true to street model railway

among the many “wish i may wish i might” things on my life’s list is building a model railway system. i’ve always fancied heading down into the basement, turning on the lights and then flicking a switch tucked away under an enormous collection of chipboard tables and listening to the satisfying whirring of little electric motors. sadly, and probably not so sadly when i really think of it, i’ve never got closer to it than reading books and magazines and visiting other people’s set-ups.
what appeals to me is the chance to create something in detail that comes from endless research and then even more endless work. sounds like fun doesn’t it!

there used to be a little shop in peterborough called cosburns. actually, it still exists but it moved from its first location and in so doing lost all of its charm. the first location was a cramped little room essentially functioning as a hobby shop. to get down an aisle already occupied by another person was impossible. when the proprietor asked if you wanted help, well, what was he going to do . . . he couldn’t be in the aisle at the same time as you, so you were on your own to haul down the scale model of the cutty sark, or grab the teeny tiny box of one thirty second scale hydro poles or whatever else you found amongst the piles of jammed together boxes and bags.

what was most cool at this shop was that they had a model train setup that was probably no more than eight feet in total running length but the train crossed a trestle with a roaring torrent below, passed mountain sides, and looked for all intents and purposes like a scene out of the interior of the rocky mountains. when they moved to the new location, the train setup was still there but in a brightly lit aisle that you could share with another person or even two or three other people and somehow, in making the setup better lit and more easily accessible, it lost its magic.

the magic of model railways is still there inside me though and today i’d like to share the work of a guy who has taken that passion - and that’s what it is - and taken it to the nth degree, reproducing urban squallor and decay in an extraordinary feat of realism that will leave those of you who appreciate hobbies suited only to the obsessive compulsive absolutely gobsmacked.

peter feigenbaum is a student at yale university. how he finds the time for this and his other work and hobbies is almost beyond my comprehension. but there are people like peter who somehow make time bend in their favour.

here’s an image of most of his setup taken from a standing position.


here’s an image of a little part of his setup taken from street-level.


here’s a link that will allow you to view the rest of peter’s amazing set up:
http://www.vestaldesign.com/projects/modelrr/
it’s really stunning isn’t it! little tiny street dreams and street nightmares and street art and street life brought to our lives by the imagination and labour and passion of one person.