Baltimore in miniature at The Fire Museum of Maryland
Photos and text by Kim Hairston
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- John Palese, a volunteer at The Fire Museum of Maryland, works on the museum’s annual train garden. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- A model of the Bromo-Seltzer Tower, is part of The Fire Museum of Maryland ‘s annual train garden. The Baltimore landmark, originally known as the Emerson Tower, was built in 1911 and modeled on the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- In addition to rail lines, The Fire Museum of Maryland’s annual train garden features a Greyhound station like the 1940s era art deco former bus terminal in Baltimore. Many local businesses and landmarks are represented in the model railroad display that opens on November 26. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Holton Brown, a board member and volunteer at The Fire Museum of Maryland, works on the museum’s annual train garden. Many local businesses and landmarks are represented in the model railroad display that opens on November 26. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Jahn’s, an ice cream parlor that opened in 1897 and closed in 2007, operated in New York, New Jersey and Florida, is one of many businesses featured in The Fire Museum of Maryland’s annual train garden that opens on November 26. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- John Palese, a volunteer at The Fire Museum of Maryland, works on the museum’s annual train garden. Many local businesses and landmarks are represented in the model railroad display that opens on November 26. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- A Krispy Kreme doughnut shop with a pay phone and a police officer are part of The Fire Museum of Maryland’s annual train garden that opens on November 26. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- A model train passes by a subway entrance in the town created for The Fire Museum of Maryland’s annual train garden. Visitors will be able to see six sets of O-Guage Lionel trains running when the display opens on November 26. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- A giant wooden firefighter watches visitor to The Fire Museum of Maryland’s annual train garden from inside a horse corral. The train garden opens on November 26. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- John Palese, a volunteer at The Fire Museum of Maryland, unpacks a Lionel steam locomotive as he works on the museum’s annual train garden. Many local businesses and landmarks are represented in the model railroad display that opens on November 26. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun) (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- John Palese, a volunteer at The Fire Museum of Maryland, picks up a Lionel steam locomotive as he readies the museum’s annual train garden for the season opening on November 26. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Detail of firefighter working at a warehouse fire. The scene was built by Holton Brown, a board member and volunteer at The Fire Museum of Maryland. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- The Towson DIner, a York Road fixture since 1957, is included in The Fire Museum of Maryland’s annual train garden. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- The Palace Theatre, now the Everyman Theatre, is located in a busy area of The Fire Museum of Maryland’s train garden. The Palace was built in 1911 as the Empire Theater in Baltimore. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Alex Guerrieri, assistant curator at The Fire Museum of Maryland, watches the trains as he readies the museum’s annual train garden for its opening on November 26. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- A train crosses the eight arches of a model of the Thomas Viaduct. Named for Philip E. Thomas, the first president of the B&O Railroad and finished in 1835, the viaduct is “the world’s oldest multiple stone arched railroad bridge” as listed on Maryland’s National Register Properties. Many local businesses and landmarks are represented in The Fire Museum of Maryland’s annual train garden that opens on November 26. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- The Middle River Depot is part of The Fire Museum of Maryland’s annual train garden. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- The Male/Female sculpture by Jonathan Borofsky that stands outside Baltimore Pennsylvania Station is represented in the annual train garden at The Fire Museum of Maryland. Many local businesses and landmarks are represented in the model railroad display that opens on November 26. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- A small cemetery is included in The Fire Museum of Maryland’s annual train garden. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- A model of the original McDonald’s restaurant in The Fire Museum of Maryland’s annual train garden attracts customers. The display opens on November 26. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- John Palese, a volunteer at The Fire Museum of Maryland, works on the museum’s annual train garden. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- A model of the Bromo-Seltzer Tower, is part of The Fire Museum of Maryland ‘s annual train garden. The tower, originally known as the Emerson Tower, was built in 1911 and modeled on the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
A sure sign that the holiday season is here is the opening of train gardens around the area. The tradition started in the late 1800s with Moravian immigrants who would set up a nativity scene in their homes and changed over the years to a more secular one featuring buildings, landscapes and model trains often in firehouses.
The Fire Museum of Maryland has operated a train garden since 1986. Tom Colleran, a duty officer who also leads tours of the museum, says their type of display is an “old-fashioned Baltimore garden that I remember growing up.”
Six sets of O-Guage Lionel trains will run through the town that occupies a 10×27 foot area. This year there will be a new section of the garden where visitors can watch a fireboat working to put out a fire at the Sparrows Point Shipyard. Many local businesses and landmarks are represented in the model railroad display which opens on November 26.
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Ginny Long
Nov 20, 2016 @ 22:13:54
Is there a cost or is a donation needed for admission?
Lisa Simeone
Nov 18, 2016 @ 16:24:43
An address would be helpful. I Googled it and found 1301 York Road in Lutherville. Is that correct?