RMweb Premium richierich Posted June 11, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 11, 2011 My local model has the KFA in stock. Just wish had the space to model intermodel operations Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted June 12, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 12, 2011 Thanks Arran, the Nurse will call when it's your turn Very nice looking wagons from Hornby and I'm glad they've done the more common Tiphook version seen in Freightliner and DBS intermodals plus the latter's MoD services. A set of the Tiphook KFA's are also used on some gypsum workings. At least one has been converted to a JZA (NLU93465) and fitted with a fan module for ventilating tunnels during engineering works. Discussed here Unfortunately the links to fotopic are dead now. Anybody want a couple of containers? Cheers, Mick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NINJA Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 Another nice wagon to add to the Intermodal traffic, the only problem I am finding is the couplings, I have a mixture of Dapol, Bachmann, Realtrack and Hornby and it is impossible to get them running reliably without uncoupling at some point. Seems I shall have to break the bank and standardize on Kaydee's for the intermodal stock. Anyone any alternative? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 Ninja, I use Kadees within rakes as well as between wagons where appropriate (#17 on the Bachmann intermodals), leaving the tension lock couplings only at the outer ends of the rakes. I tend to do something similar with fixed rakes of coaches too. I haven't had many problems with this approach at all, even between brands of wagons. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 An excellent wagon, runs well with other brands of intermodal wagons. Just debating whether to remove some of the spigots to make them more compatible with C-Rail 40' containers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 Chip, would it be easier to drill holes in the containers to match the spigot positions? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Fisher Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 I wonder if Hornby have any plans to sell them minus the containers....Considering there are so many out there, why get them so erm...well erm? The wagon looks spot on the ISO containers jarr with me Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 My local model has the KFA in stock. Just wish had the space to model intermodel operations They also appear on MOD traffic nowadays potentially in very short rakes (try OCA-KFA-OCA for a minimalist starter rake), and there are engineers uses (Mick has posted details of one there but there are others!) - go back pre-privatisation and you can use them in very short rakes loaded with Aluminium on the WHL - lots of usages and not all need a container terminal... They (and the Railease sisters) are starting to get smart blue repaints as well which stand out very shiny at the moment (you can read the numbers too....which is nice!!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
westie7 Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 go back pre-privatisation and you can use them in very short rakes loaded with Aluminium on the WHL Which is what I would fancy doing, getting good shots of the 30ft freightliner flats for the ingots is not easy now that fotopic has gone. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 The ones on my site (from Gavin Judd's images) should end up back on there but i've held off organising rescanning in the hope I can access the Fotopic ones at some point. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 Chip, would it be easier to drill holes in the containers to match the spigot positions? SRman, I'm better at filing than drilling! The C-Rail 40' containers are not easily drilled being narrower away from the corners. In the end I decided to file off the centre pair and a 20' pair of spigots to accomodate one 40' and one 20' box. Three Dapol 20' boxes also fit with this configuration. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfsup Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 They also appear on MOD traffic nowadays potentially in very short rakes (try OCA-KFA-OCA for a minimalist starter rake), and there are engineers uses (Mick has posted details of one there but there are others!) - go back pre-privatisation and you can use them in very short rakes loaded with Aluminium on the WHL - lots of usages and not all need a container terminal... They (and the Railease sisters) are starting to get smart blue repaints as well which stand out very shiny at the moment (you can read the numbers too....which is nice!!) Aye, The repaints are being done by Arlington Fleet Services during the KFAs overhaul in Eastleigh Works - Certainly makes quite an odd sight seeing stacks of 3 KFAs with there bogies undergoing overhaul next to them...Now of course, the works is filling with 66 too! (Though there more a storage job, bar GBRFs) Just need to work out how darker the shade of blue is to Hornbys KFAs next...and add some to the list! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 First Group dark blue maybe? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_B Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Anyone know if they intend to do the Red 20' MOD side door containers? Ian_B Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWJ Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 A set of the Tiphook KFA's are also used on some gypsum workings. Yes, I'd be interested in a rake of these wagons if only the 20' gypsum containers were available in model form. Gypsum trains can be seen on many high-profile lines including the ECML and the Settle-Carlisle, so I would have thought they could be popular with modellers. As well as KFA wagons, they use FEAs (similar to those produced by Dapol) and PFA four-wheelers (similar to those produced in kit form by DC kits). I believe the original livery for the containers was white with 'British Gypsum' logo, later changed to dark blue and nowadays a lighter blue with no logo. Photo of KFAs on gypsum train here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roger_sutcliffe/5602141999/sizes/l/in/photostream/ Close-up of a container here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blue-diesels/5642970504/ A representation of these containers is available from (I think) S Kits, but being a resin casting the detail isn't as crisp as an injection moulded model and mine was slightly warped. If any manufacturer is interested in producing an alternative kit or RTR container, I for one would buy twenty to thirty to make up my gypsum train. I also have a drawing I made up from the standard ISO dimensions, photographs and measurements with the intention of scratchbuilding. Apologies that this is slightly off-topic, but hopefully still of interest to KFA purchasers! Cheers, Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Steven B Posted June 15, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 15, 2011 C=Rail do the MOD side door container in N so might be persuaded to do it in OO too. Weren't KFAs also used for carrying rolls of paper? The other traffic KFAs were used for was (and still is) Binliner traffic. Happy modelling. Steven B. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_B Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Spoke with Arran about upscaling his 2mm MOD containers to 4mm and he said that his program was very full for the next 2 years. Hence tthe question - are Hornby likely to do them? Ian_B C=Rail do the MOD side door container in N so might be persuaded to do it in OO too. Weren't KFAs also used for carrying rolls of paper? The other traffic KFAs were used for was (and still is) Binliner traffic. Happy modelling. Steven B. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 I think only Hornby can answer that question. There have been no suggestions that they intend to do so this year. Perhaps a quiet word in Simon Kohler's ear could get the ball rolling but be aware that Simon never let's the cat out of the bag regarding future production plans! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliepetty Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 Thanks Arran, the Nurse will call when it's your turn Very nice looking wagons from Hornby and I'm glad they've done the more common Tiphook version seen in Freightliner and DBS intermodals plus the latter's MoD services. The fixed spigots are a bit of a pain, other than those supplied the only containers I have that fit are Dapol 20' on the outer positions. Sockets on Arran's wonderful boxes and tanks are a little bit wider apart than the spigots. Bachmann superheight 20' just go on the ends but anything else will need to have holes drilled to accommodate the extra mountings. The supplied 20' containers are difficult to fit on the centre position, I think the cutouts for the central spigots aren't quite big enough and mounts possibly a tad too close together. Bit tight fitting boxes door to door too. A welcome addition to the intermodal fleet, all those spare Bachmann spigots may well come in useful now. That's if I can find the safe place I put them! Failing that Mr P can supply those for the FLAs Graham Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smg201 Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 After being offered a great deal to buy a KFA or two after not being so pleased with the massive delay in there manafacture. I find myself overall dissapointed with the final product. Yes the KFA wagon itself is very good, highly detailed and certainly mixes in well with Dapol FEAs/KTAs and RealTracks FLAs. But! I wonder would anyone agree with my critisms. The blue shade is too light, the real things (when clean!) are a much darker (FGW Blue) as seen from recent overhauls in Eastleigh. Now OK. I shall let the wagons off, as they are good. Its the containers that i really can just not like. Not only do they look like a rugged toy, why are the ribs so sharp?, but the colouring is totally off too. I am a big fan of Maersk related containers. Bachmann and C=Rail colours are spot on. The containers really let these wagons down. Only if you could replace the containers, but then as mentioned above, the spigots are fixed...bad effort that. I hope for future releases Hornby actually go and have a look at a container with a colour matching device (in my lab we have a colour analysing too, basically a infrared laser...accurate to about 99.01% if Hornby wish to borrow it?)....or just go buy millions of Maersk grey paints of C=Rail It might just be me who is dissapointed by the containers and colour shadings....if it isnt just me, i certainly shall be emailing Hornby after a consenus. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 But! I wonder would anyone agree with my critisms. We'll see! The blue shade is too light, the real things (when clean!) are a much darker (FGW Blue) as seen from recent overhauls in Eastleigh. I don't agree with that one, the current refurbed dark blue shade isn't the same as the original i'm almost certain, and the markings on the models suggest a wagon in it's original 1980s paint (it has the original Tiphook Rail lettering which the refurbs don't retain) and 'modern' HSE style electrification flashes, so the wagon is lettered as if it's a faded and worn older wagon in recent years, so i'm happy with the light blue in that context. If they do an 80s version it probably wants to be a slightly different shade, but i'm sure they weren't as dark as the modern shade - was it rail blue even to match the FFA/FGA? Anyone know for sure? Its the containers that i really can just not like. Not only do they look like a rugged toy, why are the ribs so sharp? The dry box containers to me are a bit of a dissapointment, the ribs are indeed very wierd. They don't replicate the modern corrugated ribs very well at all, but they don't replicate the previous 'square' rib styles very well at all either. They do give the impression that Hornby just decided to sketch up something vaguely box-shaped in CAD to load on it without having a decent look at real boxes, which is a big shame with something which could be ubiquitous in it's usage if they had managed to get it looking right. Tanktainer looks nice though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham108 Posted May 7, 2020 Share Posted May 7, 2020 Apologies for resurrecting this old thread but I'm in need of assistance with this item and thought this was the easiest way. I bought some of the R6484 KFA's (with the Maersk / Stolt containers) some years ago but I've only just been able to run them - and I'm experiencing major problems with the couplings on them and am hoping somebody on here also had the same problem and manged to correct it (I did try the Hornby forum but without any success). The problem as I see it is the couplings are attached direct to the underframe of the wagon rather than the bogie - I've never seen this before in over 50 years of being in the hobby. The couplings don't readily align with each other, even when trying to join them together on a straight piece of track. They require manual manipulation to ensure they don't 'cross'. And when running they couplings tend to be all over the place, even in a straight line and going round curves they more often than not derail - I have a minimum of 4th radius set track with the majority of curves a minimum of 36". Has anybody got any idea how to use these couplings so they work properly please? Have the more recent versions of this model got the same couplings on them? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Hilux5972 Posted May 7, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 7, 2020 Try adding some powdered graphite to the rubbing surfaces. This worked wonders for my Class 50’s and 60’s were the coupling didn’t sit straight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham108 Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 I'm now beginning to suspect there was something wrong with the original version of the KFA container model. Looking at the well-known auction site, the price for older models is significantly less then newer versions. So unless there has been substantial re-tooling by Hornby I can't see any other viable explanation for the price difference, Can anybody with the newer model please confirm the type of couplings used; i.e are they bogie mounted? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham108 Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 AT LAST - I think I've solved my problem. I found a video on YouTube (user GreatWestern93 so thanks to them) which has a review of the KFA. In the video the couplings are flicked to the side and promptly return to the centre. I tried this on mine and one end of 2 of the units didn't do this. Further inspection identified the coupling rods are slightly bend and are catching on the end of the wagon. So I took the coupling out of the worst offender and use this as the 'end' wagon, and I'm using the other as the link end to the loco - and the 4 wagons can now go around my layout without incident. Now all I've got to do is fit the fiddly little bits onto the buffer beams. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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