Built in 1935 for London Transport by the Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Company as a 10 ton Flat Wagon for tube working, two wagons - F330 and F327 - were converted in 1949 to Brake Vans by adding a Cab in the form of a steel and glass "sentry box" for the Guard, half the width of the vehicle. With Westinghouse (air brakes) and hand brakes, they were used with the experimental 400-h.p. tube dimension Diesel-Electric Locomotive No DEL 120 of 1941, that was at the time working engineers' trains. The numbers were changed at this point to FB 578 and FB 579 respectively.

In 1962 FB 578 and FB 579 were modified to their current form, by increasing the weight to 18 tons 6 cwt and building full width cabs.

With the end of steam working on London Transport they were used as match wagons for hauling scrap "1938 Tube Stock" out over British Rail tracks. When this use finished, FB 578 was stored at Ruislip until 1982 when it was purchased by the URRST (FB579 was cut up for scrap) and transported to Quainton on 28th June 1984.

FB 578 was displayed on the track alongside the Underground Cars, until in 2006 it went to the Appleby Training & Heritage Centre for complete restoration, which cost about £13,000 and took two years.

The vehicle was sand blasted, much plating around the cab renewed, truck floor, new glass, wood side and end boards have been fitted. Various small hooks and chains, axle box oil plugs, etc. replaced.

The Vehicle returned to Quainton in July 2008, joining the URRST LT Wagon collection.

Trustee Brian Ammann, who looks after the vehicles at Quainton, said, "I am very pleased to see FB 578 back at Quainton and look forward to seeing it possibly working as part of a 1960s LT Engineers Works / Ballast Train".

Photo:
Sheila Lobley - Underground Brake Van No 578 returns to the BRC

Notes:
The text in this Quainton Railway Society publication was written in 2008 and so does not reflect events in the 6+ years since publication. The text and photographs are repeated verbatim from the original publication, with only a few minor grammar changes but some clarifying notes are added if deemed necessary. The photos from the original publication are provided as scans in this internet version of this long out of print publication.

Reference:
London Transport Flat Brake Van FB 578 returns to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre - Brian Ammann - Quainton News No. 100 - October 2008