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London, Brighton & South Coast Railway
Elliptical-roofed (Balloon) Brake 3rd Carriage No. 89

A 19-foot section of this carriage, consisting of the brake end and compartment F, without the original roof, survived as a garden shed (having been obtained in 1945 by a member of Ifield station staff) and was donated to the Bluebell Railway by one of the original owner's descendents, and recovered in 2012. The dismantled body sections are stored in a container at Horsted Keynes. It represents the only preserved remnant of the Brighton's "Balloon" stock, so named because of the high elliptical roof which characterised the main-line stock built between 1905 and 1907.

Two 54' carriages were listed as built to LBSCR D122 (in LBSCR Diagram Book 1/Register 3), No. 37 in 1906 and No. 89 in 1907. They had a brake compartment, six Second Class compartments, and a lavatory at the far end accessible by central doorways from the end two compartments.

Not our coach, but the other carriage to this design.
LBSCR D122/192, originally No. 37, as Lavatory Brake Third
in SR days as No. 4054 - E. Jackson (Gerry Bixley collection)

No. 89 was allocated to Sets 27 (Brighton/London Bridge) and 50 (Portsmouth/London Bridge) in 1908 (assumed an error, but it's unknown which set it actually ran in). In 1912 it (but not No. 37) was downgraded to Third Class, as No. 1677 (in LBSCR Carriage Register No.3) and given Diagram 192 in LBSCR Diagram Book 2. It is thus known as D-/192 (in the nomenclature showing the diagram number in both books 1 and 2). Some time around or soon after, it was given an additional air pipe at the brake end for use in conjunction with a slip carriage.

D-/192 Lavatory Brake Third floor plan from LBSCR Diagram Book 2

From 1923 the carriage became Southern Railway No. 3815, and given SR Diagram 207, which indicated that it now had access to the lavatory from three compartments, rather than the original two. Withdrawn in 1940, it was sent to Crawley station, and was grounded at either Crawley or Ifield until 1945.

Recovery of body sections in 2012. Left: interior of Compartment F,
centre: one of the bodyside sections of the brake van, and
right: the brake end. (Ian White)

Type: Lavatory Brake 2nd D122 / Lav Brake 3rd D-/192 (from 1912)
Built: 1907
Length: 54'
Seats 57 (later 55)
Original No: 89
Other Nos: LBSCR 1677, SR 3815
Withdrawn: 1940
Preserved: 2012 (19 foot sections of body only)
To Bluebell: 2012
Owner: Bluebell Railway Trust

Further Reading: LB&SCR Carriages, Volume 3, Ian White, HMRS, 2019.

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