Today marks the launch of London’s new Channel Tunnel¹ rail link, High Speed 1 - which from now on terminates here at the “Cathedral of the railways”, St Pancras railway station.

The station actually comprises two of the most celebrated structures of the Victorian era. In our first thumnbail we can see the clock tower of St Pancras Chambers (formerly the Midland Grand Hotel), which remains one of the most impressive examples of Victorian gothic architecture anywhere in Britain.

The Midland Grand Hotel closed in 1935, and the building was used as offices until the 60s, when only a public campaign saved it from being knocked down. The building became vacant in the 1980s², and since 2005 it’s been under renovation, and will soon once again be a hotel.

The Barlow Trainshed, designed by William Henry Barlow and completed in 1868, was the largest single-span structure built up to that time. The single span roof is 74 metres across, and was actually employed purely to make maximum use of the space without obstructions.

The trainshed has received a full renovation in preparation for its new role as the London terminus of High Speed 1, and we can see the work in progress in Google’s images.

Here’s more about St Pancras at Wikipedia. Thanks to Radio 2.

In northern Chile, in the desert near Arica, we couldn’t possibly miss The World’s Largest Coca-Cola logo. At 50m tall and 120m wide, this really is a massive Coke advert. Even better though, it’s actually made from 70,000 empty Coke bottles!

Underneath it reads “100 años” (meaning “100 years”), as it was made to celebrate the company’s 100th anniversary, and I imagine there won’t be any competition for the title of world’s largest coke logo in the next hundred years…

I mean, the Coca-Cola Company wouldn’t ever dream of making a bigger one… right?

Thanks to hugolvagancia, Harald Norway and Adolfo.