I choo choo choose this post!
October 17, 2005 3:31 PM Subscribe
Peter Feigenbaum is a model train enthusiast and Yale architecture student who designed & built a more realistic urban world for his train to go through. Full photo gallery here.
This was super-awesome until I saw the guy's basement.
That is a creepy fuckin' basement.
posted by wakko at 3:35 PM on October 17, 2005
That is a creepy fuckin' basement.
posted by wakko at 3:35 PM on October 17, 2005
I was forced to be a model railroader by my my dad, fuck that was a stupid hobby. He's probably still disappointed that I had no interest other than staging giant raidroad disasters with the set he lovingly built.
I never took to remote control planes either.
posted by Keith Talent at 3:55 PM on October 17, 2005
I never took to remote control planes either.
posted by Keith Talent at 3:55 PM on October 17, 2005
It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:55 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:55 PM on October 17, 2005
wakko- it's good to see where his inspiration comes from.
posted by pointilist at 3:58 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by pointilist at 3:58 PM on October 17, 2005
Awesome!
posted by interrobang at 4:02 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by interrobang at 4:02 PM on October 17, 2005
wakko, angelfire doesn't like hotlinking to their images. Which, of course, sucks.
But I like the FPP link. Damned impressive stuff and I can bet money he has neither a big dog with a dangerous tail or a 15 month old child who would love nothing more than to shred that stuff apart.
posted by fenriq at 4:03 PM on October 17, 2005
But I like the FPP link. Damned impressive stuff and I can bet money he has neither a big dog with a dangerous tail or a 15 month old child who would love nothing more than to shred that stuff apart.
posted by fenriq at 4:03 PM on October 17, 2005
Some of his buildings/scenes look incredible. I wonder how much of it is just good camera work, which can do a whole lot to make a small part of a model railroad look like a whole city, when actually seeing it in person will never give that impression. Still, it looks damn good.
posted by Godbert at 4:08 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by Godbert at 4:08 PM on October 17, 2005
Jeez, wakko is right - what a pit. My bike shop/basement is immaculate by comparison.
posted by fixedgear at 4:42 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by fixedgear at 4:42 PM on October 17, 2005
Impressive.
posted by fire&wings at 4:42 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by fire&wings at 4:42 PM on October 17, 2005
It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.
It's Raining Florence Henderson -- LOL. The exact same image was conjured up when I saw the photograph of that basement.
posted by ericb at 4:56 PM on October 17, 2005
It's Raining Florence Henderson -- LOL. The exact same image was conjured up when I saw the photograph of that basement.
posted by ericb at 4:56 PM on October 17, 2005
He actually makes his own HO-scale graffiti. Wow.
When I had my trains (I sold them for cash, I was an idiot) I was happy to have realistic looking trees.
posted by tommasz at 5:07 PM on October 17, 2005
When I had my trains (I sold them for cash, I was an idiot) I was happy to have realistic looking trees.
posted by tommasz at 5:07 PM on October 17, 2005
uh, wakko: "Don't like hotlinking" means that we only see a tiny patch that says "Image hosted by anglefire".
posted by delmoi at 5:10 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by delmoi at 5:10 PM on October 17, 2005
you have to link to the page that has a link to the image, or we can't see it.
posted by delmoi at 5:12 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by delmoi at 5:12 PM on October 17, 2005
er, okay it loaded after copy+pasting the URL. After all that trouble I was very underwhelmed.
posted by delmoi at 5:13 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by delmoi at 5:13 PM on October 17, 2005
Cool models. Really nicely shot photos. Profoundly disturbing basement. Hope he's freshened the place up a little since '95.
posted by maryh at 5:23 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by maryh at 5:23 PM on October 17, 2005
Well now I want to see this "basement" but I can't find it on the guy's homepage.
posted by snsranch at 5:26 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by snsranch at 5:26 PM on October 17, 2005
Hey, I have a stone foundation basement where my wood shop is. It's not THAT creepy...
As far as if this is good photography or a good diorama, it doesn't matter, it works.
posted by Eekacat at 5:27 PM on October 17, 2005
As far as if this is good photography or a good diorama, it doesn't matter, it works.
posted by Eekacat at 5:27 PM on October 17, 2005
Okay guys, you may not believe this, but I've been in that basement. It's not really that creepy, it's just a partially unfinished basement in an old (1850's-ish)Victorian house. The rest of the basement had a light green rug with a rumpus-room style fake rock pattern on it.
I grew up two houses from there, and babysat Peter when I was in high school, back in the early 90's. He was just getting into model trains - his dad had a setup, and he had those wooden trains with magnets!
Also his parents were trying to restore/decorate their house in a historically accurate style, so they had like the toilet with the overhead water tank and the pull chain, and whatnot.
posted by aubilenon at 5:28 PM on October 17, 2005
I grew up two houses from there, and babysat Peter when I was in high school, back in the early 90's. He was just getting into model trains - his dad had a setup, and he had those wooden trains with magnets!
Also his parents were trying to restore/decorate their house in a historically accurate style, so they had like the toilet with the overhead water tank and the pull chain, and whatnot.
posted by aubilenon at 5:28 PM on October 17, 2005
How exactly are people imagining a clean stone foundation basement would look?
posted by smackfu at 5:41 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by smackfu at 5:41 PM on October 17, 2005
It's a small world aubilenon,
It's a small world aubilenon,
It's a small world aubilenon,
It's a small, small world.
posted by HyperBlue at 5:43 PM on October 17, 2005
It's a small world aubilenon,
It's a small world aubilenon,
It's a small, small world.
posted by HyperBlue at 5:43 PM on October 17, 2005
THAT is amazing. What I love about Metafilter in one perfect example.
posted by jonson at 5:56 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by jonson at 5:56 PM on October 17, 2005
Me too jonson.
posted by fire&wings at 5:59 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by fire&wings at 5:59 PM on October 17, 2005
That's pretty much what a pre-WWII basement with stone walls looks like. I've been in hundreds of them. They weren't built to be pretty, they were built to house the furnace and a big pile of coal to feed said furnace. Haven't you ever seen an old house before?
posted by octothorpe at 6:12 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by octothorpe at 6:12 PM on October 17, 2005
My basement kind of looks like that, except that we've painted the walls white. Our house is about 100 years old. The photograph does make it look pretty creepy, though.
posted by iconomy at 6:26 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by iconomy at 6:26 PM on October 17, 2005
It's a giant "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood" Urban Warfare Playset!
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:43 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:43 PM on October 17, 2005
I've been in a lot of basements about as old as this guy's house - not too unusual. They tend to look like poo, but so would we all, if we'd been around a hundred and fifty years.
The Philly shots, I must admit, got me a little choked up. I've been taking the R8 past North Philly station since I was a wee thing, and he captured the beauty of urban blight so well.
posted by kalimac at 6:52 PM on October 17, 2005
The Philly shots, I must admit, got me a little choked up. I've been taking the R8 past North Philly station since I was a wee thing, and he captured the beauty of urban blight so well.
posted by kalimac at 6:52 PM on October 17, 2005
I'm just praying that my 8yr old doesn't see this stuff. Jesus Christ, he'll have me working from now 'til Christmas putting something like that together!
"Sorry kiddo, Dads not playing on the internet tonight."
posted by snsranch at 7:15 PM on October 17, 2005
"Sorry kiddo, Dads not playing on the internet tonight."
posted by snsranch at 7:15 PM on October 17, 2005
Looking at it again (at all the pictures this time), even if the layout is compressed a lot, it doesn't matter; this guy knows how to make a scene, and he certainly is skilled at painting up buildings and stuff. I wish I had that sort of talent.
posted by Godbert at 7:34 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by Godbert at 7:34 PM on October 17, 2005
It's kind of frightening, but if I had the money and the space, I could see myself doing this. Nice post, thanks.
posted by marxchivist at 7:42 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by marxchivist at 7:42 PM on October 17, 2005
I grew up in a Train Household, both chasing down old New Haven rail lines, and the models. That and a fondness for little toys in general explain the visceral pull these pictures have over me. Great link, thank you!
posted by artifarce at 8:17 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by artifarce at 8:17 PM on October 17, 2005
He's got Philly down all the way to the desolation and graffitos.
posted by Rothko at 8:24 PM on October 17, 2005
posted by Rothko at 8:24 PM on October 17, 2005
I say we break into his basement and tag one of his building.
posted by srboisvert at 2:47 AM on October 18, 2005
posted by srboisvert at 2:47 AM on October 18, 2005
Playing With Trains is a great book on this subject.
posted by fixedgear at 3:43 AM on October 18, 2005
posted by fixedgear at 3:43 AM on October 18, 2005
That's my morning commute through the south Bronx on the metronorth. Amazing stuff.
posted by Sk4n at 5:58 AM on October 18, 2005
posted by Sk4n at 5:58 AM on October 18, 2005
That's pretty much what a pre-WWII basement with stone walls looks like. I've been in hundreds of them. They weren't built to be pretty, they were built to house the furnace and a big pile of coal to feed said furnace. Haven't you ever seen an old house before?
I'm really surprised by the number of people who think that that type of basement is restricted to the homes of transvestite serial killers. My guess is that there must be a lot of areas where you either can't have basements at all or it's all new construction with the "cleaner" basements that are sort of finished even when unfinished.
It's all about the water table, in the end.
posted by illovich at 6:46 AM on October 18, 2005
I'm really surprised by the number of people who think that that type of basement is restricted to the homes of transvestite serial killers. My guess is that there must be a lot of areas where you either can't have basements at all or it's all new construction with the "cleaner" basements that are sort of finished even when unfinished.
It's all about the water table, in the end.
posted by illovich at 6:46 AM on October 18, 2005
Amazing stuff. And as a resident of Boston, I can't say I looked twice at the condition of the basement.
posted by jalexei at 7:36 AM on October 18, 2005
posted by jalexei at 7:36 AM on October 18, 2005
Model trains are boring but the reaction to the basement is fascinating. Why are people creeped out by this? More and more I'm convinced that the devil pentagrams and band graffiti that were on the wall of my (much, much creepier) fieldstone basement when I bought the house probably knocked $50,000 off my purchase price.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 9:15 PM on October 18, 2005
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 9:15 PM on October 18, 2005
Excellent post. The attention to detail and follow-through represented here is astounding.
posted by OmieWise at 6:05 AM on October 19, 2005
posted by OmieWise at 6:05 AM on October 19, 2005
I always thought model railraods were super cool, but never had the money to pursure the hobby. And now that I might be able to scrape together the cash - I've got a two year old. Ha!
Awesome post.
posted by raedyn at 11:14 AM on October 19, 2005
Awesome post.
posted by raedyn at 11:14 AM on October 19, 2005
Thank God for the model trains, you know? If they didn't have the model trains they wouldn't have gotten the idea for the big trains.
posted by Smedleyman at 4:39 PM on October 21, 2005
posted by Smedleyman at 4:39 PM on October 21, 2005
That's a great train set up.
The basement? it's a basement. I've had worse (houses built in 189x and 192x) and better. We set up a hologram table in the basement of one house. The one in the pic is dry, and it's got a concrete floor. What else do you really need in a basement that's only there because the builders needed someplace to put the furnace and the coal room and the root cellar?
posted by jlkr at 8:04 PM on October 21, 2005
The basement? it's a basement. I've had worse (houses built in 189x and 192x) and better. We set up a hologram table in the basement of one house. The one in the pic is dry, and it's got a concrete floor. What else do you really need in a basement that's only there because the builders needed someplace to put the furnace and the coal room and the root cellar?
posted by jlkr at 8:04 PM on October 21, 2005
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posted by Eekacat at 3:34 PM on October 17, 2005