Saturday, December 26, 2015

The Highlandtown Train Garden Has A New Record

The Highlandtown Train Garden has has more visitors this year than in any other previous 6 years. Last year a total of 4274 visitors saw the Train Garden. This year as of Saturday, December 26 a total of 4968 persons have come to see.it. And there are still 8 more days before the Train Garden closes this year.

Students From Surrounding Schools Visit the Train Garden

Students from schools # 47, #215, #237, John Ruhrah # 228, Archbishop Borders, the Patterson Park Public Charter School and St. Casimir visited the Train Garden on December 8, 10, 15, 16, and 17. The students ranged from preK to 5th Grade. Actually a total of 1053 students saw the Train Garden this year. Below are two pictures showing their enthusiasm and wonder at the Train Garden.












Friday, December 11, 2015

Jacques Kelly Makes A Visit to the Highlandtown Train Garden

On Wednesday, November 25, Jacques Kelly, the well-known columnist for the Baltimore Sun, visited the Highlandtown Train Garden. There he spoke to train garden volunteers Joe Manfre and Terry Maillar. He took many pictures and reminisced about the tradition of train gardens in the area. His article about the Highlandtown Train Garden appeared in the Baltimore Sun on Saturday, November 28, 2015.  Below is the link to the article.

In Highlandtown, All Aboard to Renew Baltimore's Train Garden Love Affair


Wednesday, December 2, 2015

The Highlandtown Train Garden is on the Move

On Saturday, November 21, 2015 the Highlandtown Train Garden was moved from its storage space at Pompei to Engine House # 41. There for several days the engineers prepared the train garden for its opening on Saturday, November 28. Many hours of hard work have created a fascinating and community-oriented train garden. Please stop by to see it. For more information visit our web site - www.highlandtowntraingarden.com.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Final Highlandtown Train Garden Meeting Held




Decisions were made. Suggestions were heard. Chris Ryer, Terry Maillar, Carol Hartke, Ted Baccala, Scott Eggleston, Dennis Moore, Kelly Carpenter, Virginia Green, and Joe Manfre were present.


Moving day will be Saturday, November 21, 2015. Before this day volunteers are needed to pack the materials and get the platforms ready.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Getting Ready for the Highlandtown Train Garden Opening Day on November 28, 2015

Work on the Train Garden is progressing as can be seen in the pictures below. Also shown are several members of the Train Garden committee - Terry, Ellen, Carol, Joe (not pictured) and Molly (not pictured) getting the sponsor letters ready to be sent out.



Monday, October 12, 2015

A Tour of the New Additions

Play the video to see the new additions to the
Highlandtown Train Garden for this year.

Monday, September 14, 2015

Highlandtown Train Garden Committee Meets



On Wednesday, September 9, 2015 the Highlandtown Train Garden Committee met at Our Lady of Pompei Church, where the Train Garden is stored, to begin making plans for this year's train garden. Those present were Chris Ryer, Amanda Scott-Peters. Scott Peters, Nancy Supik, Carole Hartke, Frank Borowski, George Lambilotte, Scott Eggleston, Ted Baccala, Terry Maillar, and Joe Manfre. The new amusement park and swimming pool as pictured above were shown to the committee. The committee members will meet again in early October.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

A Swimming Pool in the Garden!

Work is continuing on building a swimming pool in the train garden.


Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Work Has Begun



For the past several weeks the "engineers" have been busy preparing new ideas for the 2015-2016 Highlandtown Train Garden. Two of the new attractions will be a swimming pool and fireworks. As can be seen from the pictures above Terry Maillar, Scott Eggleston, and George Lambillotte (not pictured) are preparing for these and other attractions for the new season.


Thursday, January 15, 2015

Moving Day for the Train Garden – Saturday, January 10, 2015


On Saturday, January 10 the Train Garden was moved from the Fire House to the library area at Our Lady of Pompei Church building at Conkling St and Clarmont Ave.  The workers and volunteers carefully transferred the platforms and all the boxes that contained items from the Train Garden to the church. There the Train Garden will lie until later this year when the volunteers will begin planning and building the 2015-2016 Highlandtown Train Garden.





This Year the Train Garden Had More Visitors, Students, Sponsorships, and Donations (including the Raffle)


The Train Garden Committee wants to thank the visitors, students and sponsors who helped to make this year a success. Also, thanks to all the volunteers who spent hours helping out at the Train Garden. There were 4274 visitors, of which 1048 were students, 45 sponsors, including local businesses and associations, who donated $4475, and donations at the Train Garden totaled $3250. Volunteers donated 1254 hours performing various tasks related to the Train Garden.The income from this year’s Train Garden will be used to make next year’s garden more exciting and successful. The Baltimore City Fire Department and the Fire Fighters at Fire House # 41 supported the Train Garden again this year. 

And The Highlandtown Train Garden Raffle Winners Are...


On Saturday, January 3, 2015 at around 4:45 pm the raffle went off and the two winners were selected. Adam Bartholow from Parkville won the Ravens’ Basket, which was donated by Rob Hoehn, and Isaac Norris won the Train Set. Pictured below is three year old Isaac with his father and Adam . Congratulations!

WJZTV Visits the Highlandtown Train Garden on December 17, 2014


Mike Schuh from WJZTV visited the Train Garden early on Wednesday’s morning to do a live interview at the Train Garden. Bernie Deasel, Terry Maillar, and Joe Manfre came there at around 5:15 am to prepare for the visit. Everything was fine except at the beginning of the interview around 6:10 am the cable went out in the area and in some surrounding counties. The interview was not seen by many. Please play the video below to view the interview. 

Students from Area Schools Visit the Train Garden


Students from Area Schools Visit the Train Garden

1048 students from seven area schools visited the Train Garden this year. PreK, K, 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade students walked in cold and sometimes rainy and snowy weather to visit the Train Garden. All seemed to enjoy not only the Train Garden but also the Fire Engine and the Firefighters whom they saw at  Fire House # 41. They became very excited when the Fire Engine went on a call
with its horn and siren blaring.

Music at the Highlandtown Train Garden


On Saturday, December 13 Katie Long and Bob Dietzen performed at the Train Garden. Katie sang a little song about the Train Garden and both performed some Christmas songs and other familiar tunes. The crowd at the Train Garden enjoyed the musical performance. On Sunday, December 14 Nancy Supik on the concertina, Linda Valle on the fiddle and Gerry Cohee on the guitar played traditional Christmas carols. The visitors at the Train Garden greatly enjoyed both performances.  A short video of Nancy and her group and Katie and Bob's performances are below.