History: GNR
The GNR reached London in 1850. The 'final push' was accelerated by the GNR Directors' desire to take advantage of traffic to and from the Great Exhibition of 1851. In order to open in time, a temporary station was built at Maiden Lane (now York Way). Officially named "The London Temporary Passenger Station", Maiden Lane open to passengers on 7th August 1850. The surroundings of the new station were not very auspicious, consisting of fields, industry (primarily brick), a Fever Hospital, and housing. The station does not appear to have been very substantial, but it did have a roof, and it survived long enough to be later used as a potato warehouse.
Shortly after the temporary station opened, on 24th October 1850 Lewis Cubitt presented his plans for a permanent station at Kings Cross. Lewis Cubitt reportedly described the temporary station as 'unsafe', and the Board accepted and approved his plans. By January 1852, reports requested by the Board describe the rate of construction as being satisfactory. Despite it being the most publically visible piece of GNR architecture, the Board was remarkably quiet and surprisingly unconcerned about the station's progress and imminent opening.
The 'Great Station' finally opened on 14th October 1852 and was quickly regarded as architecturally startling with a pair of yawning "train sheds". Although this shape has survived to the present day, the original construction used laminated timber beams according to the Wiebeking System, and not the girders familiar to us today. By modern standards, usage of this huge space was very inefficient. The station opened with just two platforms (against the east and west walls), and fourteen tracks. Attendant offices and passenger rooms were located on the west platform, which was used for departures. The east platform (aligned with York Way) handled arrivals only. Most of the tracks were used for storage and had no platform access. Small turntables and capstans allowed for rolling stock to be moved without the help of a locomotive.
It only took a few years for this simple track layout to prove inadequate, when in 1858 the Midland Railway started to run services from Hitchin to Kings Cross. This was accompanied by continued growth in Great Northern traffic. During the 1860s, tunnels were bored connecting the GNR to the east-west Metropolitan Railway's Widened Lines. These included a platform on the 'Up' curve under York Way (closed in 1976). These tunnels now carry the Thameslink services.