Where during this holiday season will you find, under one roof, a pterodactyl with a helicopter in its beak, a waterfall in a field of snow, Hollywood Hills, M&T Bank Stadium, a biker bar and four trains running around it all?

In the Engine Company 45 fire station, 2700 Glen Avenue, in Mt. Washington.

Capt. Bob Scarpati and his firefighters are setting up a 12-by-40-foot train garden in the bay at Greenspring Avenue, leaving just enough room for Engine 45. It's the 53rd year of the train garden, and as usual anything goes.

The garden is a mish-mash of scenes and images, from a Hollywood sign on its own imposing mound to a "Jurassic Park" scene.

The only criteria, said Scarpati, is, "We try to think of things people can relate to. You might have a carnival scene next to a dinosaur scene. That's what makes it so unique."

Two days before Thanksgiving, the garden was still a work in progress, with no trains running, only decorations, rolls of green felt everywhere and a lot of empty spaces as the firefighters took turns during their shifts to bring it to life.

"It's getting to be crunch week," said firefighter Joe Sohn, who looked like part of a scene himself as he and another firefighter knelt inside the enclosure to cut a plastic Ravens stadium down to size so it would fit.

"We all try to help out," said Sohn, a Carroll County resident who drives the station ladder truck. For last year's train garden, he and his son, Nick, 15, built an outer space scene.

The public can visit the free train garden Dec. 6 to Jan. 3, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week. Just don't expect it to make much sense.

"There's no rhyme or reason," Scarpati said.

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