Barry Altman is the Manager of the Meaford and District Chamber of Commerce, but he’s also the chief designer, architect and engineer; head landscaper; and station master of the Radish Bahn Railway. If you’re a Swiss rail traveller, the name might ring a bell – but we’re not talking about the Rhatische Bahn, the dramatically scenic Swiss rail network. The Radish Bahn railroad winds around the beautiful gardens of Barry and Bonnie Altman’s heritage home in downtown Meaford.

A remarkable feat of engineering and passion, the “G” scale (or garden-scale) railway features multiple tracks (and trains), Swiss farms, stations, houses, and an operating cable car system. (Oh, yes, there’s also a castle guarded by a ferocious dragon!). The scale is 1:22.5, so the denizens of this magical world stand around 3″ high. A total of 590 feet of track runs through an area roughly 90 x 80 feet.

Recently, Barry hosted a Chamber of Commerce After Five/Tradeshow in his gardens, where we took the photos here.

To learn more about how Barry built this amazing railway, visit www.radishbahn.com