Part 1 of Railway Wonders of the World was published on Friday 1st February 1935, price 7d.

It was a bumper issue of 36 pages, all other issues being 32 pages. The issue included a superb folding colour plate showing a cut-away section of a GWR "King" class locomotive and a photogravure centre supplement on (American) Wonder Stations.

The Cover

The colour cover was a noteworthy feature of this series. The first issue had a track side view of the LMS Pacific “Princess Royal”.  All the covers of Railway Wonders of the World are highly attractive and many of these designs were used as colour plates for the series.

In this instance, the cover illustration was subsequently used for a black and white art plate contained within issue 12 whilst another view of the same locomotive was later used as the cover for issue 37. The use of colour covers continued with subsequent series issued by the Amalgamated Press.

Contents of Part 1

Editorial

“King” Class Locomotive (fold-out colour plate)

Foreword

The Great North Road of Steel

An account of the “epic story of the courage and endurance that built Britain,s highway to Scotland”, covering the route from King’s Cross to Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

The Conquest of the Clouds

How courageous engineers fought snow, ice and avalanche in the construction of the Swiss mountain railways. The article describes the Mount Pilatus and the Jungfrau Railways.

Wonder Stations

The central photogravure supplement features photographs of a number of modern American stations.

How Mighty are the “Kings”

The evolution and working of the Great Western Railway’s most powerful locomotive, "King George V". The article accompanies the folding colour-plate of a “King” class locomotive which appears at the front of this issue and which forms the frontispiece to the whole work. There is a photograph of the cab of a “King” in part 46.

You can read more on the “Kings” in Wonders of World Engineering.

(Pages 21-26)

The Magic of Modern Signals - 1

An account of the “new electrical devices” to ensure safety and speed. It covers colour light signals on the Southern Railway and the Underground, signal control panels, and interlocking. This is the first article in the series The Magic of Modern Signals.

The Union Pacific Streamlined Express (Part 1)

The story of modern high-speed travel (in 1935), describing the new streamline express trains in service on the Union Pacific Railroad.

This is the first article in the series on Modern High-Speed Travel. The article is concluded in part 2.

Click on the small image to see a short British Pathe newsreel clip of the train’s “Record run across the continent of America.”