- “London's Euston! Everybody knows that!”
- ― The Foreign Engine, The Eight Famous Engines
Euston is one of the first intercity railway stations in London. It opened on July 20th, 1837 as the terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway. The original building was demolished in the 1960's and replaced with the present one, built in the international modern style.
The site was selected in the early 1830's by George and Robert Stephenson, engineers of the London and Birmingham Railway. The area was then mostly farmland at the edge of the expanding city of London. The station was named after Euston Hall in Suffolk, the ancestral home of the Dukes of Grafton, who were the main landowners in the area. Objections to the station by local farmers meant that, when the Act authorizing construction of the line was passed in 1833, the terminus was relocated to Chalk Farm. However, these objections were overcome, and in 1835 an Act authorizing construction of the station at its originally planned site was passed, and construction went ahead.
The station and railway have been owned by the London and Birmingham Railway (1837–1845), the London and North Western Railway (1846–1922), the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (1923–1947), British Railways (1948–1994), Railtrack (1994–2001), and Network Rail (2001–present).
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, while the other engine thought it was Euston. Duck thought it was Paddington since he said he used to work there.
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