Features

MELISSA KOSSLER DUTTON For The Associated Press

At holiday time, trains whiz through Richard Kloewer’s yard, past the lighted evergreen trees, dolls, teddy bears, even a miniature Harley Davidson display.

click image to enlarge

Richard Kloewer shows off his trains set up for a holiday display outside his home in Englewood, Colo.

ap photos

click image to enlarge

A train set up for a holiday display runs outside the home of Richard Kloewer in Englewood, Colo.

ap photo

Select images available for purchase in the
Times Leader Photo Store

SEE SOME TRAINS

Want to get some ideas for your own garden train display? Or just for how to set up the trains that run inside your house? Check out:

• The Whistle Stop Train Show & Sale. Electric trains can be bought, sold or swapped, and running model-railroad layouts will be on display at the Woodward Fire Hall, Route 220, Williamsport. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. tomorrow. $3, with children younger than 12 admitted free. 570-326-4280.

• Koziar’s Christmas Village. Amid this dazzling valley set aglow by more than a half-million lights is a hand-crafted outdoor train display. 782 Christmas Village Road, Bernville. 6 to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 5:30-9:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday through Jan 3. $8, $7 seniors, $6 children. 610-488-1110.

• The Pennsylvania Christmas and Gift Show, one of the largest holiday shows in the country, always offers model-train displays. 9 a.m.-8 p.m. today and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. tomorrow at the Farm Show Complex, North Cameron and Maclay streets, Harrisburg. 717-233-5100 or pachristmasshow.com.

• The Olde Time Christmas Celebration in downtown Jim Thorpe. A model-train display is one of the traditional offerings. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. today and tomorrow and Dec. 12 and 13. 325-5810 or jimthorpe.org.

“I don’t want to disappoint anybody,” said Kloewer of Englewood, Colo.

Kloewer is one of many garden railway enthusiasts who share their hobby with friends and strangers alike. Each year, he and his wife, Alice, turn their yard into a winter wonderland showcasing 10 trains, more than 35,000 lights and 80 Christmas houses, and they open it to the public between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.

Kloewer, who created his first over-the-top holiday display 27 years ago, added the trains in 1998.

Garden railroading, which began in England about 150 years ago, is the fastest-growing segment of model railroading, said Marc Horovitz, editor of Garden Railways Magazine, based in Waukesha, Wis.

Developing a permanent, outdoor layout for the trains, which are a bit larger than the popular indoor Lionel trains, requires some knowledge about the plants around which the tracks wind, Horovitz said. Hobbyists must consider how the plants will grow and how that will affect the scenes they construct.

Donald and Jane Nute installed a train in their backyard 10 years ago because they thought it would enhance their garden. A few times a year, they invite the public and members of their garden railway club to their Athens, Ga., home for an open house.

The Nutes have enjoyed figuring out what types of plants work best with their railroad. They use a lot of miniature plants to complement the scale of the train cars.

“It’s an interesting aspect of gardening,” said Donald Nute.

In addition to learning about new plants, he has had to create a layout that can withstand various kinds of weather. Most garden railway train operators leave their buildings and track outside year-round, and that requires more maintenance than indoor layouts need.

“Indoor railroaders use techniques to make buildings look weathered,” Nute said. “We have to deal with weather.”

Professional gardens, too, have come to see garden railways as a way to enhance a visitor’s experience, said Madeline Quigley, spokeswoman for the American Public Garden Association in Kennett Square, Penn.

“It brings kids to nature,” she said. “It allows us to tell the story with families that bring their kids to the gardens.”

Botanical gardens and conservatories in New York City; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio, and other cities routinely set up a holiday train display. The trains draw attention to the plant life and other exhibits at the gardens, Quigley said. They often rely on local garden railway clubs to set up and run the displays.

“It’s a perfect fit for public gardens,” she said. “That’s why it’s become a tradition for so many gardens.”

Gary Martin spends an hour a day working on his railway in Tucson, Ariz. His layout features 250 miniature structures and about 750 figures. He divides his time between painting and maintaining the buildings and figures, and trimming and tending the plants along the track.

He and his wife, Peggy, a master gardener, have always had an extensive garden. Installing the train gave them a new way to enjoy the pursuit.

“I have it because it adds to the garden,” he said. “I would not be in the railroading hobby if it weren’t for the garden.”