trains!!!!

Going back over my blogging during the last two years or so, I see that I have had several posts with train references.

While not as obsessed with trains as I am with photography, I ~do~ love the idea of traveling long distances via the rails. My husband works for Amtrak and I hope that one day before he retires we can take a long train ride and enjoy the scenery without the hassles of driving.

I recently posted about our visit to the New Orleans Botanical Gardens where we discovered an incredible section devoted to a small model train town centered around the City of New Orleans. I've finally taken the time to look at the pictures (we stayed near home this weekend due to my aggrivating my bursitis) and pictures from that visit follows.

But first some other train-centric pictures I've discovered while traveling through my picture archives.

as always, click on the pictures to see full-sized versions

We attended our first Gretna Fest last year and loved it! While walking around the grounds of the festival (which is huge and spacious, unlike a lot of fests), we came across this beauty


A genuine steam engine.











We also encounter remnants of trains from an earlier time every time we bike the Tammany Trace in St. Tammany Parish.




This old pole is assumed by us to be used by the train employees to hang mailbags or change signals.




One Saturday a few years ago we discovered a model train display at the Covington Trailhead of the Tammany Trace. I must admit that as a lover of doll houses as a child I was blown away at the details of this display. Check it out.















Here are two pictures taken in 2004 of an abandoned train in Abita Springs:








I think the Train Garden within the Botanical Gardens at City Park is so intricate and beautiful. From their website:

The Train Garden, located inside the Botanical Garden, features buildings made entirely of botanical materials in a layout approximating the layout of the city itself. As visitors walk on a pathway representing the water surrounding New Orleans, they overlook over 1,300 feet of track carrying streetcars and trains like those that traveled the city in the late 1800s to early 1900s, at 1/22 of their actual size.

We took so many pictures of the Train Garden! I apologize for the number of pictures shown here, but they represent a fraction of what this beautiful showcase to the city offers.

Do take half a day to stroll through the Botanical Gardens and at least half an hour for the Train Garden.

Without further ado, here are my offerings.

First the signs dedicated to the different sections of New Orleans. Each sign gives a brief history of the particular neighborhood.























Now on to photos of the buildings and trains. I was amazed by details of the architecture of the buildings.