Thomas Cook in Paris for the Exhibition. During the 1860s he took parties to Switzerland, Italy, Egypt and the United States. The Thomas Cook statue outside Leicester Railway Station, London Road, Leicester (pictured above) was unveiled on 14 January 1994 by his great-great-grandson Thomas Cook. It was sculpted by James Walter Butler RA. In 1872, he formed a partnership with his son, John Mason Cook, and renamed the travel agency as "Thomas Cook & Son". They acquired business premises on Fleet Street, London. The office also contained a shop which sold essential travel accessories, including guide books, luggage, telescopes and footwear. Thomas
Leicester railway station GNR, and from 1874 until 1918 a halt at Welford Road was operated on the Leicester – London main line allowing access to the Cattle Market. At this halt passengers were allowed to leave the trains but not to board them. The contract for the first station on the present site was awarded by the Midland Counties Railway to Waterfield and Smith, and was just under £15,000 (). It was first used on 4 May 1840, when a train of four first and six second-class carriages, pulled by the "Leopard" steam engine, arrived from Nottingham. As was normal in those