Trains4U has received its exclusive model of the PFB/KFA ‘Warflat ’ for ‘OO’ gauge. MARK CHIVERS reviews this new arrival.
For modellers of modern-era military traffic, Cavalex Models’ eagerly awaited ‘OO’ gauge PFB/KFA bogie Warflat wagons have arrived. Produced exclusively for Trains4U of Peterborough, these newly-tooled models represent vehicles built at BR’s Shildon Works between 1976 and 1981 for the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
65 of these new Warflats – numbered 95233-95297 – were introduced for transporting MoD light armour, as well as smaller vehicles such as army Land Rovers. To aid loading, they feature clipped-top Oleo buffers for clearance, steel plate strengtheners at each end of the decking, jack supports at the corners and shackles to help secure vehicles in place.
Initially delivered in plain MoD green, they were dual-braked and carried the TOPS code PFB into the 1990s, when isolation of the vacuum brake equipment resulted in them being recoded as KFAs. Yellow painted buffer beams were subsequently applied to most of the KFA fleet, which the wagons carry to this day. They can be seen operating across the rail network.
Above: Bogies are injection moulded while brake discs are modelled on opposing wheels in each bogie.
Eight new ‘OO’ gauge models form the first batch – four PFBs in MoD plain green and four KFAs in MoD green with yellow buffer beams. Further examples are being considered for a second batch offering additional numbers in these initial colour schemes as well as a batch reflecting those KFAs that continued to carry the MoD’s plain green colour scheme, for added variety.<…
