King's Cross Station
The station has two main access points, the entrance facing the London Street or the light rail platform shared with the monorail system serving Sentosa island.
Passengers alighting from the lean, two-car trains running on the monorail would encounter a row of Universal Studios ticketing counters built into a thick brick wall splitting the platform lengthwise. Admission passes can be purchased or collected at these counters.
Presenting a valid pass allows its holder through the brick archways that opens to the other, wider side of the railway platform. One end of the platform descends to a vaulted foyer, lined on all sides with tall narrow windows and dotted with kiosks found in a typical British train station.
The other end leads towards Platform Nine, access to which is blocked by a row of turnstiles. On each turnstile would be a metal plate embossed with the letters and lines of a cheque bearing the Gringotts Wizarding Bank seal. This would be a replica of the paper cheque that comes with each admission pass. A cheque that could be cashed for 11 Silver Sickles at the bank.
Inserting the cheque into the slot in a turnstile allows one person to cross into Platform Nine. New entrants would be ushered in small groups into one of several garment shops lining both sides of the platform. While the boutique owner takes each person's body measurements, his/her assistants would offer refreshments and note down names, as well as other personal particulars.
A long strip of fabric, embroidered with the boutique's label, would be draped round each visitor, much like a fashionably loose necktie. After all preparations and arrangements have been completed, an assistant would then lead them out of the shop and towards a row of trolleys facing the long stretch of brick wall leading to Platform Ten.
This fashion detour serves a dual purpose. Not only dressing the part, but also seeing others decked out in similar fashion, heightens the festive atmosphere. In addition, the detour allows the station staff to control the flow of human traffic heading towards the line of trolleys.
Picture a treadmill, with the poles at the front connected by a bar at chest-height, as well as a waist-high railing at each side to grab for balance. Bolted to the front of the poles would be a seat encircled by a protective frame open at the top. This whole contraption would be mounted on a low gurney, with its wheels set into the grooves of tracks running in straight lines headed right for the wall.
Using a couple as an example, the girl would step over the low frame and take the seat. Any bags they have with them could be strapped down in the vacant space before the seat. The boy would stand on the treadmill and place his hands on the chest-high bar, which would act as the handle of the trolley. As he starts to jog on the spot, the conveyer belt would move backwards as the soles of his shoes drag against it, thus turning the two pulleys it would be looped around, one on either end.
Connected to the wheels by a series of gears and rods, the pulleys would turn the wheels of the gurney and propel the trolley forward along the tracks. If the guy loses his nerve and slows down, the trolley's progress would be halted before reaching the wall. The couple would be given the choice of trying again or to take one of the idling station carts.
Each cart would have five passenger seats, as well as space for a wheelchair and some luggage. The cart would not travel on tracks, instead its driver would steer it in the right direction and at an appropriate speed. Whether by cart or trolley, each successful charge would have them pass through the wall and end up at the other side.
Where each trolley and/or cart has been positioned to smashed into, would be an actual opening in the wall. Patched with canvas blocks that fill the holes perfectly when inflated, each opening would have two blocks, each one filling half of the hole. Upon the approach of the trolley/cart, the blocks would deflate and a drawstring in the middle would squeeze the loosened canvas against the sides of the opening, as if revealing a tear in the wall. Being inflatable, no injuries should be sustained in the event of a malfunction, except for perhaps a punctured wall :)
With the grooves getting progressively narrower at each end of the tracks, the increased friction slow the trolleys so that they come to a nice calm halt, just before a big electronic sign overhead proclaiming, “Hogwarts Express”, as well as the time of its next departure.
After a trolley has been emptied of people and luggage, a jack at the end of the tracks would lift and spin it around, ready to return to the Muggle world. However, instead of just a brick wall, it now would face a row of wrought-iron archways, near which would be a signboard printed with the words “Platform Nine and Three-Quarters”.
Passengers alighting from the lean, two-car trains running on the monorail would encounter a row of Universal Studios ticketing counters built into a thick brick wall splitting the platform lengthwise. Admission passes can be purchased or collected at these counters.
Presenting a valid pass allows its holder through the brick archways that opens to the other, wider side of the railway platform. One end of the platform descends to a vaulted foyer, lined on all sides with tall narrow windows and dotted with kiosks found in a typical British train station.
The other end leads towards Platform Nine, access to which is blocked by a row of turnstiles. On each turnstile would be a metal plate embossed with the letters and lines of a cheque bearing the Gringotts Wizarding Bank seal. This would be a replica of the paper cheque that comes with each admission pass. A cheque that could be cashed for 11 Silver Sickles at the bank.
Inserting the cheque into the slot in a turnstile allows one person to cross into Platform Nine. New entrants would be ushered in small groups into one of several garment shops lining both sides of the platform. While the boutique owner takes each person's body measurements, his/her assistants would offer refreshments and note down names, as well as other personal particulars.
A long strip of fabric, embroidered with the boutique's label, would be draped round each visitor, much like a fashionably loose necktie. After all preparations and arrangements have been completed, an assistant would then lead them out of the shop and towards a row of trolleys facing the long stretch of brick wall leading to Platform Ten.
This fashion detour serves a dual purpose. Not only dressing the part, but also seeing others decked out in similar fashion, heightens the festive atmosphere. In addition, the detour allows the station staff to control the flow of human traffic heading towards the line of trolleys.
Picture a treadmill, with the poles at the front connected by a bar at chest-height, as well as a waist-high railing at each side to grab for balance. Bolted to the front of the poles would be a seat encircled by a protective frame open at the top. This whole contraption would be mounted on a low gurney, with its wheels set into the grooves of tracks running in straight lines headed right for the wall.
Using a couple as an example, the girl would step over the low frame and take the seat. Any bags they have with them could be strapped down in the vacant space before the seat. The boy would stand on the treadmill and place his hands on the chest-high bar, which would act as the handle of the trolley. As he starts to jog on the spot, the conveyer belt would move backwards as the soles of his shoes drag against it, thus turning the two pulleys it would be looped around, one on either end.
Connected to the wheels by a series of gears and rods, the pulleys would turn the wheels of the gurney and propel the trolley forward along the tracks. If the guy loses his nerve and slows down, the trolley's progress would be halted before reaching the wall. The couple would be given the choice of trying again or to take one of the idling station carts.
Each cart would have five passenger seats, as well as space for a wheelchair and some luggage. The cart would not travel on tracks, instead its driver would steer it in the right direction and at an appropriate speed. Whether by cart or trolley, each successful charge would have them pass through the wall and end up at the other side.
Where each trolley and/or cart has been positioned to smashed into, would be an actual opening in the wall. Patched with canvas blocks that fill the holes perfectly when inflated, each opening would have two blocks, each one filling half of the hole. Upon the approach of the trolley/cart, the blocks would deflate and a drawstring in the middle would squeeze the loosened canvas against the sides of the opening, as if revealing a tear in the wall. Being inflatable, no injuries should be sustained in the event of a malfunction, except for perhaps a punctured wall :)
With the grooves getting progressively narrower at each end of the tracks, the increased friction slow the trolleys so that they come to a nice calm halt, just before a big electronic sign overhead proclaiming, “Hogwarts Express”, as well as the time of its next departure.
After a trolley has been emptied of people and luggage, a jack at the end of the tracks would lift and spin it around, ready to return to the Muggle world. However, instead of just a brick wall, it now would face a row of wrought-iron archways, near which would be a signboard printed with the words “Platform Nine and Three-Quarters”.