What think you, in the first place, of our noble STATION, with its elegant iron roof of sixty feet span, and its thirteen miles of railway line? Twenty years ago, the ground it stands upon, and indeed the neighbourhood around, were but plain kitchen-gardens and uninteresting fields. But a marvellous change has been effected since then, and, as if by enchantment, suburban Flookersbrook has now become the very life’s-blood of the city. Stretching away on either side of us, as far as the eye can reach, we see the passengers’ arrival and departure sheds, booking offices, refreshment rooms, goods and carriage depots, waterworks, gasworks, and all the other facilities and conveniences which are the usual characteristics of the railway system; while beyond the limits of the Station, and indeed of the city itself, which here intrenches upon the township of Hoole, the busy hum of life is ceaselessly heard spreading itself in every direction, and rapidly transforming the region of the plough into the turmoil of the town. This Station is the grand central terminus of six several lines or branches, all meeting at Chester, viz., the London and North Western; the Great Western; the Birkenhead, Lancashire, and Cheshire Junction; the latter company’s branch to Manchester; the Chester and Holyhead; and the Chester and Mold Railways. It was erected in 1847–8 at the joint expense of the four principal companies, and is acknowledged to be one of the handsomest, as it is certainly one of the most extensive railway establishments in the kingdom. The building was designed by C. H. Wild, Esq., C.E., and Mr. Thompson, of London (the latter the architect of the Derby station) and was built by that enterprising and well-known contractor, Mr. Thos. Brassey, whom Cheshire proudly claims as her son. The passengers’ shed occupies a space of ground nearly a quarter of a mile in length, and presents to the city an elegant façade 1010 feet long, and a frontage, including the house and carriage landings, of 1160 feet. It is built of dark red fire bricks, relieved with copings and facings of Stourton stone. At each end of the Station, and projecting from the main building, there is a shed for cabs and omnibuses awaiting the arrival of trains, each 290 feet long by 24 feet broad, covered with an iron roof. [Picture: General Railway Station]