Garden railroads put toy trains into living scenery. The track, trains and buildings are made from noncorrosive materials and are meant to stay outdoors. The Showcase railroad, open through May 20, is a collaboration between the Arzates, who own Marisol's Nursery in Sunland, which specializes in unusual plants, and Dave Lannom of Claremont, who lent the trains, track and buildings. Lannom has his own outdoor railroad at home and happens to head the respected horticulture department at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, so he also knows his plants. Arzate tried to use plants that are genuinely and naturally small.
Trees are crucial to a garden railroad, giving it scale and believability.
Lowe was not a gardener when he started laying tracks. Sharon only helps by occasionally bringing home plants she thinks will be useful, or by offering nuggets of gardening wisdom. At the Showcase garden, Arzate used the naturally dwarf Melaleuca incana and a new dwarf olive named 'San Fernando' as small trees. Another popular tree is the dwarf Alberta spruce. At his own railroad, Lannom can point out a forest of Alberta spruces that he and his wife Julie found half-price after Christmas one year.