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Southern Railway - Bulleid carriage No.2526 built in 1951

2526 in Departmental Service at Eastleigh, 19/8/91
Jeremy Ovenden

This coach, built to a Southern Railway design by the newly formed British Railways, is unusual in its "semi-open" seating arrangement, having 16 seats in two compartments, and 32 in an open saloon.

It entered traffic as part of 5-coach set No.862 (with brake third 2525 and composite 5921 and two unspecified corridor thirds) for the Waterloo-Salisbury-West of England service, and was painted in the crimson lake and cream livery of the time. The set was reduced to 3 coaches from 10 Setember 1951, becoming 5 coaches again for Summer 1952 services by the addition of corridor thirds Nos.101 and 102. In September 1952 it again reverted to a three-coach set, and remained as such therafter.

About 1960 the coach lost its side buffers on the non-brake end, since the sets were considered fixed formations, and were buck-eye coupled. As withdrawals started 1964 the intermediate buffers were restored, although Set 862 remained intact until 1966 when fixed sets were abandoned by the Southern Region.

Remaining on BR in "service use" after withdrawal from passenger traffic more than 30 years ago, initially as internal user at Newhaven, then from 1974 as a departmental vehicle as the Mechanical Engineers RSE Section Instruction Car at Stewarts Lane, it came to the Bluebell from the VSOE's Stewarts Lane depot.