The portico was opened in 1863, the
train shed was extended southwards in the 1890s, and the adjoining Metro station was opened in 1981.
The platform areas and land once occupied by the approach lines became a car park, the
train shed was demolished and the former hotel transformed into an office block.
The former
train shed could be at the heart of a new development scheme for the area ROB BROWNE
The new Bala Town Station would have retail and catering facilities with office and volunteer accommodation and a covered
train shed will provide secure overnight storage for the passenger rolling stock.
For the royal opening, the railway company sold viewing places on special stands erected in the station
train shed and along the tracks on the High Level Bridge.
This magnificent
train shed once thrilled to the stirring sight, sound and smell of LMS "Jubilee" Class 4-6-0s steaming out on their long journey to London St Pancras via Matlock, Derby and Leicester.
But comparison between the honest expression of the one with the elaborate front of the other was unfair, for whereas at King's Cross the railway company's hotel was a detached building on one side, at St Pancras the hotel--that gothic masterpiece by George Gilbert Scott (1811-78)--was sited in the obvious place, right in front of the great
train shed by William Barlow (1812-1902).
The main
train shed roof features 1400 photovoltaic panels, spaced apart a little to allow a dappled natural light to filter through to the platforms.
Royal Mail had argued that the depot, which was built by American forces during the Second World War, is too costly to renovate, run or repair and it hoped to build a new facility on the leafy site, restore a Victorian
train shed as offices and sell the rest of the land for housing.
The idea to
train shed dogs started simply enough with the crossover of two very different hunting styles.