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Stonemasons are being brought out of retirement to return some of Britain's finest Victorian stations to their former glory

They have been enlisted to help in a a ^3.25 billion refurbishment programme by Network Rail. A key part of the programme entails undoing some of the damage done to buildings by British Rail.

King's Cross, which has resembled an ugly duckling since the refurbishment of St Pancras, is set for a dramatic makeover. It will entail demolishing the 1970s forecourt, which has been an eyesore for decades and replacing it with the public space bigger than Leicester Square. The main train shed roof is also to be restored, a task which will entail renewing the wrought iron structure, which dates back to the 1850s and fitting 2,500 square meters of glass including solar panelling, which will provide 10 per cent of the station's electricity.

Similar projects are planned for Paddington and Edinburgh Waverley stations, historic gems which are in need of renovation.

"Network Rail is proud of its historic structures and takes its stewardship responsibilities very seriously," a spokesman for the infrastructure company said. "As we revamp and refurbish stations we will, whenever possible, renovate too. This means as well as employing experts with modern skills we have had to find people with skills rooted in the past. This has occasionally meant bringing some people out of retirement, including stone masons. At other stations we had to use people with the skills to restore Victorian glazing or wrought iron structures. Also we have had to trawl railway archives to check authentic plans. Modern technology helps too - for instance we have used sophisticated paint analysis to uncover colour schemes."

Appalling!  ;) :D ;D