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.

A Tour of the New Additions

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

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.

A Swimming Pool in the Garden!

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

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.

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, 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd 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.

Two Great Raffle Prizes at the Train Garden

If you purchase a raffle ticket at the Train Garden you can win one of two great prizes. One is an HO train set and the other is a Raven Basket filled with Raven items such as a blanket, wallet, mug and 8 more items. This basket was created by Rob Hoehn. A big thank you to you Rob!

2014 Grand Opening!

Rain & cold couldn't dampen the spirits of Highlandown's families as they joined in the celebration of the opening of this year's Highlandtown Train Garden. 

Baltimore City Fire Chief Ford was on hand to push the button to start up the trains.  Following a welcome by Chris Ryer of the SECDC and with a little help from Santa, the trains began to roll.  

The evening was filled with great music, sounds of train whistles and a huge crowd full of mesmerized children and adults. 

If you missed the opening, there's still plenty of time to visit the train garden this season.  

See you soon at the Conkling Street Fire House! 

Thank You Sponsors!

Friday night, Dec. 5th, The Train Garden Committee welcomed this year's local business and community leaders who signed on as official sponsors of the 2014 Highlandtown Train Garden. 

 The sponsors were treated to a sneak preview of the train garden and some great cookies made by train garden committee volunteer, Carol Hartke. 

 The sponsors and their families took plenty of photos and had fun spotting their business names on billboards and store fronts in the garden.  We could not have done it without you, sponsors!  Thank you so much!

Highlandtown Train Garden Moving Day

On November 22, 2014 the Highlandtown Train Garden was moved from its storage area at Our Lady of Pompei Catholic Church to the Fire House at 520 S. Conkling St. There it will be open for visitors on the days indicated on this blog. Several members of the Train Garden Committee worked for several hours to make the move. Thanks to all who helped.

It Is Almost Ready

Bernie Deasel, Terry Maillar, George Lambillotte, and Ted Baccala have all worked diligently in getting the Train Garden ready for its move to the Fire House on Saturday, November 22, 2014. As can be seen by the photos the final touches are being made and the related materials are being boxed.

 

The Request For Train Garden Sponsors

On Monday, October 20 several members of the Train Garden committee met to prepare Train Garden sponsorship letters. The members worked for over three hours addressing, stuffing, and preparing for mailing over 250 letters. It is hoped that the number of sponsors will be similar to last year's number and possibly exceed the number this year. Thanks to all who helped and especially to Nancy Supik for her hospitality and her hard work for getting the materials ready for this meeting.

A Frozen River In The Making

The Train Garden engineers - George Lambillotte, Terry Maillar, and Bernie Deasel - are working to create a frozen river with ice skaters in the Train Garden. 

The Work Has Begun

On September 18, 2014 some of the Train Garden engineers began to think about how to set up this year's Train Garden. They are Bernie Deasel, Terry Maillar, and George Lambillotte.

The Train Garden Meets To Discuss The 2014-2015 Highlandtown Train Garden

On August 26, 2014 the Highlandtown Train Garden Committee met to discuss plans for the 2014-2015 Highlandtown Train Garden. Many ideas were discussed and all the members expressed a desire to make this year's Train Garden an experience that visitors will remember for a long time.