For this week's Mark at the Park, we are checking out the model train garden at Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha. Darran Holst, the Grounds Superintendent at Lauritzen, gave us a tour.
The model train garden is broken up in two main levels, split by a walking path. The upper level, built in 2007, has four trains running on separate tracks. Two years later, the lower level was added with another 3 trains. The trains travel through and around plants on the side of the hill, and they even go over your head on some of the layout's large bridges. The layout includes about 1,600 feet of track, so there is plenty to see!
The trains are G Scale, which is likely larger than the model trains you have at home or under your Christmas tree.
It takes extra work running trains outside in the elements. Before the trains start running each morning, the tracks are blown off to clear any debris. But being in a garden, leaves or twigs can fall onto the tracks during the day, which can cause the a train to go off the tracks. Windy days are especially busy for Holst and his team, as they continually get the trains back on the track and moving.
During heavier rain or other bad weather, the trains take the day off and stay in one of the train depots. There is an upper and lower depot which each track and train runs through on its regular route. The trains also spend the night there. The depots also house a transformer to power each train.
To help give the garden an Omaha theme, the trains have Union Pacific markings, and the tracks are lined with more than 20 recognizable buildings from around Omaha, including Woodmen and FNBO towers. Both the trains and the buildings need regular maintenance. The buildings and the train layouts were built by Applied Imagination in Kentucky.
The model train garden runs from about April through October each year. Some of the trains and buildings then head inside for the holiday show. When in season, the trains run outside from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday... and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Wednesday through Sunday. Running so many hours each week, Holst estimates each train travels the distance from Omaha to California each season!
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