Pullman Car Company First Class Parlour Car "Topaz".

Built in 1913, Topaz is a 1st Class Parlour car built at Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Works Co. Ltd., Smethwick in 1913 and entered service with South Eastern & Chatham Railway in 1914. It ran on services between London and the South Coast, on pre-war continental boat trains and the Bournemouth Belle. The carriage was withdrawn in 1960 and restored by the Pullman Car Company. During this restoration Topaz’s livery was reverted from umber and cream back to its original pre1920s crimson. The carriage was then presented to the British Transport Commission at the Clapham Museum of British Transport in 1961.

Topaz ran in the Travellers-Fare Centenary Express in 1979 which marked the 100th anniversary of on-train catering and the Rainhill Rocket Cavalcade in 1980.

The Pullman Car was an American invention, and even forty years after the first introduction of these vehicles in this country they still retained many different features. Most important of these is the integral construction of body and underframe, all of which are built principally from wood. At least six different woods are used for the main construction, excluding the decorative inlaid marquetry panelling used in the interior.