Science and technology at a terminus
Euston Station
Euston Station opened in 1837 as the first London terminus for a mainline railway. Robert Stephenson was chief engineer for the project to build the 112 mile line to Birmingham. A statue of Stephenson now stands in the forecourt.
Proud origins
The grand new station featured a doric arch.
Until 1884 the climb from Euston to Camden was too steep for the locomotives of the day so the coaches were pulled up the slope by cable.
Electrification
Electrification of the west coast mainline began in 1963 and at that time they completely. All that remains of the old station today are the gate towers built of Portland stone- a limestone from the Isle of Portland in Dorset. They stand on either side of the entrance to the bus station from the Euston road.
The first electric trains ran from Euston to the West Midlands and the north west in 1966.
Modernisation
The rail tracks outside Euston have been re-engineered in the last few years as part of a major upgrade of the west coast mainline. There is a new signalling system too. All part of a major plan to cut journey times with the help of new tilting trains.
Geology at Euston 
The main foyer is paved with the igneous rock, serpentinite - hydrated, magnesium silicate.
There are four stone benches in front of the main entrance of the station. These feature rocks of different types and ages:
- Portland limestone, a Jurassic rock about 150 million years old
- St Bees sandstone, a Triassic rock about 250 million years old
- Merrivale granite, a Carboniferous rock about 300 million years old
- Elterwater slate, an Ordovician rock about 450 million years old.
Submitted by: Andrew Hunt, 18 January 2007
