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Garden Railway

The first three cars of a model train.
A large, fabricated yellow flower and bee outdoors.

Garden Railway: World Pollinators

May 23 - September 30

The Morris Arboretum & Garden's beloved Garden Railway is back, and this year it's buzzing with excitement! Get ready for Garden Railway: World Pollinators, part of our new summer-long exhibition, Bees, Butterflies & Blooms: A Pollinator Paradise.

Enjoy miniature trains as they speed along a third of a mile of track and weave through a landscape dotted with spectacular sculptures of pollinators from around the globe, each crafted with incredible detail using natural materials like bark, leaves, twigs, mosses, acorns, dried flowers, seeds, and resin.

But that's not all! Alongside bees and butterflies, you'll discover lesser-known pollinators like geckos, lemurs, and possums, all beautifully represented.

About the Garden Railway

Visitors of all ages will be wowed by a third of a mile of track featuring seven loops and tunnels with fifteen different rail lines and two cable cars, nine bridges (including a trestle bridge you can walk under!), and bustling model trains, all set in the lovely garden of the Morris Arboretum & Gardens. The display and buildings are all made of natural materials – bark, leaves, twigs, hollow logs, mosses, acorns, dried flowers, seeds and stones – to form a perfectly proportioned miniature landscape complete with miniature rivers. Each building, while an exact replica of the original, is unique in its design. Philadelphia-area landmarks such as a masterpiece replica of Independence Hall are made using pine cone seeds for shingles, acorns as finials and twigs as downspouts.

A model train rides through a miniature covered bridge surrounded by greenery.

The Garden Railway is supported, in part, through the generosity of Gwen and Ed Asplundh and by a gift given in memory of Joe Shuttleworth.

“Gwen and I are very pleased to support the wonderful Garden Railway. Ever since I was a kid, I have loved trains large and small. For years, I had a large train layout in my basement. There is something very special about an outdoor railway, especially the very unusual and beautifully done railway at the Morris. I enjoy watching the trains myself, but most of all, I enjoy watching the looks of delight on the faces of the other ‘kids’ young and old.” 

–Ed Asplundh

  • A family watched a model train on an outdoor track surrounded by plants and miniature buildings.
  • A model trolley train rides through a miniature covered bridge.
    Credit: Judy Miller
  • A family watches miniature model trains on an outdoor track.
  • A miniature train runs through a miniature covered bridge.
    Credit: Judy Miller
  • Two children watch a model train ride through a miniature track.
  • A miniature circus train rides on an outdoor track.
    Credit: Rob Cardillo
  • A young boy sits on top of a man's shoulders and watched a model train ride through an miniature elevated bridge.
    Credit: Paul Meyer
  • A black miniature trains rides through a bridge made out of twigs.
    Credit: Dave Tavani
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