Home

PLEASE NOTE: CLOSINGS

  • The Fernery will be closed on Tuesday, February 18 and Wednesday, February 19. 
  • Starting Monday, February 24, Out on a Limb, our treetop walk exhibition, will be closed until further notice. 

Garden Railway

The first three cars of a model train.
The Garden Railway is closed for the season, and will reopen in May 2025.

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
1