Fire Museum of Maryland's Train Garden brings Baltimore area holiday tradition to families

LUTHERVILLE, Md. — The Fire Museum of Maryland's Train Garden in Lutherville continues a Baltimore holiday tradition that dates back more than a century, capturing imaginations with its whimsical displays and deep roots in the area's firefighting history.

"Train gardens were brought to America by German immigrants in the mid-1800s and it became a thing in the greater Baltimore area and train gardens became associated with firehouses," said Amy Landsman, media relations director for the Fire Museum of Maryland.

"The firefighters had some free time. They would put together these big train gardens."

The Fire Museum on York Road in Lutherville has continued that tradition since the mid-1980s. What started as one small table has grown into an elaborate display where multiple trains wind thro