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Spectacular Text and Photos by Peter Wine
You see, my first trip with Paul (in November of 2000,) was to help create a holiday garden railroad in a courtyard at the Chicago Botanic Gardens, and this time we’re building a temporary garden railroad that will be part of an exhibit at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show. Because I’m going to be staying
in Chicago after the rest of the crew goes back to the Applied Imagination
workshop in Alexandria (Kentucky,) I decided to take a bus to Cincinnati,
where Brian (Busse) picked me up. Brian lives in the area, so he knew well
how to get to the bus station, but had to think a minute about how to get
back on the highway to go to Alexandria to meet up with the Busse caravan
(3 pickups with 3 trailers.) For me, it was a case of going south to get north, but it worked very well. Soon, the trucks were gliding along the highway, and with a quick stop at a White Castle, we pulled up at the motel in good time. So good, in fact, that we weren’t sure what time it was. It’s amazing how quickly you can lose your bearings, and when you think you’ve changed time zones (Eastern to Central,) and your clock is the same as the one on the lobby wall, it’s disconcerting. It turns out that the cell phones we were using for reference had updated to Chicago time, and that’s why they were the same. (Isn’t technology wonderful?) So we brought in our bags and got ready for dinner. The clerk at the motel recommended a restaurant in the neighborhood, and it was a good choice. Because we want to be at the Navy Pier at 7 am, it was early to bed, and early to rise. One of the issues I have as one of Paul’s temporary workers is that I’m not as knowledgeable about the details of what’s to come as I’d like. But the advantage is that the first day can feel like Christmas when all of the buildings are unloaded. Paul’s crew at the workshop has spent a lot of time getting them ready, and they look terrific.
Leaves are often used as roofing material, or in the case of the library, for adornments on top of the roof. The people who work with Paul are truly artisans, not just builders. We’ve also brought along about
4 tons of what’s called cedar scrap. (People that work with cedar for
chests and furniture don’t like the bark, so the planks that have bark
attached are sold off as scrap.) There’s also a ton or two of decorative
rocks. This isn’t Paul’s first experience with a flower show. Working with the Camden (New Jersey) Children’s Garden, where Paul has another garden railroad installed, they took Best In Show from one group, and Award of Merit from another. The exhibit was one of two garden railroads at that show. The other was created on a trailer bed for Bachmann Trains, and they use it at various events around the country, and it, too, was from the workshop of Applied Imagination. Day 2 began at 5am (local time,) as we got up and ready to go by six. We left in the pre-dawn light, and watched the sun come up over Lake Michigan on the way to the Navy Pier.
Upon our arrival at the Pier we
found we had to go up a ramp in order to pull into the festival hall, and
we were required to pull in only one truck at a time to unload. First in was the truck with the 4 tons of cedar. These were put into four piles, two each on two corners. These were used most of the day to build optical walls. What is an optical wall? It’s what appears to those on the outside to be a wall, but isn’t built for support of something on top or behind. It’s more of a visual barrier, which helps separate different scenes that will be created over the next 4 days.
It’s quite a sight. During the day, we had teams all over the area. First, we had teams that were assembling track sections, into predetermined shapes (as indicated on the plan.)
Then, another crew went around
with a screw gun and screwed support pieces to the bottom of the track
sections. But holding it up was only half the battle. So they also created
what look a bit like a teepee support at strategic spots to keep it from
moving in any direction until the full support system was in place. The next step was to begin building the walls. There were two teams of ‘wall builders.’ Each team had a person who held the cedar plank in place while the other used the air gun to nail them in place. I was the third person on the team: the one who brought the pieces from the pile to the work site, keeping the other two busy.
By my working quickly from time
to time, I was able to build up a large ‘palette’ for the others to
choose from, and step away for a few minutes to take some pictures for you
to enjoy. It was a win-win for everybody until my back started to hurt from the strain. I guess that my almost 49 year old body isn’t quite as used to this as it once was. Oh, well, a hot shower, and I’ll be ready to do it again tomorrow. (Really, I will.) The Chicago Flower Show is held at the Navy Pier, and it’s amazing the contrasts you find as you go through an average day here.
After a break for lunch (and for
me, a walk up and down the pier for some pictures,) work kept up until
almost 6, and then we put away all the tools, and headed back to the motel
for a bite to eat and a good night’s sleep. Day 3. OUCH! I awoke this morning to a new sensation of pain. Paul’s truck is a bit off the ground, and the combination of getting in and out of the back seat, and the concrete floor of the festival hall has really caused my ankle to swell. While getting dressed, I decide to take an extra Naproxin to reduce the inflammation, and it works wonders. By the time we get to the Pier, I’m all ready to go.
Sue said she is looking for a picture "that screams Chicago," and is creative. I do my best, but since Paul wasn’t ready to put buildings or trains out, there wasn’t much to work with.
I got up on a ladder and took a picture of the best looking (read less under construction) area, then I took pictures of several of the buildings that were over along the wall, and put them in boxes underneath. I got done with it about 11:30 pm, and was about to send it to Sue, and then realized that I never did get her email address. I tried to go to the Chicago Botanic Garden web site, but the computer didn’t cooperate. Since I wasn’t all that enthused about this picture, I decided not to call her, and got the email address the next day.
One of the biggest projects is dirt. The dirt was stored at the other end of the hall, and transported to the railroad by mini-bulldozers. In some areas, they dump it, and it gets spread around (here by a retaining wall.) In other places, dirt gets transported one bucket at a time. Another major project was the creation of the stream. At just under 100 feet, this is a grand undertaking!
To make it happen, just about everybody got together to fold and move the 100 foot of liner into place inside the "stream bed." Then the "bucket
brigade" kicked it up a notch, and the buckets were filled with the
small rocks that went on the bottom of the stream. When the bottom was full, they began to place the larger rocks along the edges, and every once in a while in the middle to help it look like a natural stream.
During the day as some of the buildings were brought over, I got pictures of both Chicago
Botanic Garden staff and Applied Imagination staff getting the buildings
ready, so at the end of the day, at least I had some shots I could send
Sue for press releases. In some ways, my favorite time of the day is lunch. It’s the time I get to go outside and see a small slice of Chicago life at the Pier.
By the time everybody is done planting, it is estimated that there will be more than 5,000 plants used. (Over 2,000 yellow and white Violas alone!) It is amazing to watch (though most of my watching is out of the corner of my eye while I’m planting some Violas.) Because of everyone’s dedication, it all gets done, and will be ready for the final touches (like turning on the g-scale Buckingham Fountain that Brian made.) Day 6.
I stayed to gather more pictures and help with some of the final detail work. Paul had TV interviews on Friday morning, and in the early afternoon I went out to the other gardens that had been created in the few days since we arrived. It was amazing to see how this once sterile building had come to life with 25 full size gardens for people to walk through, learn from or simply enjoy. But the buzz was clear... "have you seen the trains?" It’s just the reaction
that the Chicago Botanic Garden was hoping for, and attendance at their Junior
Railroad this summer should be right on track.
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