Minor details but important, questions

[kevsmiththai]

With my limited knowledge of Japan can anybody help me with some random questions? I'm really getting stuck into the outskirts of Hakuho on my new Z layout ready for a show in March. As a JNR Steam era layout I'm looking at the 1960s era.

 

As you enter the outskirts of a town or village in Japan is there a roadside  nameboard and if so what would it look like? I've got the station nameboard sussed

 

The Sankei 'Sendai' bath house has a chimney at the rear. Would it have been coal or wood firing for the heating? I want to scratchbuild a fuel store out the back.

 

As the U.S Army occupied Japan after WW2 did any of the Army trucks, like the GMC 6x6s, end up in civilan use ? ( I have a load of Z-panzer ones I can repaint)

 

Cheers

 

Kev

[marknewton]

Kev, I can answer two of your questions.

 

I have a book that has lots of photos of domestic scenes from the end of the Pacific war until the 1970s. The bathhouse photos all show woodpiles for heating fuel.

 

Another book I have tells the story of "bonnet buses". Post war there were numerous conversions of GMC 6x6 trucks into buses. The book has photos of them in Tokyo, Osaka, Kuratsu, Kobe, Nagoya, and with Tokyu and Seitetsu bus services.

 

Ive also seen photos of them being used by what I think are haulage contractors.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[bikkuri bahn]

Old signs used a white background with blue lettering until 1971, when it became the current blue background with white lettering. Roadside signs will have various destinations with distance and arrows. Here is a page with some pictures:

http://tok175.jakou.com/kyugata.htm

 

The terms for the old road signs is  旧型道路標識.

You can us it for Google images to get more examples.

[cteno4]

Thanks bikkuri, nice resource.

 

jeff

[kevsmiththai]

Thanks bikkuri. they are just what I was looking for

 

Kev

[kevsmiththai]

15 hours ago, marknewton said:

Kev, I can answer two of your questions.

 

I have a book that has lots of photos of domestic scenes from the end of the Pacific war until the 1970s. The bathhouse photos all show woodpiles for heating fuel.

 

Another book I have tells the story of "bonnet buses". Post war there were numerous conversions of GMC 6x6 trucks into buses. The book has photos of them in Tokyo, Osaka, Kuratsu, Kobe, Nagoya, and with Tokyu and Seitetsu bus services.

 

Ive also seen photos of them being used by what I think are haulage contractors.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

Thanks Mark

 

Some of these are now going overseas to the far east!

 

[MichiK]

A little addendum:

Isuzu has produced the TW/TS series bonnet trucks for military and commercial use, which has adopted many visual elements from the GMC. Hence, the efforts to convert a GMC into an Isuzu are probably small

 

Apart from the (obvious) forrestry, there are two possibilities that I like in particular:

- the TSD40 bonnet bus, and

- this "container" truck (from https://ameblo.jp/porsche356a911s/entry-12075642075.html, where - amongst other - you can also find some schematics)