Birmingham New Street Station: lnwrbns_str1879

Another view of the Queen's & North Western Hotel viewed from Stephenson Place showing the General Enquiry Offices at the front by the main entrance. The iron gates in the foreground are the original London & Birmingham Railway's gates, complete with L&B crest erected at Curzon Street and which were transferred on the opening of the new hotel. The hotel entrance on the left led directly into a hall with stairs to the other floors whilst to the left of the entrance a corridor located adjacent to the forecourt provided access to the hotel bar, coffee and smoke room as well as other rooms for staff. On the ground floor of the section of the building that projects forward was a large booking hall occupying the full width and depth of the building with the centre archway leading directly to the footbridge crossing the station.

To the right the hotel has had a single-storey extension added projecting forwards into the station and hotel entrance yard. The ground floor extension was constructed to provide additional railway company office space comprising parcels offices for both the Midland and LNWR as well as two large offices. Behind them and within the confines of the original building was a cashiers office, the Superintendent's office and his general office and two abstract offices for both railway companies. Abstract offices were where the railway companies calculated the passenger fares and associated costs of running the station.

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