Description
The Prototype
100 of these large vans were built for Rover Cars by Rautaruukki of Finland in 1995 to convey preformed car parts and completed sub-assemblies securely between plants. Coded KSA-A under TOPS, and nicknamed 'Cube' or 'Talgo' wagons , they incorporated full-length sliding covers as well as floors that could be raised and lowered to simplify unloading while optimising use of the restrictive British loading gauge. They travelled to Britain from Finland via the Channel Tunnel and were used between Swindon, Longbridge and other Rover plants. At first they were hauled by pairs of RfD Class 47s; after privatisation EWS class 66s, and occasionally 56s and 60s, were used.
In 2001 WH Malcolm acquired several KSAs for secure transportation of Anglo-Scottish freight on the WCML and two were repainted into Malcolm's Logistics livery. Traction for these trains was provided by DRS (Class 66 or pairs of Class 37s) and the KSA wagons were marshalled together, often immediately behind the locomotive. The rest of the train usually comprised Megafret container wagons.
In 2012 several redundant KSA wagons were acquired by the wagon leasing company NACCO and converted to timber carriers. The work involved removal of the sliding covers and the hydraulic floor mechanism, installation of 14 pairs of heavy duty stanchions and the removal of some end panels, and replacement with bars designed to stop logs sliding through. The timber wagons are used with other van conversions including the IWA timber carrier wagons previously offered by Revolution Trains. They are used on trains to and from Chirk, most recently on a newly trialled traffic from Aberystwyth.
