Ho Ho Ho! It's time for the Holiday Train Show!

All aboard! Nicole and I were fortunate enough to take advantage of Bar Car Night, a special, after hours exhibit of the New York Botanical Gardens Holiday Train Show. While Nicole and I have visited the show every year since moving to the Bronx, this year had us (well, at least me) aching with anticipation.

Model Trains seem to make every Christmas a little more merry.

You see, a few months ago, Nicole was in the thick of reading Empty Mansions, a sort of documentary of copper king W.A. Clark's fabulous wealth, and its effect on his daughter, Huguette. Nicole was sharing her disbelief over the opulent splendor that was W.A. Clark's 121-room mansion. The list of amenities was truly incredible: An art room the size of a gymnasium with priceless paintings from all over the world. A $120,000 pipe organ that was built inextricably into the walls. A corkscrew marble staircase imported from Maryland. 

Clark Mansion, in its Modern Incarnation.

"Just to think," said Nicole. "An amazing building like that, right here in New York, and I've never seen it."

Clark Mansion as viewed from Central Park.

True. Very few people are old enough to remember W.A. Clark's tribute to himself on Fifth Avenue and 77th Street. My 90 year old grandmother was four years old and living in Brooklyn when the Clark Mansion met the wrecking ball. Much of the interior of the mansion was given out in W.A. Clark's will, or sold, but not every piece survived. The pipe organ now sits in a landfill in Queens; the marble staircase rests at the bottom of New York Harbor. But I politely told Nicole that she had seen W.A. Clark's mansion before.

"Where? She asked. And then I reminded her: It was just made out of plants!

960 5th Avenue as it appears today.

So once we found out about Bar Car Night, we were thrilled. The Holiday Train Show in and of itself is very exciting. It is a place where visitors can enjoy New York's finest and most iconic edifices, constructed out of leaves, berries, flowers, and twigs. Bar Car Night is a special occasion  just for grown-ups. Visitors can pay a little extra to avoid the crowds--and enjoy a complimentary drink on the house. We took advantage of Bar Car Night this past Friday, and Clark Mansion did not disappoint: it was bigger and grander than ever before. On its pedestal, the plant-based version of the old building was even taller than me. 

Despite the recent attention garnered upon Huguette Clark within the last two years, not many passers by recognized either the mansion or W.A. Clark. One woman was flummoxed when she saw the building's lifespan on the faceplate. 

"1904 to 1927?" That sure didn't last!" She shook her head and walked away. Not everyone was astute enough to read the inscriptions, however. I made the mistake of engaging conversation with somebody who was taken aback by the presentation of Pennsylvania Station.

Pennsylvania Station, in its plant-based structure.

"Wow," said a middle-aged man, as Nicole snapped a photo. "I've never seen Penn Station from the outside before."

I was only trying to be helpful when I said that the original Penn Station was demolished half a century ago. Oops.

The original Penn Station, before its untimely demolition in 1963.

"Yeah, I know, but I've never seen it from the outside before!"

Sigh. The tracks are still there, and the train's run every day as they have for over a century. But above the tracks where over half a million riders get on and off every day, sits Madison Square Garden. And its pretty hard to miss. So yeah, chances are if you have walked by 7th Avenue and 34th Street, you've seen it from the outside.

Penn Station today: Madison Square Garden atop 600,000 passengers.

Not every Bar Car Patron interaction ended in frustration. One passerby had a hard time recognizing a replica of Hell Gate Bridge (one of New York City's ten major suspension bridges). Once I referred to it as the Amtrak bridge between Queens and Randall's Island, a light bulb went off in his mind as it illuminated something he had seen before. He knew it as the bridge he sees when he drives over the Triborough Bridge.

"No wonder I couldn't recognize it [Hell Gate]; I can't drive over it!" We chuckled.

Most of the show is very recognizable. The Statue of Liberty, JFK International Airport, and just about every prominent skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan are perennial favorites. One must be patient at some of the more popular installations.

Al Khazneh, a new addition to the Holiday Train Show!

Not every model plant house at the train show is a tribute to New York's great monument, past and present. The makers of this fine art projects do like to add a new piece here and there from outside New York. This year, I was quite impressed to see Al Kazneh. Although the name may not be familiar, viewers will soon recognize its unmistakable facade from its famous appearance in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Hey, I may never get to see Petra, Jordan in my lifetime, so I'll take what I can get!

Al Khazneh, virtually unchanged after two millennia.

The New York Botanical Gardens Holiday Train Show runs through January 12th, with two more "Bar Car" exhibitions on Friday, December 20th, and Saturday, December 21st.