HO fhtagn! Detailed model railroad layout recreates HP Lovecraft's Arkham

Model railroader John Ott has devoted years to creating a fantastically detailed, HO-scale recreation of Arkham, the site of HP Lovecraft's horror stories, complete with model railroad engines and historically accurate cars.

Ott's buildings have interior lighting and details, but they've also got elaborate backstories that draw on the Lovecraft mythos that imbue them with an eldritch vitality that chills to core of your soul.

Across Garrison, the Bensalem Building hosts a variety of enterprises. The mesmerists, Drs. Nikola and Mabuse, have set up shop selling questionable cures and "rubber goods." One of the shady mesmerists can be seen with a female patient in the bay window, doubtlessly trying to convince the young woman how theraputic it would be to reveal the combination to her husband's wall safe.

Next door, Messrs. Maskull and Nightspore offer astral travel for the adept, with tours of Tormance, Leng, and Barsoom a specialty. One would think they wouldn't have many clients, but some prominent Arkhamites, namely the Carter family— Randolph, John, and Nick— rely upon them heavily. Dr. Caligari's Cabinet, a curio shop, occupies the last address. Is that a shining trapezohedron in the window?

Up on the roof, Professor Pickering has his private observatory. Prof. Pickering is famous for having confirmed the sighting of those flashes on Mars a few years back. These days, he's searching for a ninth, trans-Neptunian, planet— which he calls Yuggoth, for some reason— which he's sure is there.

"I knew this strange, grey world was not my own,
But Yuggoth, past the starry voids…"
—HP Lovecraft, "Fungi From Yuggoth"

The Miskatonic Railroad [Overview/John Ott]

Welcome to Arkham [Backstories/John Ott]

Arkham Wasn't Built in a Day (or a Night): All About Lighting and Decor [John Ott]

Deconstructing Arkham Station [Build log/John Ott]


(via Super Punch)