If you can't visit, rent the movie "Being There."  

Frank, I've taken the GSMRR trip a couple of times. Nice trip. Enjoy it.

Stopped at the Biltmore layout last Thursday evening just before the cloud burst. Very nice job and the attendant was knowledgeable and informative. 

Also rode the GSMRR on Wednesday. They have a great train museum, wandered around for hours.   Rode the blue ridge train on Monday.  My wife is sick of looking at trains. 

  If you head there in fall, you better reserve a room. You might not find one when the leaves change colors. I drove from Detroit to Ashville spur of the  moment once (actually Brevard), couldn't find a room so headed north again. Stopped at every exit to look for one, ended up back in Detroit to sleep. No vacancy from NC till Toledo....my bed was 40min away at that point; I kept going.

Lovely pics, lovely place to visit. I want to go back!