Community Corner

Vines Garden Railroad Opens To Commemorate National Train Day

The G-scale garden railroad opened the 2011 season Saturday in honor of National Train Day and will open every Sunday through the summer.

Volunteers with Vines Gardens Railroad in Loganville chose May 7, National Train Day2011, for the grand opening of the G-scale garden railroad for the summer. To the delight of children young and old, the railroad ran continuously from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday with engines Percy and Thomas from Thomas and Friends hot favorites with the younger set.

“The children wouldn’t let us take those two engines off the tracks,” said volunteer engineer Richard Bayliss. “We have so many other engines but those were the only two they were interested in.”

The G-scale railroad at  features more than 1,000 feet of track, a 25-foot bridge, tunnels and viaducts, towns and villages, including an airport and a replica of the Atlanta Terminal Station. It is set in a garden setting with picnic tables and walking trails. Enthusiasts with their own G-scale engines can bring them to run on the tracks.

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“We have a website that gives all the information and the history of the railroad,” said volunteer engineer Lawrence McFall. “There’s also a video that gives a lot of information on the railroad.”

According to Wikipedia, National Train Day was started by Amtrak in 2008 to educate the general public about the history of trains in the U.S. as well as to let them know about the benefits of rail travel. It is held on the Saturday closest to May 10 every year to commemorate May 10, 1869, the day that marked the completion of the first transcontinental railroad. Events are held across the country at Amtrak stations, railroad museums and at model railroad layouts such as Vines Gardens Railroad.

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Saturday’s festivities in honor of National Train Day in Gwinnett included hot dogs and crafts for the kids as well as ice cream sandwiches, but it was the trains that held most of the allure for those in attendance.

Walking trails were also open for families to walk through the gardens, but many of the bridges have been closed off because of safety concerns. The 90-acre estate, once the home of Charles and Myrna Adams, was donated to Gwinnett County in 1997 on condition it always remain a park. The gardens were once botanical gardens but no longer carry that distinction. However, the county maintains the gardens and walking trails. The old manor house is leased out for private functions, including concerts on the lawn. Gwinnett County officials have said there are plans to expand the park to utilize more than the 15 acres currently in use, but those plans depend on future funding.

The Vines Gardens Railroad is run separately by a group of volunteers. The G-scale railroad was first built on the property in 1998 but was forced to close for a while. In 2003, McFall and a group of county officials negotiated re-opening of the railroad.

For the 2011 season, Vines Garden Railroad will be open to the public from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays (weather permitting and excluding public holidays). Sept. 25 will be the last day of operation, after which the railroad will close for the winter months.


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