Photo:
Robert Frise - Newly delivered brake van sat behind the Down Yard Restoration Building

This ex-LNWR Crystal Palace goods brake van arrived at Quainton during December 2006, having moved from the Avon Valley Railway at Bitton. Previously it was owned by the Navy, based at Gosport Dockyard.

It was planned to restore this van to its 1917 condition, which includes the unusual end glazing of the veranda, hence the Crystal Palace nickname. It has a single veranda, 4 wheels, a steel chassis and weighs 20 tons. In addition to the conventional leaf springs, it is also fitted with coil ones at the ends of each leaf. It currently has steel disc wheels which are incorrect for this vehicle, but will be very difficult, if not impossible to remedy, it should have open-spoke wheels. A start was been made on replacing the incorrect vertical tongue-and-groove planking with the correct horizontal ribbed planking on one side so far. It was planned that vehicle will carry the number '1918B'. The LNWR used a 'B' number series.

Two others are known to exist, one at Mangapps Farm, in late LMS livery, and a derelict one on the Kent and East Sussex Railway. In autumn 2021 this vehicle was relocated to the Peak Railway.