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Part 12


Part 12 of Railway Wonders of the World was published on Thursday 18th April 1935, the usual day of publication being Good Friday.


This issue contains a black and white art plate depicting the LMS Pacific locomotive “The Princess Royal”. This illustration had previously been used as the front cover of the very first issue. The plate was attached to page 365, or the fifth page of this issue.



The Cover

This week’s cover is a night scene on the Southern Railway system, showing a mixed-traffic engine of the 2-6-0 type about to enter a station. It is, as I am sure all readers will agree, a strikingly satisfactory departure from the usual “day-time” cover.


This cover was used as the colour plate issued with part 21 of the series. You can read more about “On the Footplate of a Night Goods” on this website.


A night journey on the Southern


Contents of Part 12


Editorial


Across Australia by Train (Part 2)

This part covers the railways of Queensland, and is concluded from part 11. This is the fourth article in the series on Railways of the Empire.

(Pages 357-362)


Locomotives of the Past

A two-page photo-feature depicting a number of old express trains.

(Pages 363-364)


“The Princess Royal” (art plate)


The "Princess Royal" THE “PRINCESS ROYAL”, a

4-6-2 type express engine on the LMS system, designed for hauling, without assistance, loads of 500 tons on non-stop runs from London to the Scottish Border. The engine has a boiler of large size, with a total heating surface, exclusive of the superheater, of 2,713 sq ft, and a fire-grate area of 45 sq ft. The working steam pressure is 250 lb per sq in. The total weight of engine and tender in working order is over 158 tons, and the length over buffers is 74 ft 4½ in. The tender has a capacity of 9 tons of coal and 4,000 gallons of water.

(Attached to page 365)


This illustration previously appeared as the front cover of the first issue, and the engine also appears on the cover of

part 37.


You can read more on the LMS Pacifics in Wonders of World Engineering.



Cruising by Train

An account of “luxury train cruising and camping-coach holidays”, or “Holiday Cruises by Train”. These were novel holiday fashions introduced by the railways. The LNER introduced a cruising train, the “Northern Belle” (later illustrated on the covers of part 26 and part 41), in 1933, and ever since then this form of holiday-making has continued to grow. This article covers a week’s cruise to Scotland and the Highlands, covering 2,000 miles.

(Pages 365-368)


The “Orient Express”

The story of this famous express running across Europe from London to Istanbul. It forms a railway link between thirteen countries and connects Calais with Istanbul. It ranks as the oldest of Europe’s transcontinental expresses. The original “Orient Express” began running between Paris and Vienna in 1883. To-day the route includes many of the most important cities in Central and South-Eastern Europe. This is the sixth article in the series Famous Trains.

(Pages 369-374)


Famous Railway Centres: 1 - York

A description of the working of this important northern junction. One of the largest and most important railway centres. The railway importance of York is due largely to its situation midway along the east coast main-line from London to Edinburgh, 188¼ miles from King’s Cross and 204½ miles from the Waverley Station, Edinburgh. Under the roof of York Station are two of the longest platforms of Great Britain, one of which measures 1,701 ft. Just outside the main station there are vast marshalling yards. Traffic here is controlled by a huge locomotive yard signal-box which contains probably the longest mechanical locking-frame in existence, having 295 signal-levers in one row. This is the first article in the series Famous Railway Centres.

(Pages 375-380)


London’s First Railways

The pioneering railway forerunners of a vast network, and the story of how the railways came to London.

(Pages 381-385)


The Vacuum Automatic Brake (Part 1)

How trains are stopped by atmospheric pressure. A description of the operation of the vacuum automatic brake. This is the fourth article in the series Design and Invention. The article is completed in part 13.

(Pages 386-388)