The station is not one, but actually two halves, one built for the London, Brighton & South Coast railway, the other for the London, Chatham & Dover Railway, with the first of these halves opening in October 1860, and the other following in August 1862. As such, its architecture and design has always been a mating of two distinctive styles, each with its own booking office, stationmaster, platform numbering and timetable. The original LBSCR station was plain, with a simple iron girder roof, while the LCDR station had a wide canopy roof.
Various rebuildings see us with the station of today. The amalgamation of various lines operating into the South East and Southern England into the Southern Railway, saw the stations finally being joined as one. Victoria has been the gateway to the continent, with boat trains running to various ports in the South Coast and is also a major underground station on the Victoria, District and Circle Lines.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Christopher is one of the acknowledged experts on Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his first book for Amberley Publishing Isambard Kingdom Brunel Through Time was a best seller in 2010.
His first book on London railway stations was Paddington Station Through Time published in 2010. Currently he is working on Kings Cross Through Time as he is planning to cover all the main railway stations in London in the Through Time series. He is a licensed balloon pilot and lives in Gloucestershire.
235 x 165 mm | paperback | 96 pages | 90 sepia and 90 colour illustrations*
* approximately
