New York Botanical Garden’s Holiday Train Show

This holiday season, the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx has the only trains in New York running without delays. The NYBG opened its 34th annual Holiday Train Show this past weekend, unveiling a seasonal landscape of model trains traveling through miniature replicas of iconic New York City landmarks.

The exhibit is built inside the glass dome of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. Visitors are greeted with the sounds of holiday music and whirring model trains that guide them through a greenhouse version of New York City. The display features nearly 200 handcrafted, snow-dusted buildings set among exotic plants.

Jennifer Bernstein, President and CEO of the New York Botanical Garden, said the train show had become synonymous with the city’s holiday season.

“We are at the point where people who came as children are now bringing their own children,” she said. “That is just a lovely thing to be able to offer.”

Even after three decades, Bernstein said the exhibit continues to evolve.

“Every year we create something new, but we also display the buildings differently,” she said. “That allows people who come back year after year to see them in a new way.”

This year’s show introduced two new additions: the Delacorte Theater and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Both pieces were designed and constructed by exhibition specialists at Applied Imagination.

Laura Busi Dolan, President and CEO of Applied Imagination, said planning for the new models began last November, and construction started in the spring.

“It was a lot of research and thought that went into the beginnings,” she said. “And then the artists take it away and run with it. There are no shortcuts to this work. It takes hundreds of hours to create buildings that size.”

Each miniature structure was built entirely from natural materials like leaves, twigs, bark and acorns. Dolan said the Whitney Museum’s modern architecture presented a unique design challenge compared to other historical buildings.

“We had to really get the form right,” she said. “We took our time making sure it could stand among all of the skyscrapers in the grand finale scene with the Manhattan skyline.”

Marcella Guerrero, the Demartini Family Curator at the Whitney, said the museum’s representation in the train show would have made the building’s original architect, Renzo Piano, proud.

“It’s really surreal to see the museum covered in plant material and bark,” she said. “It goes so well with the aesthetic of the other models.”

For Dolan, watching visitors experience the final installation remains one of the most rewarding parts of the process.

“There's something about the whole thing when it comes together that is so magical,” she said. “I show up to dirt floors and walk away with a finished product. It still gives me chills.”

The NYCB Holiday Train Show is on display in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory until January 11.

This story ran on the What’s What podcast from WFUV News on Wednesday, November 19, 2025.