Terrapin
Station was seen by over 9,000 visitors at the 2015 Flower Show in Portland,
Maine. It had 21 different species of plants and was part of the floral
competition. Richard Young from the Maine Garden Railway Society has been
bringing trains to the Flower Show for the last four years. For this event he
was offered a larger space at short notice. He chose a typical back yard with a
scenic garden railway. There is a central patio with comfortable furniture and
a Big Green Egg for grilling & cooking. One corner has a working hot tub on
a patio with a small bar. The garden railway wraps around the central patio
through a village, farm and hills. The most frequent train was the Amtrak
Genesis with four passenger cars. It looks like the Amtrak Downeaster, well
known by sight and whistle to children of all ages in Southern Maine.
The 350’ of
track was powered by BridgeWerks Magnum 15-SRM Controller and their UR-15
Remote Control. Motive power is an Amtrak Genesis with Zimo sound card and
rolling stock is four Amfleet coaches. The bridge is a 20’ kit from Carl
Wedekman.
Construction
began with placing paving blocks upright in the track pattern shown above. Then
the central and hot tub patios were laid, followed by landscape fabric outside
the patio areas. Twelve cubic yards of mulch were used to fill the layout. Next
the rail bed was ballasted so track could be laid, connected and powered.
Finally, the outside border was done with about a ton of rock. Trees, plants,
and flowers go in the day before opening, once the loading doors are closed and
heat turned on.
The creation
of this display from decision to opening in a single week was made possible by
exhibitors who generously provided materials for Terrapin Station. They include
hardscape from Blue Rock Stone Center, a hot tub and Big Green Egg ceramic
cooker from Mainely Tubs, and trees from O’Donal’s Nursery Garden Center.
Paul Corbett, another member of the Maine Garden Railway Society, provided the
buildings and figures that helped bring the layout to life. Thankfully some of
his buildings were not buried under all the snow here! A time lapse
video of the setup of the 2015 Portland, Maine Flower Show can be seen at http://www.pressherald.com/media/video/time-lapse-setting-portland-flower-show/ Terrapin Station appears in the top
of the overhead camera shots.
Plant List
Tulip
Juniper
Norway Spruce
Dwarf Mountain Pine
Scrub Pine
False Cypress
White Spruce
Juniper
Japanese Spurge
Heather
Succulents
Juniper
White Spruce
Cyclamen
Gerbera
Lobelia
Heuchra
Barren Strawberry
Cypress
Dwarf Alberta Spruce
1 comment:
That's an amazing amount of work to be done in just one week! Congratulations on a nice job. It's a nice feeling to share the hobby with the public.
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