“The train is perfectly hamster sized…”

by Meg on December 5, 2009

Roving cuteporter Miss Heather over at NewYorkShitty found these anerable teeny subway shots. The photographer Victoria Belanger says:

“I’m a photographer for the DA’s office and there is a women there who makes these models (trains, apts, buildings, etc) for court cases, as a visual aid for the jury. The train is perfectly hamster sized so I brought my super tame hamster into work yesterday for a little photo shoot. They came out better than expected. I’m really excited about them.”


Our compliments to you, Sender-Inner Chef Mike! Via NewYorkShitty and BoingBoing.

{ 86 comments }

1 kittyadventures 12.05.09 at 7:25 pm

LOLOL IT is like looking into the subway in San Francisco only with a giant adorable hamster

2 kibblenibble 12.05.09 at 7:26 pm

Sweet creamsicle hammy.

3 kittyadventures 12.05.09 at 7:27 pm

Picture One … Hamy says wow look at the subway art!!!
Picture two… Is this my stop?

4 T.U.M. 12.05.09 at 7:30 pm

REEE-donk! *singsong voice*

5 Queen of Dork 12.05.09 at 7:32 pm

Well, I used to take the A train while living in NYC, NY.
(Heyyyy, Let’s take the A Traaaaiiiinnnn!)

(Love you, Meg!! :)

6 photogirl 12.05.09 at 7:35 pm

Me thinks hamster wants to re-enact that final scene from the Sandra Bullock / Keanu Reeves movie ‘Speed’..

7 AmyJ 12.05.09 at 7:54 pm

Hammy has the same problem as lots of New Yorkers – butt is too big for the seats! Remember, don’t make eye contact, be discreet if you want to read the back of someone’s newspaper, and make sure to switch to the local if you need to get off somewhere between 59th and 125th St (on the A train)!

8 jen 12.05.09 at 7:55 pm

oh good lord. redonk qte.

don’t stop off for a gyro, lil hammie!!!

9 ffleur 12.05.09 at 7:56 pm

little hammy is spoiled for seats.
I never get a seat on my public transit *frowns*

10 JF 12.05.09 at 8:00 pm

Haha! I really did LOL.

11 pounce 12.05.09 at 8:01 pm

Dun dun DUNNN!!! Monster Hamster In Subway – Film At Eleven!

Does anyone on here remember a show called Stories of the Riverbank or Tales of the Riverbank? With the scaled-down sets and the cast of rodents? :)

12 JupiterStar 12.05.09 at 8:04 pm

Awww, the blinky little eyes and dreamily clutched paws…I feel a musical number coming on! *Sung in tinny, wistful hammy voice* I used to think we lived at the top of the world, and the world was just a subway map, and the 1/9 climbed a dotted line to my place…

(Note to selfhammies: When choosing musical numbers, next time pick one people might actually KNOW)

13 Lillith 12.05.09 at 8:05 pm

The first shot is the number 4 train, just remember it runs express in Manhattan but DOES stop right underneath Bloomingdale’s! Sadly I’ve seen no hammies on the trains but I have seen the odd rattie on the track.

14 Queen of Dork 12.05.09 at 8:18 pm

AmyJ: Yeah. Because the A train is express between 59th and 125th. At least it was in the ’80s.

15 Shadyman 12.05.09 at 8:53 pm

The hovertexts are sadly lacking :(

Meg!!!

16 Theresa 12.05.09 at 9:00 pm

YES! I think I saw this on Gothamist, too.

Those subway cars are strangely empty. P

17 BroadwayBaby 12.05.09 at 9:51 pm

In the Heights FTW! Thanks for the laugh JupiterStar

18 BroadwayBaby 12.05.09 at 9:54 pm

Also, there’s no 9 train now! :-)

19 Stressfactor 12.05.09 at 9:57 pm

In the second shot, with his little hammy paws together, it looks more like he should be singing the White Rabbit’s “I’m Late” song from Alice in Wonderland….

“I’m late, I’m late
For a very important date.
No time to say hello; goodbye!
I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!”

20 Baby Food Grinder 12.05.09 at 9:59 pm

He ate all the commuters

21 cutepuncturist 12.05.09 at 10:23 pm

@pounce: HAMMY HAMSTER!
Canadian seventies tv lives! (in my dreams of neurotic rodents having adventures on teeny little boats and rafts)

22 JustanotherHeather 12.05.09 at 10:31 pm

Am I the only one who wouldn’t mind jury duty so much if they had hamsters running around the courtroom?

With bonus points if they were dressed up as British barristers.

23 ButtaRumCake 12.05.09 at 10:54 pm

Cleanest damn subway I’ve seen….EVAR!

24 开心凡人 12.06.09 at 12:40 am

今天到博主这来逛一逛,呵呵

25 cheesybird 12.06.09 at 1:09 am

Hammy looks so wistful in that first pic. Like he’s just parted from a loved one and they’re still standing on the platform waving goodbye.

26 Lizzy 12.06.09 at 1:47 am

Is this ham-commuter (Hammuter? Commster?) on his way to work, or to a weeeeeee hamster version of Hogwarts?

27 kat 12.06.09 at 5:00 am

omg!! too cute!!! :D

i can haz hovertext??

28 Andi from NC 12.06.09 at 5:10 am

My hammy takes the mornin’ train
He works from 9 ’til 5 and then
He takes another home again
To find me waitin’ for him!

29 Andi from NC 12.06.09 at 5:11 am

By the way, that may be the most sparlin’ clean hammy I’ve ever seen!! He’s way to clean to be on the subway with the unwashed masses!

30 Queen of Dork 12.06.09 at 5:25 am

cheesybird: He does look like that! And in the second picture he looks like he’s wringing his little hands and fretting. Maybe he’s late for an important meeting at work. Hey! Maybe he works for Mr. Manager and he’s afraid he’s in trouble!

31 Katrina 12.06.09 at 5:45 am

Brilliant! Just brilliant!

32 Queen of Dork 12.06.09 at 5:54 am

Hi Katrina!! :)

33 Rachael 12.06.09 at 6:22 am

I bet his girlfriend said she’d be waiting for him on the platform and she never showed up. Now he just keeps riding and riding up and down the line. :(

34 resriechan 12.06.09 at 6:40 am

And our commentary has come full-circle back again/ Trains song lyrics:
A few weeks ago we had a train sub-plot, which brought everyone to songs/ trains & numerous ref’s to “Charlie” on the trains of Boston. Wikipedia says that this version (prob Kingston Trio’s earliest version that was popular) was actually developed from a very very ancient item that had referred to a song about a SHIP & never returning (new item to my archives, that one).

Anyway, here’s a bit from the Wiki about the lyrics…
(article title refers to the MTA- possibly Massach. Trans.Au????) ….

The song goes on to say that Charlie’s wife is able to hand him a sandwich every day (but not, for some reason, a nickel) “as the train comes rumbling through.”
The song is probably best known for its catchy chorus:

Did he ever return,
No he never returned
And his fate is still unlearn’d
He may ride forever
‘neath the streets of Boston
He’s the man who never returned.

Peace and creamsicle (sp??) hamsters to ALL on this bright Sunday morning.

Signed,
The present temperature in Jacksonville FL is WHAT?????
(47 DEGREES?????Ya gotta be kiddin’!)

35 Queen of Dork 12.06.09 at 6:47 am

Resriechan: Hey Research Kid! What’s the temperature here in Vegas right now? All I know is it’s cooooolllldddd. brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

36 resriechan 12.06.09 at 7:09 am

Wa’al, they-uh,” lil’ lady” (*snerk*)…..

but ya bettah get out ALL the “b’ankies”, sweatsuits, sweateuws and coats and mittens you own cuz ….estimated HIGH (??) temps predicted @ L Vegas this week (gulp): Mon= 49 Tues =48 Wed= 47 Thur= 48

(also it says 60% likely rainy weather tomorrow)

sorry, about that, “Nancy Drew” aka QoD :( :(
Them’s the facts, as listed on the NOAA weather webpage (by your zip code)

Suggestion: why don’t you consider moving to Tahiti? Pretty sure, that the daily weather there is generally sweeter …….

Signed,
Sam, Sam the Weather (Wo)Man

37 resriechan 12.06.09 at 7:11 am

oops got carried away there (as often)….forgot the specific original. question:

Presently the most recent temp reading says 34 degrees; at least it’s
(just a hashmark or two, above freezing..) :(

38 Queen of Dork 12.06.09 at 7:18 am

Resriechan: That’s great! I love cold weather and rain is so rare here that it’s extremely welcome! Cold air is so beautiful after the summer of 573 degrees every day. Okay. It doesn’t get quite THAT hot. Yay! I get to break out my dusty, rusty umbrella?! (or bumbershoot as they’re called in Seattle). :)

39 Von Zeppelin 12.06.09 at 7:21 am

CO Proprietors: We need more information from roving cuteporter Miss Heather, or, perhaps, photographer Victoria Belanger. They tell us that the trains were models used in a legal proceeding. But why, exactly, was this hamster suing the Transit Authority? I’m guessing that he was demanding that hamster-sized trains be added to the subway routes.

40 Saffron 12.06.09 at 7:25 am

Oh, so that is why that Denzel Washington subway movie was called the Taking of PelHAM?

41 Queen of Dork 12.06.09 at 7:30 am

VonZep: The National Hamquirer has reported that he’s suing because the train broke down and he was stuck in the tunnel for seven hours. This caused him to miss a vital briefing at work which in turn meant that he could not go on the mission to explore the world in a roller ball. He was going to be the first hammie to summit Mt. Rodentia by rolling all the way up. (without supplemental oxygen). His sponsers were going to award him with tons of seeds and a large villa in the South of France (which had a whole room devoted to the running wheel) if he succeeded (which he was fully trained to do). So he’s suing the Transit Authority for that.

42 Cameleopard 12.06.09 at 7:31 am

Hey Pounce,

I remember Tales From the Riverbank, it used to be in the ‘Watch With Mother’ slot here in the UK. My favourite was when they used to go boating up the ‘river’ in a plastic motorboat, usually a rat and a hamster, the boat wobbling madly, rodents trying to decide whether to swim for it….. Am I hallucinating or did the hamster have a little captain’s hat……..(must stop taking the tablets…)

43 resriechan 12.06.09 at 7:32 am

@ QoD: WOW what a nice briefing you did. Are you a paralegal in additon to being a Cuteness ER Nurse and the contemporary Nancy Drew, investigator???

44 Queen of Dork 12.06.09 at 7:49 am

resriechan: No. I just got this information because my cat read read the four-legged-floof rags this morning and he told me about it as we were having breakfast. He kind of looked over his reading glasses at me and asked me if I was aware of this scandal/outrage. He seemed to think I was supposed to do something about it. The nursing and Nancy Drew stuff keeps me too busy for the paralegaling stuff.

45 Von Zeppelin 12.06.09 at 7:53 am

QoD, that is an unusual cat you have. Very few cats keep up with the rodent news in the tabloids. Even fewer think that their human should stand up for the rights of hamsters.

At my house, Sam and Max (Freelance Dogs) don’t read the papers at all. They do watch a lot of TV. (Don’t tell them I said so, but they’re actually kind of d*mb.)

46 Queen of Dork 12.06.09 at 7:58 am

VonZep: I know. My cat is rather a strange bird. I keep trying to get an appointment with Dr. Lipswich for him because I think he needs to lighten up a bit. He’s only standing up for hammies because he likes to start a fuss about anything he can.

47 Queen of Dork 12.06.09 at 8:01 am

VonZep: I won’t tell Sam and Max you spilled the beans about all of the TV intake. By the way, my cat’s name is also Sam. (SamKitty, the first). He does the NY Times crossword puzzle with an ink fountain pen.

48 T.U.M. 12.06.09 at 8:39 am

At least there are plenty of seats so he won’t have to be a straphamster.

49 WendyPinNJ 12.06.09 at 9:43 am

WOWZA! Somebody REALLY has A LOT of time on their hands. That’s not to say it’s not cute.

50 MadameX 12.06.09 at 10:01 am

Is that the last train to Clarksville?

51 Phill 12.06.09 at 10:14 am

This is a Brooklyn bound four train. Next stop is Burrow Hall. No smoking, spitting or radio playing. Stand clear of the closing doors. >BingBong<

52 Theresa 12.06.09 at 10:18 am

@Phill, I was thinking more like “There’s a train in front of us, we’ll be moving shortly. Thank you for your cooperation.” ARRRGH!

53 Julia (the one in BC) 12.06.09 at 10:37 am

Oh, the wistful expression in the first photo. It tugs at my heart…

Now DESPERATELY wanting to see the “apts, buildings, etc” decked out with this hamster. Especially the “et cetera”! The mind boggles with possibilities.

54 dub1 12.06.09 at 10:49 am

Re-enactment sets for CSI: My Hammy

55 J. Bo 12.06.09 at 10:52 am

OMG– “squee” doesn’t even come CLOSE to doing this post justice…

56 5^^now8ing 12.06.09 at 11:07 am

Oh, geez, I love you guys! (Oops — “y’all”)

Hammie in subway has me all tearing up — I was in NYC for the first time in years this fall, when I accompanied daughter #1 on her move to Brooklyn. We returned the moving truck & rode the subways & had a great time for the week I stayed. I mees her!!

57 rafi 12.06.09 at 11:09 am

@dub1 you cracked me up. CSI:My Hammy indeed.

58 gravyboat 12.06.09 at 11:34 am

That little ham is cleaner than the subway!

59 berthaservant 12.06.09 at 11:36 am

Suggested hovertext for second photo:

“Ladies and gentleman, I hate to disturb you on your commute, but I am asking anyone who can to spare any change you might have. I am a law-abiding citizen who is homeless and I am asking if you can give spare anything to help me find food.”

(I’m not being snarky, that’s really what it looks like…and I always gave change!)

60 Lillith 12.06.09 at 12:49 pm

Excellent announcing Phil, except of course on the NYC Subway you’d only be able to make out every 4th word that comes over the PA, except on the new trains because they have a robot voice. Hope little Hammy Davis Jr. up there didn’t get on the express thinking it was a local. Or worse yet getting on a local that you’re told will only run express. I hate when that happens!

61 Paunchie 12.06.09 at 1:06 pm

HAHAHAHAAA! Whee! You’re so cute! (default squee expresh now, since that ring neck parrot)

62 resriechan 12.06.09 at 1:44 pm

OK folks, focus, now; FOCUS!!! Sing it, with me:

“This train don’t carry no gamblers, this train
(repeat)
…no crap shooters, no cigar-smokers….”

Signed,
NotpeterpaulORmary(RIP)

63 Aynsley 12.06.09 at 2:17 pm

Nice to know that the DA’s office knows how to have fun!

64 hamstar power 12.06.09 at 2:46 pm

@pounce: I have that show on VHS!! it’s still my favorite thing to watch

65 kat 12.06.09 at 3:14 pm

@dub1 – hahahaha, nice :D

66 Katrina 12.06.09 at 3:35 pm

…and through the open window she hands Charlie a peanut as the train came rumbling through…( an oldie but a goodie.)

Killer’s Daddy is a lawyer in a court. He works in a big, big building, There are no files that I could find from either party-of course we also don’t have a subway, (except a sandwich shop), so I guess that is why. I can’t believe I actually looked.

Do you get 7 day delivery QoD? Very immmm-pressive. Who (what) delivers the newspaper?

67 Queen of Dork 12.06.09 at 3:49 pm

Katrina: No, I don’t. My cat stole my debit card and ordered this week’s copy on-line. Door to door delivery is done by storks. I’m fuzzy on where this thing is printed. My cat won’t tell me.

68 resriechan 12.06.09 at 4:17 pm

@ QoD:

You am funnois!!! (Franglais for humorous)

69 Queen of Dork 12.06.09 at 4:19 pm

Resrie: He’s quite the rascal, that SamKitty.

70 cheshirekittehkat 12.06.09 at 4:39 pm

At first look I assumed it was a normal-sized hammy on a miniature train….
Then, after further scrutiny, I thought it could be a monster-hammy on the A-train: Hamzilla!!!!..(the commuters have all crammed into the furthest-away car;
Hamzilla can now wreck havoc all by himself….. :shock: )

71 Theresa 12.06.09 at 4:48 pm

PS: @All Of You:
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

72 nycat 12.06.09 at 5:03 pm

Methinks it is not the #4 train. The inside look more like R or Q train. The #4 has gray seats. Plus, it is more likely for R and Q to have giant hamsters, especially late at night. Or maybe those are big giant rats. Not sure. :)

73 Camille 12.06.09 at 5:26 pm

My niece has always believed that beneath the streets of New York there is a city called New Hamsterdam. I am flabbergasted that there’s photographic evidence.

74 5^^now8ing 12.06.09 at 5:58 pm

Camille – New Hamsterdam! Loff eet!

75 marti 12.06.09 at 8:50 pm

Ok these are just awesome photos, and give praise to the woman who makes these models. The hamster praying for the door to open is adorable. Thank you for sharing.

76 Trin 12.06.09 at 8:58 pm

That can’t be a REAL subway car… it’s too CLEAN. (beautifully crafted)

I wonder if there’s a market for photo sessions of your pocket pets in tiny settings.

77 Salman Rushdie 12.06.09 at 9:05 pm

He looks like he has to get back to the Bronx from Coney Island while suffering relentless attacks from rival hamster gangs!

Oh, Hammies! Come out and pla-ay!

78 Valeria 12.06.09 at 9:14 pm

Cool! Compliments to your model maker, Mike!

79 TracyFlick 12.06.09 at 9:37 pm

If only the 4 train was so uncrowded. I can’t wait for them to put in the 2nd ave line.

80 A Man and His Pug 12.07.09 at 12:55 am

Damn furry panhandlers. ;-)

81 Bookmonstercats 12.07.09 at 5:41 am

I confess, I confess, I confess to every crime in New York (except the nasty ones of course), and I’ve never even been there. Now can I have the hammy, Mr/Ms DA?

82 DKN 12.07.09 at 8:31 am

Stand clear of the closing doors, little dewd.

83 Fleurdamour 12.07.09 at 2:01 pm

That NYC subway commute always felt like being on a hamster wheel. Puts a new spin on “rat race.”

84 spb 12.07.09 at 9:13 pm

Seriously… MUST HAVE the rest of those photos… stat!

Victoria??? Are you listening?? Hand ‘em over! The court case is adjourned for the verdict… and the remaining photos are our ONLY HOPE!!

Ok, not really. But gosh darn, they are soooooo cute.

85 Rebecca 12.11.09 at 4:10 am

Did he have to use a token?

86 Jackie 12.19.09 at 2:48 am

HAMTARO!!!!!

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