Jump to content
 

BEIJIAO - a large Chinese HO exhibition layout set in the 21st century


TEAMYAKIMA
 Share

Recommended Posts

On 03/10/2021 at 19:50, TEAMYAKIMA said:

Whilst on the subject of weathering, I have recently bought a new JS and SY to add to the roster and I have been lucky enough to secure a couple of 'slots' with my favourite weathering artist and so they have gone off to him for weathering.

 

IMG_20210920_143503.jpg.a51f0f380c31ee477fa0a5d0ae8b264c.jpg

 

 

 

Here's a photo of the kind of weathering I hope to see on 1183

 

2098827605_rmw3(2).JPG.b41ed86c2c8fb323283015124c300b16.JPG

 

I have been asked who does my weathering and it's Mad McCann here on RMweb and if you're interested you can PM him.

Edited by TEAMYAKIMA
  • Like 4
  • Craftsmanship/clever 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

I have been doing more test running in the garden - just 2/3 fiddle yard boards - as it's not just the brass QJ's which are the problem, the Bachmann ones have issues too.

 

Again the problem is the corridor connection between loco and tender. It is well known that some editions have problems going around tight curves because of issues with the corridor connection. After the early production runs, Bachmann changed/improved the loco/tender connection which as a by-product marginally made the loco and tender more close-coupled, but they used the same corridor connection molding - result derailments.  So, you have to marginally trim back the corridor connection on those models.

 

IMG_20211005_163653.jpg.0e9824729c2d3a16668db4bcb4278469.jpg

 

I am asking these Bachmann QJ's to run double-headed through two crossovers which are basically back-to-back and which use PECO small radius points - result derailments with some, not all locos. The two sets of crossovers can just about be seen at the bottom r/h corner of this photo. I have to test each Bachmann QJ in both directions and double-headed with different partners because each loco is marginally different.

Edited by TEAMYAKIMA
  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

A by-product of testing is handling locos constantly and that can easily result in damage - this is my high deflectored QJ 7127 after Wednesday's testing.

 

IMG_20211009_084802.jpg.79a2f2766458818e0e9df800e7db58b9.jpg

 

 

 

The plastic fixing had broken off. Thanks to super-glue I managed to get it back on

 

IMG_20211009_084853.jpg.48f359ce84d58a57c345ea78b2633bf5.jpg

 

 

 

It looks OK from the side and head on. It's not perfect as it does slope in a bit, but it's better than nothing.

 

IMG_20211008_133750.jpg.a6405538c90779010cae4ac02f6367f7.jpg

Edited by TEAMYAKIMA
  • Like 4
  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, TEAMYAKIMA said:

I have been doing more test running in the garden - just 2/3 fiddle yard boards - as it's not just the brass QJ's which are the problem, the Bachmann ones have issues too.

 

Again the problem is the corridor connection between loco and tender. It is well known that some editions have problems going around tight curves because of issues with the corridor connection. After the early production runs, Bachmann changed/improved the loco/tender connection which as a by-product marginally made the loco and tender more close-coupled, but they used the same corridor connection molding - result derailments.  So, you have to marginally trim back the corridor connection on those models.

 

IMG_20211005_163653.jpg.0e9824729c2d3a16668db4bcb4278469.jpg

 

I am asking these Bachmann QJ's to run double-headed through two crossovers which are basically back-to-back and which use PECO small radius points - result derailments with some, not all locos. The two sets of crossovers can just about be seen at the bottom r/h corner of this photo. I have to test each Bachmann QJ in both directions and double-headed with different partners because each loco is marginally different.

 

Wouldn't the easier and better solution be to replace the points with medium radius, there by removing the need to modify each loco?  

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, Al. said:

 

Wouldn't the easier and better solution be to replace the points with medium radius, there by removing the need to modify each loco?  

 

I did look into that option, but nearly always (and this happens with this layout all the time) there are often unforeseen negative consequences if I make a positive change in one area.

 

TBH I don't think it's the point radius that is the major problem, I think it's the proximity of the two crossovers to one another. The locos will all go through either crossover successfully, it's only the double crossover issue that does the damage. If I could add another 6 inches between the two crossovers I think it would sort the problem, but as the main curves start immediately either side of the crossovers that would impact on the radius of the bi-directional line.

 

Let's face it, I am trying to get a quart into a pint pot!  Moreover, these crossovers have never been used at any of our first four exhibitions and will only ever be used by maybe one or at most two steam powered trains (the diesels have absolutely no problem) and so I think I will get there eventually as long as we note which locos work successfully and allocate them to the correct trains.

  • Interesting/Thought-provoking 1
  • Friendly/supportive 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, Al. said:

 

Wouldn't the easier and better solution be to replace the points with medium radius, there by removing the need to modify each loco?  

 

But is there enough room for medium points? It looks like thete is but it would be worth checking, not just for the QJ's but other stock too.

 

Luke

Link to post
Share on other sites

Better progress today. Thanks to help from Al (Remagen) Turner, I now had some typical Chinese windows to fit in the truck stop cafe... 

 

IMG_20211010_173535.jpg.9c58b3304e9ca5b14079ca87af4d1fc4.jpg

 

And now the whole truck stop can be finished.

 

IMG_20211010_191640.jpg.9b9ce695958db961c91b8fb9af83eedc.jpg

 

At least this time the detailed interior will be at the front of the layout - where people will actually be able to see it! 

  • Like 10
Link to post
Share on other sites

Now, as for suitable trucks??????? :huh:

 

By 2001 modern European branded trucks were beginning to appear in China - or at least I think they were, or perhaps it might be better to say that I hope they were!!! 

 

Now, I am not an expert on trucks, but I do have some models which I think/hope will convince 95%of viewers that they are at least WW2 24 3 feasible. 

 

Can anyone comment on this Albedo model, will this pass muster or is it totally out of period.

 

I hope that it's feasible. This layout is in many ways like a feature film set in the past in a foreign country, and just like filmmakers make errors because a particular kind of car or tank or whatever no longer exists and so they have to compromise and hope that no one will notice. 

 

IMG_20211011_191438.jpg.f8ae704b0c7fa53e7ecc35adaf4048e1.jpg

Edited by TEAMYAKIMA
  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, TEAMYAKIMA said:

 

Can anyone comment on this Albedo model, will this pass muster or is it totally out of period.

 

IMG_20211011_191438.jpg.f8ae704b0c7fa53e7ecc35adaf4048e1.jpg

 

Quick, non-scientific, internet search suggests you are in the right ball park, plus both colours (green and yellow) appear to be lucky/fortuitous.  Whether they are prototypical for Chinese lorries at that time I cannot say, but at least it matches the colour scheme of that passing diesel.

 

Steve N

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

It looks a bit "substantial" to, me but once you've roughly stencilled the number plate on, it should look ok.

(Light blue with white "stencilling" is what I mostly remember from that time - oh, and various three wheelers and engine-blocks on a small axle pulling a trailer...)

 

 

Kev.

 

  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

The Chinese forestry bureau had Scania trucks from the 1970s, they’re mentioned in some of the old Chinese books I have. There were probably many more - in my translations I’ve been focusing more on the C2s than the road transport which replaced them. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Having had a flick through some of my books, it looks like most of the 1970s and 1980s trucks in China had long bonnets, but by the 1990s there were starting to be some like your model. 

 

Here’s some of the earlier forestry Scanias, which seem to have been imported in large numbers and widely used:

5FC65C44-1E85-4135-8DD9-0D5F76789E0E.jpeg.88e6cb959e3789944d549047d4bc109b.jpeg

And a JieFang from the 1980s I think, also common at many forestry bureaux:

03B18E6B-1C4F-4767-B559-B5EFDF8F70C0.jpeg.591b7661e3553a9b05c99930d6a12d92.jpeg

Most of my books were published in the 1980s and early 1990s, I appreciate this is too early for your modelling period. 

  • Informative/Useful 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
26 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

03B18E6B-1C4F-4767-B559-B5EFDF8F70C0.jpeg.591b7661e3553a9b05c99930d6a12d92.jpeg

 

 

If you ever wandered what image.png.e910e27801fc5338da56bf6b8f37fd65.png means then i'll have a go...

 

In my best (worst) Oldham accented Mandarin I would pronounce it as "Che Cher Yun Cai".

I have not put the tones on each syllable, as I can't hear them now! (If I ever did!!!)

 

This translates as " Special Carriage" or "Bus Carrier", or any combination that suits.

(Lorry or Bus, in this context, just means 4 wheeled vehicle - even though the number four is not shown. There is no need to distinguish between passengers and goods here either!)

 

This is, therefore, just a very VERY generic description of the photo.

 

 

Kev.

 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
2 hours ago, SHMD said:

In my best (worst) Oldham accented Mandarin

You would get on well with a former colleague, who speaks fluent Mandarin with a Preston accent.

 

Another friend has a strong Aberdeen accent. His Cantonese is only slightly less comprehensible than his English.

  • Like 1
  • Funny 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, TEAMYAKIMA said:

Now, as for suitable trucks??????? :huh:

 

By 2001 modern European branded trucks were beginning to appear in China - or at least I think they were, or perhaps it might be better to say that I hope they were!!! 

 

Now, I am not an expert on trucks, but I do have some models which I think/hope will convince 95%of viewers that they are at least WW2 24 3 feasible. 

 

Can anyone comment on this Albedo model, will this pass muster or is it totally out of period.

 

I hope that it's feasible. This layout is in many ways like a feature film set in the past in a foreign country, and just like filmmakers make errors because a particular kind of car or tank or whatever no longer exists and so they have to compromise and hope that no one will notice. 

 

IMG_20211011_191438.jpg.f8ae704b0c7fa53e7ecc35adaf4048e1.jpg

The cab is definitely a MAN design from around 2000/2001, so it's accurate for the time. Whether or not any got to China, I don't know.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
35 minutes ago, F-UnitMad said:

The cab is definitely a MAN design from around 2000/2001, so it's accurate for the time. Whether or not any got to China, I don't know.

Weren't there any local knock-offs?

Link to post
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, TEAMYAKIMA said:

One of my team (Luke) has found something in Germany which will add some authenticity to the layout ...

 

 

Nice!

Absolutely not an expert, but a quick online check of the Audi car timeline, suggests that this is a later 1980's or very early 1990's Audi.  Also interesting , is that it seems as though on present day Chinese Police Audi's, they still only have those Chinese characters on the side doors, but also have the same characters repeated on the bonnet with the word 'POLICE' directly underneath (in capital letters).  Perhaps an acknowledgement that there are more foreign visitors in China now, than there were 30 years ago.

 

Steve N

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, steveNCB7754 said:

 

Nice!

Absolutely not an expert, but a quick online check of the Audi car timeline, suggests that this is a later 1980's or very early 1990's Audi.  

 

OK, it might be slightly out of the period, but it does have wing mirrors, damn it! 

  • Funny 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, TEAMYAKIMA said:

 

OK, it might be slightly out of the period, but it does have wing mirrors, damn it! 

AND windscreen wipers - don't forget those!! :yes: :mosking:

 

We'll be expecting the blue lights to be flashing, when it's on the layout, though. :nono:

  • Round of applause 1
  • Funny 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
43 minutes ago, steveNCB7754 said:

 

Also interesting , is that it seems as though on present day Chinese Police Audi's, they still only have those Chinese characters on the side doors, but also have the same characters repeated on the bonnet with the word 'POLICE' directly underneath (in capital letters).

 

 

公安 literally says "Public Security" (in this context) but universally means "Police" in mainland China.

Pronounced "Gong An".

 

 

Kev.

  • Informative/Useful 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, F-UnitMad said:

AND windscreen wipers - don't forget those!! :yes: :mosking:

 

We'll be expecting the blue lights to be flashing, when it's on the layout, though. :nono:

 

As requested...

 

1) Express Models (though out of stock as of 15/10/21)

https://www.expressmodels.co.uk/catalogue/scenic-effects/emergency-blue-flashing-lamps-detail

 

2) Layouts4You

https://www.layouts4u.net/oo-scale-lighting/oo-scale-illuminated-items/blocksignalling-police-ambulance-model-flashing-lights-blue-12v

 

Luke

Link to post
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, F-UnitMad said:

 

 

 

12 hours ago, F-UnitMad said:

We'll be expecting the blue lights to be flashing, when it's on the layout, though. :nono:

 

I am treading a fine line between features (good) and gimmicks (bad) and I think blue flashing lights are definitely a step too far. TBH I have considered illuminating the street lights after all the layout is supposed to be set soon after dawn. The street lights come fully wired up after all, and I am still undecided but probably 51/49 in favour of leaving them unlit. 

  • Like 2
  • Agree 2
  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...