Is that a European thing ? An American Thing ?
Just Wondering ?
Thanks in Advance .
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Ive never heard it....
My grandmother used the term "Christmas Garden." She was born in the 1880's and lived her life in Baltimore. She was of English/Scottish ancestry. My recollection is that she told me that they often were without "electric" trains which makes sense given the time frame. She passed in the early 1960's. I haven't heard that term, "Christmas Garden," in many decades. It brings to mind many fond recollections and great memories.
Thank you WRGMILW!
I've questioned this before as well...
I stumbled upon this site a few years ago, check out the section about a 1/4 down the page with the header 'Christmas Railroads, Train Gardens, and "Putzes" Arrive'
Jerry (BALTIMORETRAINWORKS) Brought it up in another post .
That is why I asked about .
Thank You Prr7688 for that link .
I understand now !
To John in western Pa , if you have pictures of your grandmother's Christmas Gardens , could you please share .
To others that Lived in the Baltimore, DC areas , could you share your Christmas Gardens Pictures as well.
Thanks , A great day to learn something new .
I lived in Baltimore from 1979-1983.......that's where I heard the term. It referred to the toy train layouts people would put up at Christmas time......I was told that in the 40s, 50s and 60s Firehouses would set up their yearly Christmas Garden and many families had, as a Christmas tradition, an outing going from Christmas Garden to Christmas Garden.
Peter
Here's some interesting info on Baltimore Christmas Gardens.
@Putnam Division posted:...snip... I was told that in the 40s, 50s and 60s Firehouses would set up their yearly Christmas Garden ...snip... Peter
Some still do, the one in Dundalk has a good one every year (maybe not in 2020) for example.
My wife is from Baltimore/Catonsville area and remembers going to see the gardens with her Dad at Christmas until we got married in 1979 and seldom back at Christmas time.
@PRRMP54 posted:Some still do, the one in Dundalk has a good one every year (maybe not in 2020) for example.
Here is a list of what gardens were still open to visitors in 2020.
@Ron_S posted:My wife is from Baltimore/Catonsville area and remembers going to see the gardens with her Dad at Christmas until we got married in 1979 and seldom back at Christmas time.
Small world Ron.. I grew up in Catonsville on Glenwood Ave in the 50s with plenty of train gardens to visit. The fire station in Catonsville had quite a train garden. The 50s were a great time to grow up in Catonsville.
@PRRMP54 posted:Some still do, the one in Dundalk has a good one every year (maybe not in 2020) for example.
The one in Dundalk is at the Wise Ave. Fire Station. It is a terrific HUGE layout ( all o gauge ) with many trains running simultaneously on several levels. The layout changes each year too. Many replicas of Baltimore landmarks are included as well. I've seen this layout many times over the years and plan to go back again! The admission for many years has been $1.00 per person. Thousands of folks come to see this layout every year. The fireman always do an outstanding job each year!!
Also in the Baltimore area ... the Ellicott City Volunteer Fire Dept. also does a very nice train garden each Christmas season. While not as large as the Wise Ave. garden, this Christmas garden has certainly become very popular over the years and certainly won't disappoint.
Wild Mary,
She was a late 50's child born in 58 living just off route 40. The area has changed a lot over the years, her parents both passed away in the 80's so our ties have been dwindling. All her cousins live in the Frederick area so we spend time there when do visit.
I have her fathers #33 standard gauge trains from when he was a kid, still running. Many of the traditions, Saurkraut on mashed potatoes with gravy, crab cakes, scrapple and vinegar on french fries are a few of the things she keeps going, though our kids and grandkids are skeptical of all but the crab cakes.
I have a write up that I give to the very few who visit my Christmas garden. The first line reads "this is basically an "O" scale Christmas garden wherein the fun is watching trains go round in circles". I have been building it for about 20 years, and it is mostly complete. It is 2 rail and is 29 X 51 feet in size.
The last paragraph of my write up states "much to the chagrin of my compatriots my intent is to fully cover the passenger station tracks with a facsimile of New York's original Pennsylvania Station built to 1/4 inch scale.
Due to the tracks being covered folks claim "you won't be able to see anything". To the contrary I will be able to see EVERYTHING from the words "Chemical Corn Exchange Bank" on a 7th Avenue window of Pennsylvania Station to "East Gate" and "West Gate" at the concourse stairways.
The last sentence of my write up says "always look back indeed - but better yet go back. I think this Christmas garden serves that purpose."
Years ago I worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Steam Locomotive Corporation of America (Ross Rowland). As you can surmise my true interest is real trains but O scale is a reasonable substitute.
Some of our Christmas gardens are more complex than others but around Baltimore they are still Christmas gardens. Yes, I do have two Christmas trees on my layout - one at the front of my post office and one at an area in front of my model of Gimbel's department store.
I’ve never heard it referred to as a Christmas garden, but the term train garden is very popular (I’m in central MD). Even though I didn’t go, it looked like the White Marsh fire station had a nice layout last year.
A lot of places in the Baltimore/Washington/Delaware area still have "Christmas Train Gardens" each year (several fire stations, some of the shopping malls, etc). And a lot of people open their homes to visitors to see their layouts/train gardens at Christmas time. Around the beginning of November, start checking the link that Wild Mary posted.
I am amazed by the interest in this thread.
For all you want to know, and more, visit this website, http://www.wvmgrs.org/TrainGardens.htm
At the beginning of that post there is a 2000 article from the Baltimore Sun which is excellent.
Its title is Tracking Down a Seasonal Baltimore Phenomenon (Baltimore City Paper 2000)
Happy Holidays!
While my older family members do use the terms "Train Garden" & "Christmas Train Garden", they have never been my preferred terms for Christmas train displays...
This is because "Garden Trains" or "Garden Railroad" usually refers to G-scale trains that are in an actual outdoor garden. G-scale trains are the first thing that puts up when you google those terms.
Growing up in Baltimore they were always Christmas Gardens. My aunts, uncles, you name it lived in row houses. At Christmas time they would clear out the parlor for enough room to put up the platform for the Christmas Garden. Most were standard gauge with many German made figures and accessories.
My wife is half Irish and half German, depending on the topic, she got the best or worst part of each parent. She does tolerate my hobby and enjoys that I run trains with my grandkids.
Her neighborhood on Stamford road off route 40 was mixed, Italian, Polish, German and Irish families. A half dozen stay in touch to this day and visit when one of us is in the others town. They all remember fondly the train gardens of Christmas. My wife just fails to understand it CAN be year round instead of just the holidays. Many of her family friends lived in row houses, and one of our first dates was at the old memorial stadium to watch the "O's" when Cal Ripkin was a rookie.
