"Les Caves du Roy" Banlieue Est, Beyrouth - Chemin de fer de l'Etat Libanais (C.E.L.)

[Lineas Cubanas]

On 10/01/2024 at 12:44, Mol_PMB said:

For your prototype, I'd imagine that much of the rolling stock should be well weathered and run-down. In that scenario, there is less need for perfection in the livery application. What makes it convincing is much more dependent on the plausibility of the rust patches, the work-staining, load spillage, wear and tear etc. Your work on the buildings, roads etc. on the layout shows that you have a very good eye for this kind of thing already. 

 

Thank you

 

On 10/01/2024 at 12:44, Mol_PMB said:

Since there's little prototype information, you have some considerable freedom on the underlying livery and as long as you choose something fairly plain I'm sure that would be plausible and you can make the rolling stock 'your own' with the weathering. 

The prototype freight wagon photos posted earlier on this thread are mostly in white/pale grey colours which would be fairly common in a hot climate in an attempt to keep the cargo cool (in some photos that livery is almost lost under the rust, but some traces are still visible). The logos, numbering and vehicle classifications (where present) seem fairly consistent look broadly in accordance with the published UIC standards. 

 

I should probably have been more clear: I do have loads of prototype photos but these are like your pics below i.e taken today or in the last few years. What I meant to say is that there a very few photos of the railway during the Civil War 1975 - 1990 (for obvious reasons!) so its a bit more difficult to know what everything looked like for the period I am modelling (1980s).

 

Most of the records regarding rolling stock were also lost during the war so any purchases of models I have made, have pretty much been my best guess!

 

I am definitely using the "close enough/good enough" philosophy

 

On 10/01/2024 at 12:44, Mol_PMB said:

 

A couple more pics I found on Flickr, you may have seen these already:

 

 

These grey wagons above were used to transport cement which came daily/weekly from Chekka (km 208.5) south of Tripoli from the two cement factories there to Beirut.

 

These continued to operate from February 1985 until February 16th, 1994, after which the railway bridge at Nahr el-Khelb (km 155) south of Jounieh was dismantled in March 1995 to allow an extension of the coastal motorway.

 

On 10/01/2024 at 12:44, Mol_PMB said:

   

 

On 10/01/2024 at 12:44, Mol_PMB said:

Incidentally there are some nice older pics too...

 

 

 

 

The 2 photos above are of metre gauge rolling stock that ran on a rack line from Beirut to Riyak and then onto Damascus over the mountains. The line was shut down two years into the Civil War.

 

Both photos I believe are at Beirut's Mar Mikhael station which was the western terminus of the Beirut - Riyaq - Damascus (1.05m) metre line.  The brown coach is obviously a photo from the 2000s but the other is of the station in the late 60s...probably

 

 

This photo is of the metre gauge loco emerging from the snow sheds at line at Dahr- el- Baydar. This is the highest point of the metre line around 1500m in altitude and just 38km from Beirut. A rack system was used for around 20km to assist the locos in the climb

 

Edited January 11 by Lineas Cubanas

[Lineas Cubanas]

23 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

Incidentally I've had a load of custom waterslide transfers made for some of my recent projects, and the cost is very reasonable.

I could help with some transfer artwork on these if you need it.

Cheers,

Mol

 

Thank you..... this is very kind and something I need to look at

 

23 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

I found this as well, a bit before your period but some of these tank wagons may have survived and it shows some of the lettering quite clearly:

 

 

 

I have not seen this photo before and its interesting to see the original lettering

 

I have purchased some "close enough models" from LS Models to help represent these as I had seen them in photos of the rolling stock graveyard at Furn el Chebbak in Beirut:

 

Edited January 11 by Lineas Cubanas

[Lineas Cubanas]

18 hours ago, Chen Melling said:

Below is a shot from Jounieh, taken by David Phillips in January 2000

 

Thanks for posting

 

Jounieh is an interesting place as it seems to have had a small yard as well as station stop on the Beirut-Tripoli standard gauge line. I also understand that as late as 1984 freight services resumed between Beirut and Jounieh. As a result, there seems to be another rolling stock graveyard there in recent times.....

 

Here is a photo of the yard in 1969:

 

 

This photo below is of Jounieh in 1970 and I am using this as a starting point for painting/weathering rolling stock

 

 

Going to "keep it simple stupid" with the flat car and box car.....

 

Wish me luck......

 

Edited January 11 by Lineas Cubanas

[Mol_PMB]

The green loco in that photo looks a lot like this...

https://www.keymodelworld.com/article/murphy-models-class-121-diesel-oo

Not identical but maybe a starting point?

 

[doctor quinn]

5 hours ago, Lineas Cubanas said:

 

Yes, that's another problem I found with NEM couplers with bar couplings, I found them practically impossible to uncouple without help from "the great hand in the sky"

 

I am not familiar with the Roco close coupler but after a quick google search, I realise they are not too dissimilar from the Fleischmann ones that came as an alternative with a flat car I purchased. The Fleischmann couplers seem so far to:

 

- uncouple/couple "comparatively gracefully"

- look ok

- do not cause an unsightly massive gap between the wagons

- can be fit easily in the existing NEM coupler box

- can be purchased economically

 

So we'll see how we get on.....

 

 

Thanks for this.

 

I have subscribed and watched a few videos. He makes everything look fairly straightforward so I think I need to revisit the wagons I have done so far......

Im a big fan of revisiting my weathering projects, sometimes years later.

[Nick_Burman]

3 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

The green loco in that photo looks a lot like this...

https://www.keymodelworld.com/article/murphy-models-class-121-diesel-oo

Not identical but maybe a starting point?

 

 

The Murphy Models 121 has two issues, one is that it's OO scale and the second that it's one of those locos too expensive and rare to chop up...

 

Cheers NB

[Lineas Cubanas]

4 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

The green loco in that photo looks a lot like this...

https://www.keymodelworld.com/article/murphy-models-class-121-diesel-oo

Not identical but maybe a starting point?

 

 

18 minutes ago, Nick_Burman said:

 

The Murphy Models 121 has two issues, one is that it's OO scale and the second that it's one of those locos too expensive and rare to chop up...

 

Cheers NB

 

The green loco is in fact an EMD G6 seen here in the loco shed at Furn El Chebbak:

 

 

 

"This GM-6 (650hp/600 hp generator input) is a truly tiny loco (31'0" length, 9'8" width, 12'10" height, can be reduced to 11'9"). This type had a single D47 traction motor and three axles. Drive was through a gearbox arrangement again. Only six built, a prototype that spent its entire career as a works shunter at LaGrange, plus four for Lebanon, and one for a gold mine in South Africa, all in 1959-61."  From Borre Ludvigesen Railways of Lebanon Website.

 

I am not actually aware of any models that are produced in HO scale or even similar so have ignored this loco for my purposes. For motive power, I am sticking with the previously mentioned Polish SP45, the Uerdingen Diesel Rail Cars for passenger service and this Locotracteur Gaston Moyse :

 

 

"These diesel shunters appear both at the Mar Mkhael yards and here at Furn el Shebbak. Hughes lists these among the DHP narrow gauge locomotives, but specifies them as 0-4-OD CEL 201 through 203. They were built at the Gaston Moyse works in Paris in 1936. However, Craig Miller indicates that the one in his picture from Mar Mkhael was standard gauge. Here the shunter is on the same rails as a standard gauge commuter car." From Borre Ludvigesen Railways of Lebanon Website.

 

Both locos together in the 1960s:

 

[doctor quinn]

19 hours ago, Lineas Cubanas said:

 

 

The green loco is in fact an EMD G6 seen here in the loco shed at Furn El Chebbak:

 

 

 

"This GM-6 (650hp/600 hp generator input) is a truly tiny loco (31'0" length, 9'8" width, 12'10" height, can be reduced to 11'9"). This type had a single D47 traction motor and three axles. Drive was through a gearbox arrangement again. Only six built, a prototype that spent its entire career as a works shunter at LaGrange, plus four for Lebanon, and one for a gold mine in South Africa, all in 1959-61."  From Borre Ludvigesen Railways of Lebanon Website.

 

I am not actually aware of any models that are produced in HO scale or even similar so have ignored this loco for my purposes. For motive power, I am sticking with the previously mentioned Polish SP45, the Uerdingen Diesel Rail Cars for passenger service and this Locotracteur Gaston Moyse :

 

 

"These diesel shunters appear both at the Mar Mkhael yards and here at Furn el Shebbak. Hughes lists these among the DHP narrow gauge locomotives, but specifies them as 0-4-OD CEL 201 through 203. They were built at the Gaston Moyse works in Paris in 1936. However, Craig Miller indicates that the one in his picture from Mar Mkhael was standard gauge. Here the shunter is on the same rails as a standard gauge commuter car." From Borre Ludvigesen Railways of Lebanon Website.

 

Both locos together in the 1960s:

 

Hobbytec Modelismo (Brazil) do a body and frame kit for a GL8 but I think the hood might be too high.  The recommended drive is an Atlas Alco switcher which show up at quite reasonable prices on eBay.

 

 http://hobbytec.com.br/paginas/produtos/visualizar_produto.php?cod_prod=9

 

(R$ is Brazilian Reals R$160 is about £25)

[Lineas Cubanas]

On 12/01/2024 at 12:28, doctor quinn said:

Hobbytec Modelismo (Brazil) do a body and frame kit for a GL8 but I think the hood might be too high.  The recommended drive is an Atlas Alco switcher which show up at quite reasonable prices on eBay.

 

 http://hobbytec.com.br/paginas/produtos/visualizar_produto.php?cod_prod=9

 

(R$ is Brazilian Reals R$160 is about £25)

 

I think this loco is similar especially with regards to the cab but yes the hood looks little bit too high.......

 

I did also consider using a bit of "modellers licence" as the loco below resembles a BB 63000 produced in HO scale by Roco and Piko. It's a Chemin de Fer Syriens (CFS) Class LDE 650 Bo Bo DE Built by CEM around 1968, photographed in Aleppo.

 

One could assume it was on loan to C.E.L , arrived in Beirut via the Coastal Line which ran to Homs in Syria and was "marooned" as result of the Civil War.

 

 

Other motive power options are Steam but am pretty sure they only ran until around 1974 ......

 

 

Edited January 17 by Lineas Cubanas

[Chen Melling]

1 hour ago, Lineas Cubanas said:

 

 

I've never seen this superb photo before, nor anything else like it from Lebanon before.

[Lineas Cubanas]

Bit of an update on a few things I have been doing:

 

Test fitting some fruit trees and trying to wok out where they look best.......?

 

 

Adding some roadside billboards.......maybe a bit "cliche" ?

 

 

Getting some rolling stock painted and weathered....

 

 

[Gypsy]

Stunning. The only time I visited Beirut was a fair bit after the period you're modelling but you have definitely captured the mashaeir ('vibe') that I remember.

[britishcolumbian]

On 08/01/2024 at 11:24, Lineas Cubanas said:

This is where we are at currently:

 

 

 

This is absolutely phenomenal work! And I love the choice of subject, as I'm a fan of modelling "off the beaten track"!

 

I have to say that having read your concern about the brightness of colours of buildings clashing with the backdrop, I think this photo shows that it's perfect, artistically - the colourful buildings where the sun is coming through, and the dark clouds over the Green Line area, I think it perfect both visually and metaphorically.

[doctor quinn]

8 hours ago, Lineas Cubanas said:

Bit of an update on a few things I have been doing:

 

Test fitting some fruit trees and trying to wok out where they look best.......?

 

 

Adding some roadside billboards.......maybe a bit "cliche" ?

 

 

Getting some rolling stock painted and weathered....

 

 

I think the posters work to establish the time and location, they're evident in the prototype pictures earlier in the thread.

[Lineas Cubanas]

23 hours ago, Gypsy said:

Stunning. The only time I visited Beirut was a fair bit after the period you're modelling but you have definitely captured the mashaeir ('vibe') that I remember.

 

17 hours ago, britishcolumbian said:

 

This is absolutely phenomenal work! And I love the choice of subject, as I'm a fan of modelling "off the beaten track"!

 

I have to say that having read your concern about the brightness of colours of buildings clashing with the backdrop, I think this photo shows that it's perfect, artistically - the colourful buildings where the sun is coming through, and the dark clouds over the Green Line area, I think it perfect both visually and metaphorically.

 

Thanks for the compliments and thanks for taking the time to tell me!

[Lineas Cubanas]

15 hours ago, doctor quinn said:

I think the posters work to establish the time and location, they're evident in the prototype pictures earlier in the thread.

 

Yes, agreed with the time and location, just think sometimes they can be a bit "twee".

 

I think the Almaza (beer) one is a bit too modern so sometimes less is more....

[Gypsy]

On the contrary, the more modern Almaza hoardings look nothing like that. Its one of the things that generated an instant recollection.

Edited January 27 by Gypsy

[Lineas Cubanas]

Rolling stock progress......

 

Before:

 

 

After: 

 

 

(The posters on the side of the car are to represent support for one of the Lebanese militia during the Civil War)

[Mikkel]

Excellent weathering, quite a transformation.  And an allegory of life 🙂

[steve45]

Superb, have you thought of doing tutorials on here?

[Lineas Cubanas]

16 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Excellent weathering, quite a transformation.  And an allegory of life 🙂

 

13 hours ago, steve45 said:

Superb, have you thought of doing tutorials on here?

 

Thanks for the encouragement, I appreciate it.

 

To be honest, I am not as confident with painting/weathering rolling stock (and motive power) as with scenery and buildings…….I just tend to “make it up as I go along”

 

Fortunately, with regards to the rolling stock it seems to have gone ok so far. I have pretty much finished the roster of 20 or so wagons. I need to go back and refine/add a few details to some but they are pretty much done. There was only one wagon I was massively unhappy with so I stripped off all the weathering and will hopefully give it another go this week….

 

The only other wagons I have some nagging doubt with are these 2 x tank cars below, not sure why…….?

 

 

On the layout, I have pretty much decided on trees now .......

 

 

And hope to start painting/weathering the motive power next …….yikes!

Edited January 30 by Lineas Cubanas

[steve45]

 

Your very modest....

 

Perhaps you can point us in the direction of what methods / materials you have used so we can explore further 

 

"The only other wagons I have some nagging doubt with are these 2 x tank cars below, not sure why…….?" - perhaps is it that there are no apparent dribbles from the filler cap area?

[Andy Hayter]

Are they gas or liquid tankers?  To my inexpert eye they look like gas - butane or propane - in which case there will be no dribbles but perhaps some rain washed staining.

[Neils WRX]

All I can say is excellent modelling!!

 

Looking forward to watching this thread develop.

 

Thanks,

 

Neil

[Lineas Cubanas]

On 30/01/2024 at 13:17, steve45 said:

 

Your very modest....

 

Perhaps you can point us in the direction of what methods / materials you have used so we can explore further 

 

I will try and put together some kind of tutorial post .......will probably be on a loco as most of the rolling stock is done.

 

Have never weathered or painted a loco in my life so far so could have disaster written all over it......