Graham Farish - 373-602E - Rolling Stock, Van, VGA - GB Railfreight - 210420

Specific Item Information: The VGA vans were built by British Rail between 1982 and 1983 for use on Speedlink services. Not only were they longer than the VAA-VDA air-braked vans that went before them, they also had taller openings as the sides, which were formed from a pair of sliding doors, extended above the roof line leaving just a narrow fixed roof section along the centre line of the van. Entering traffic on Speedlink services and finished in bare aluminium with red ends, the introduction of the new Railfreight identity in 1987 saw a number of VGAs gain yellow ends and Railfreight Distribution branding. Unlike many of their predecessors, the VGAs continued to find use after Speedlink services ceased in 1993 and soon many were formed into block trains carrying all manner of merchandise from explosives for the Ministry of Defence to petfood from Scotland. EWS became the main operator of the vans following Privatisation and a good number remain in service today.

The Graham Farish model is constructed using a highly detailed, injection moulded bodyshell which accurately captures the profile of these utilitarian vehicles. The ribs along each side and the distinctive end details are precisely replicated, whilst the wagon’s deep solebars and FAT7 suspension completes the look and provides a sturdy chassis on which our van can run. At either end metal buffers are employed along with separate metal handrails at each corner, and blackened metal wheelsets guarantee free-running straight from the box. Authentic colours and typefaces are employed during the livery application process, with sophisticated printing techniques used to allow even the smallest of logos and lettering to be replicated whilst remaining legible resulting in a model that will look at home in any modern image collection.

Road Name History: GB Railfreight is a rail freight company in the United Kingdom. It is owned by EQT Partners through its subsidiary holding company Hector Rail. GB Railfreight was founded in 1999 by GB Railways. Unlike competitors DB Cargo UK and Freightliner, the company was not formed from parts of the privatised British Rail freight sectors. In April 2000, after winning an eight-year contract to operate infrastructure trains for Railtrack, GB Railfreight ordered seven Class 66 locomotives. An operator's licence was granted in July 2000. Operations commenced on 1 April 2001. In February 2002, GBRf commenced operating its first Intermodal container contract from the Port of Felixstowe for MSC Mendite. Also in 2002, GBRf began its first bulk freight contract for British Gypsum.

From Wikipedia

Brand/Importer Information: Graham Farish is a British brand of N gauge model trains, that belongs to Bachmann Europe.
The company entered the model train business in the early 1950s, focusing on British OO gauge rolling stock, track and accessories.
In the 1970s, it started to produce N gauge models under the GRAFAR label. After the withdrawal of Lima and Minitrix from the UK market in the late 1980s, Graham Farish was the only major supplier of British outline models in N gauge, soon withdrawing from the OO scale market.
In 2001, Graham Farish was purchased by Kader Industries of Hong Kong, and absorbed by its subsidiary Bachmann Industries. Bachmann immediately closed the British manufacturing facility and moved production to China.
Bachmann have since increased the size of the Farish range, by duplicating models introduced to the Bachmann OO range; often, an OO scale Bachmann Branchline model is followed between 6 months to a year later by an N gauge Graham Farish model.

Manufacturer Information: Bachmann, a US company founded in 1835, was purchased by Kader Industries in 1987. Kader formed Bachmann Industries Europe in 1989 with their main UK headquarters in Moat Way, Barwell, Leicestershire, UK (former Palitoy location) and the following year launched the Bachmann Branchline range for the British market with the moulds that had previously been used for the Palitoy Mainline and Replica Railways model railway products. From this starting point Bachmann has developed the range further and now produce a large range of models.
In 2001 Bachmann Branchline bought Graham Farish, an N gauge manufacturer, and since then many of their models have been made available in both gauges.
Bachmann Europe portfolio also comprises other model trains brands such as Liliput.