a collector of train and vehicle models in Kunming,Yunnan Adventure Travel

a collector of train and vehicle models in Kunming

Zhang Xiaoyong(张晓勇) has been a collector of train and vehicle models in Kunming for years. He has collected more than 700 models spanning from steam engine era, oil-fired internal-combustion engine era to electric era.

His collections are exhibited in a 20-square-meter room. Zhang has spent 4 years collecting and building a 8-square-meter sand table of rail track at a ratio 1:87 of a real train, which is reappearance of the old Kunming railway station.

Zhang has more than 400 pieces of vehicle models including Ford T Model classic car and the first Jiefang Track made in China.

Zhang said he has been fond of car models since his childhood. "I was fascinated by toys of car models when I was young. My major in college was machinery. But I only started collecting after 1990."

Zhang also made some marine models by hands. He completed a model of Black Pearl which was shown in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean after three months' work in 2011.

"Having collected some train models, I decided to make a sand table, and then the old Kunming Railway Station occurred to me." Zhang said when he started to work on the station which had been replaced by a new one, he found a platform ticket on which the original appearance of the station was printed. He made the railway building on the basis of the photo.

The sand table consists of a dozen of tunnels. To finish the sand table, Zhang should master machinery, physics and painting. The railway route was also designed by the reference of Chengdu-Kunming Railway Station.

Zhang introduced that most of his vehicles were bought online. "As to train model collectors, they prefer purchasing online, such as taobao or other forums."

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