King's Cross

"When I was young and green, I remember going to London. Do you know the place? The station's called King's Cross." "King's Cross?! London's Euston! Everybody knows that!"

- Gordon and The Foreign Engine, Eight Famous Engines

King's Cross is a Central London railway terminus on the northern edge of the city. It was built as the London hub of the Great Northern Railway and terminus of the East Coast main line. It took its name from the King's Cross area of London, named after a monument to King George IV that was demolished in 1845.

This was where Gordon, Flying Scotsman and their siblings used to work pulling express trains to Edinburgh when they were young.

One day, Gordon, Duck and a visiting engine were arguing about what the name of the big station at London was. Gordon thought it was King's Cross, whilst the other engine thought it was Euston. Duck thought it was Paddington since he said he used to work there.

In real life, King's Cross also served as a station for the London Underground subway system, known as the "Tube" to British residents. In November 1987, King's Cross suffered a large fire in the Underground station, killing 31 people, including Colin Townsley, a fire chief of the London Fire Brigade stationed in the nearby Soho District, and injuring 100 people due to a small fire on an old wooden escalator quickly growing into a large inferno due to a phenomenon later dubbed as the "trench effect". Memorial plaques regarding the tradegy were installed at nearby St. Pancras Church by Diana, Princess of Wales, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II of the British Royal Family, and at the station proper.

In 2012, the station was refurbished.

Appearances
Railway Series=

The Railway Series

 * The Eight Famous Engines - Gordon Goes Foreign

Trivia

 * To celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Railway Series, Christopher Awdry and Johnny Morris were invited to attend the naming of an Intercity 225 after the Rev. W. Awdry. Awdry was unable to attend the event due to his health.
 * To celebrate Easter in 2017, a giant 140kg chocolate sculpture of Thomas was displayed at King's Cross Station. Made out of real Belgian chocolate, the display piece was sculpted by She Bakes and Plunge Creations in 250 hours by 3 master chocolatiers, and was surrounded by TrackMaster engines running around. An actor dressed as Sir Topham Hatt was on hand to hand out easter eggs.
 * Trains that go to this station today are operated by LNER (owned by DfT), Great Northern/Thameslink, Hull Trains and Grand Central.

Gallery
Кингс-Кросс