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 in 1844. Upstairs were the company offices and boardroom, while downstairs was the booking hall, waiting and refreshment rooms. The opening of new routes to Leicester led to steadily increasing traffic, and by 1858 a second platform had been built to handle southbound traffic, so leaving the original platform to handle northbound traffic. In 1868 it was decided to turn the southbound platform into an island platform to further increase capacity, but this was not possible with the northbound platform due to the presence of the main buildings and station entrance. Further expansion was contemplated for some time, but it