Café Discovery: Holiday Train Show – public spaces

Earlier this month Debbie and I trekked to the Bronx on a very cold day, to the New York Botanical Garden, in order to see the Holiday Train Show.

I’ve got to say up front that we went because Debbie is a train fan and has a small collection of models.  We were extremely disappointed in the train portion of the train show.  But the buildings were magnificent!

Mostly, if not all organic, the historical models of New York’s architectural past were well worth the visit.

Up today are some of the public spaces.  Coming in the future will be the private dwellings, commercial enterprises, bridges, trains, and churches included in the exhibit of more than 140 models.

Clicking on the graphics will often reward you with a larger view.  

The whole thing took place in the right hand portion of the Haupt Conservatory, stylized above.

The first scene that greets the viewer consists of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty in the pool at the entrance.  Being from New Jersey it is incumbent upon me to point out that they are in Jersey waters.  🙂

The photographer apologizes at this point for her poor eyesight which probably causes some of the photos to be slightly out of focus, like the blow-up versions of the photos to the left and right.

You may note through the foliage “the line.”  There was a very large crowd, resulting in a lot of jostling for shots once inside.

From Central Park we have the Gothic Bridge (rear left), Cops’ Cot (rear right), and Music Pavilion (front right) in the above shot, as well as the Central Park Dairy, shown in the photo to the right.

Central Park, of course, is also the location of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, shown in the photo to the left.

While my photo of the Museum of Modern Art turned out to be a piece of crap, I have photos of the models of the Guggenheim, the Jewish Museum, the Rose Center (but not the American Museum of Natural History), and the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center.

Historical buildings are museums in their own right and so here are shots (left to right) of Grant’s Tomb (in Manhattan), the Queens County Farm (New York’s oldest working farm), and the Old Stone House (1699, Brooklyn).

There were government buildings such as Gracie Mansion and City Hall above (and if anyone can tell me what the fairy-tale structure in the upper right is, I’d appreciate it), Park Avenue Armory to the left, and Squad 41, to the right (between the Collectors Club (Philately Society) on the right and 167 W 23rd (now the NYC Wine Company)…the models were not usually arranged in their correct locations).  Since I am not from New York, I found that annoying, confusing, and a hindrance to identifying the structures.

What trip to The City would be complete without a stop at the New York Public Library, displayed above?  I tried to catch some of the detail in the shots exhibited to the left and right.

And that brings us to entertainment…at least I find visits to libraries vastly entertaining and reading to be no less so…so we certainly needed some shots of Coney Island.  The Luna Park Tower and ticket offices are displayed below from several vantage points, including me laying on the ground for the one in the center.

And finally, no trip to the Bronx would be complete without seeing the following structure…especially since its days are numbered.