All aboard! It’s the Highlandtown Train Garden. And it’s here, at Engine House No. 41.
“Part of the tradition of having a train garden, which is normally put around the Christmas tree, is to have action, movement,” says volunteer Terry Maillar.
It’s a slice of Baltimore history. The street scenes in the train garden stretch from Highlandtown to Hampden. So, you’ll see some familiar places, like the Natty Boh building, Goetz’s candy factory, and Haussner’s department store.
There’s also the Patterson Park gazebo, with a not-so-little guest, King Kong.
Train lovers like Maillar, Doug Campbell, and Mary Covacevich put on this holiday display for the community. Maillar has been with it since it started in 2009.
“We love to do it,” Maillar says. “It’s a holiday tradition. Train gardens were very big in the firehouse. And it’s a labor of love. I’ve been doing trains ever since I was born. And all these ah other volunteers with me, we just love doing it.”
There are replicas of freight trains, commuter trains, and trolleys. No detail has been spared, from salt boxes sprinkled around the neighborhoods. To marathon runners throwing their water cups in the air.