The Conservatory’s Garden Railway exhibit, opening Friday. That’s the park’s McClaren Lodge in the foreground
Yesterday I got a sneak peek at this year’s miniature Garden Railway at Golden Gate Park’s Conservatory of Flowers. This annual exhibit is one of my favorite things in Golden Gate Park, and this year’s is particularly special as it celebrates the 140th anniversary of Golden Gate Park.
In the exhibit, three G-gauge model trains roll their way by many Golden Gate Park landmarks that occupy its 1,017 acres including the Japanese Tea Garden, the de Young Museum, the Music Concourse Bandshell, the California Academy of Sciences, the Stow Lake Boat House and others.
This year’s Garden Railway landmarks are designed by local trash-to-treasure artist James Sellier who works with the Artist in Residence program at the city dump; he designed the firehouse in last year’s exhibit. Sellier creates the railway’s landmarks out of recycled and repurposed materials – the blades of the Dutch Windmill are made from old rulers while McClaren Lodge incorporates pieces of an old piano. The Golden Gate Park carousel spins on an old record player, at 33rpm of course. The American flag at McClaren Lodge was created from a sock belonging to Sellier’s mother.
The Conservatory of Flowers in miniature
I met Lau Hodges, the Conservatory’s Director of Operations, who told me it takes a dedicated team of five people, including a few horticulturists, to install the exhibit over a two week period. Once the exhibition is running, it requires one to two hours of maintenance per day. And that doesn’t include watering which like any garden, parts of the exhibit need more or less water than others.
Plans for the railway are worked on months in advance, but Hodges said the final layout and finishing touches come together organically during installation. One Conservatory gardener recently came across a bag of hair from the park’s bison paddock, which they’ll be hand-glueing to the small bison figures in the exhibit’s paddock. Anything for authenticity!
The exhibit also incorporates sounds of Golden Gate Park. Listen for calliope music at the carousel, ocean sounds under the Golden Gate Bridge, and Japanese music in the Tea Garden. Hodges said they’ll even have some drum sounds in front of the Conservatory as a special tribute to the drum circle that regularly gathers out front.
The Conservatory’s horticultural staff is responsible for landscaping the Garden Railway, and this year they have the extra challenge of re-creating the park’s most famous gardens on a small scale. Using hundreds of dwarf, living plants, the exhibit includes small-scale versions of the Botanical Garden, Fuschia Dell and Rose Garden. Come spring, they’ll also add the colorful Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden to the display.
The de Young museum in miniature, made from recycled and re-purposed materials
“We are delighted to have this opportunity to share the Park’s interesting history and its enduring beauty in this really unique and fun way,” says Brent Dennis, the Conservatory’s Director. “When we realized that 2010 marked the 140th year for the Park, we just knew we had to create a special anniversary edition of our popular garden railway to celebrate. It’s a magical way to highlight the distinctive role the Park has played in the lives of generations of San Franciscans.”
In addition to the main display, there are also two smaller ones that include city landmarks from last year’s garden railway like the Ferry Building, Coit Tower, Victorian row, Transamerica Pyramid, and the Palace of Fine Arts. Kids will recognize Thomas the Tank Engine who pulls one of the trains.
The Conservatory is also offering a special “Conductor for a Day” program this year for kids (or train crazed adults!). Conductors receive a whistle and engineer’s hat and get the chance to start the Garden Railway trains that day.
Visitors can also pose for photos in front of a wall that features a railway depot background, plus learn lots of interesting facts about the history of Golden Gate Park from a large wall map. Like in 1925, when 25 bison broke free of their paddock and wandered into the Richmond and Sunset Districts (police lured them back in with food). Not all of the factoids are warm and fuzzy – the Hagiwara family that ran the park’s original Tea Garden were sent to a WWII internment camp in 1942.
Conservatory of Flower patrons get the first look at the Garden Railway during the annual Gala tonight. It then opens to the public this Friday and runs until March 13, 2011. Access to the Garden Railway is included with a regular Conservatory admission ticket.
This is a wonderful exhibition – be sure to check it out!
Sarah B.
The park’s Dutch Windmill with blades made from recycled rulers
Victorian row houses in one of the side exhibits, made from cereal boxes. That’s Thomas the Tank
Engine pulling the train.
A map filled with fun facts about Golden Gate Park’s 140 year history
The train depot backdrop where visitors can pose for photos
This is absolutely amazing! Hope I can find a day off and pay a visit. Thanks for sharing this, I’m sure my husband and in-laws would love to see this next month.
This looks interesting. I love working with flowers and plants and am interested in art too. I’ll certainly visit when I am next in San Francisco.
James’s recycled DeYoung Museum is brilliant.
This is definitely one of the San Francisco highlights and should not be missed. The use of recycable materials in the construction is fascinating. Thank you for the good review. I’m definitely taking my grandchildren to see it.