It goes without saying that I regard it as a singular honour to be awarded the Institution’s Gold Medal. It is not something that one ever gives a second thought to on a day-to-day basis, so to find out that one’s peers and colleagues in this profession regard my work as worthy of this recognition is extremely gratifying. In discussing the subject of this address with the President and the Chief Executive I was encouraged to do two things. Firstly, and perhaps inevitably, to reflect on the rather unusual field of work in which I have been involved for over 20 years and which in many ways epitomises the public perception (such as it is) of my career ‘so far’ – the engineering of major theme park rides and attractions. And secondly to allow an opportunity to consider, as I did in my Presidential Year (1999-2000) the public face of engineering in general and structural engineering in particular. John Roberts, FREng, BEng (Hons), PhD, CEng, FIStructE, FICE Jacobs Babtie
In carrying out research for the project referred to in the Introduction it soon became evident that Victoria Station was not so well documented as some of the other London Termini. This paper is therefore more of an historical excursion than a technical exposition, but as well as tracing the involvement of the early railway companies the paper describes the train shed structures of the two stations through text and diagrams and briefly dwells on the Victorian engineers responsible for the several designs. P. R. Harris, DLC, CEng, FIStructE, FICE Consultant Formerly Associate Director Maunsell Ltd