All aboard the Hogwarts Express

Harry Potter fans can board the Hogwarts Express, a real working engine.

Harry Potter fans can board the Hogwarts Express, a real working engine.

Published Feb 9, 2015

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London - It has long been a Harry Potter tradition – fans visiting Kings Cross station look for Platform 9¾.

But now the secretive Hogwarts Express platform is expanding… and will be unveiled in full at the Warner Brothers Studio Tour in Watford in March.

The 6 096m2 construction, which will include the original Hogwarts Express steam engine and a recreation of the iconic platform, will also give a glimpse into how some of the film’s most loved scenes were created.

Visitors will have the chance to climb aboard and pose with a luggage trolley as it disappears through the platform wall.

Fans of the film franchise may know that British steam train No 5972, Olton Hall, was used as the Hogwarts Express. Scenes featuring the engine – including the last scene, in which adult Harry, Ron and Hermione wave goodbye to their children as they head off to school – were filmed on a soundstage at the studios.

And now, the 78-year-old red engine will return to its production home – to be displayed on a set of tracks, complete with billowing steam.

The attraction will open on March 19, and will be built by the crew who worked on the film.

Guests will be able to sit in the interior carriage used during filming, and to see how the “windows” were used to show Harry’s first Chocolate Frog.

A train-themed souvenir shop will open on the platform.

“We can’t wait to open our first expansion, Platform 93/4 before the Studio Tour’s third anniversary in March,” said Sarah Roots, vice-president of Warner London.

“The Hogwarts Express had a starring role in the films, so we’re excited it will take centre stage in the new area. It’s the piece that visitors have most requested to see and we’re expecting a fantastic response.”

Stuart Craig, the production designer on all eight films, added: “The Hogwarts Express was the setting for many iconic scenes, from Harry, Hermione and Ron’s first meeting to when their children embark on their first journey to school 26 years later.”

Entry to Platform 9¾ is included in a standard ticket price.

Other Potter activities:

* Broomstick training at Alnwick Castle: It was outside the Northumberland castle that Harry famously learned to fly on a broomstick. So why not do the same? Broomstick training is available from March 27 until October 27 next year and is free. (www.alnwickcastle.com/events/63/broomstick-training)

* School of wizardry: Although you can’t study at Hogwarts, Potter fans have the chance to attend wizardry school. Polish company Liveform and Danish firm Rollespilsfabrikken stage a book series and movie franchise. Around 190 participants from 11 countries travel to Poland to don wizard robes and cast spells at the Czocha College of Witchcraft and Wizardry (www.cowlarp.com).

* Play Quidditch: QuidditchUK is the national governing body for the sport in the UK. It costs £3 (R52) to become a member of QuidditchUK, which allows you to compete on a QuidditchUK Official Team, giving you access to attend the most competitive and most professionally organised quidditch events in the UK. If your broomstick skills aren’t up to scratch, you can volunteer to be a snitch runner (quidditchuk.org).

Sunday Tribune

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