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Headquarters Train of Three Warflats (this page) Company Train of Nine Warflats ![]() Title area of a Great Western Railway diagram that was date stamped 19th August 1940. AFV = Armoured Fighting Vehicle. The diagram shows two 'Warflat' trains, both hauled by a GWR 2800 class 2-8-0 steam locomotive. One is labelled 'Company Train' and consists of 9 'Warflats' plus supporting vehicles. The other is labelled 'Headquarters Train' and consists of 3 'Warflat' wagons plus supporting vehicles. ![]() Diagram of the Headquarters Train of 3 'Warflat' wagons, 2 ramp wagons and 3 coaches. The two ramp wagons had a removable wheelset and a jack mechanism for raising and lowering that end of the wagon (some had both wheelsets removable). With one wheelset removed and the wagon floor forming a slope it was then possible to use it as a ramp to drive tanks and armoured personnel carriers onto or off the train. Each ramp wagon carried an armoured vehicle. This was for safety purposes because it was found that they were more stable when loaded. The loading procedure was to drive two AFVs onto the adjacent 'Warflat', raise the ramp wagon using the inbuilt jack, insert the wheelset, move the end AFV onto the ramp wagon and move the remaining AFV on the end 'Warflat' into a central position. Unloading was the reverse of this operation.
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