Now through September 3rd, you can view the Vanderbilt Travels Railway exhibit in the Antler Hill Village on the grounds of the Biltmore Estate. This model train display highlights the travels of George Vanderbilt and all of the architectural creations from the display are made from leaves, twigs and other natural materials.
The entire outdoor exhibit was created by Applied Imagination who are nationally known award-winning, artists, botanical architects, and landscape designers based in Kentucky. Along with the Vanderbilt Travels Railway exhibit, they’ve created many other public garden exhibits and garden railways. You can check out their Exhibition Schedule if you’re interested in seeing more of their work beyond the Biltmore exhibition.
During our visit to the exhibition, we had our only rain shower of the day. Despite the rain the exhibit was filled with young families and it was so amazing to see how the children interacted with the exhibit and how excited they would get every-time one of the trains would come around the bend. (One of which was a Thomas the Train.) If you’re looking for an exhibit to keep the littles happy before your visit to the Big House, then this is definitely a stop you need to make.
The following sites from the Vanderbilt’s travels were included in the exhibit: Biltmore Passenger Station, Pisgah National Forest Entry Gate, Vanderbilt Mansion (Hyde Park New York), Windmill & Three Classic Canal House Façades, Eiffel Tower, Arc De Triomphe, Tower Bridge and the USS Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt Mansion (Hyde Park New York)
Windmill
Three Classic Canal House Facades
Eiffel Tower
Me being ‘cheesy’ in front of the Eiffel Tower. This is the closest that I’ve been to the real thing, but hopefully not for too much longer. You can see from the ground that we were dealing with quite the downpour before and during our time in the exhibit, but I think with the exception of the sludge underfoot the rain gave the whole experience a more magical feel.
Arc de Triomphe
Tower Bridge
The Vanderbilt Travels Railway exhibit is included with your admission, so I would definitely recommend a trip to Asheville for both this and the Chihuly exhibition.
I would love to see that!