In the board game “Monopoly” (British edition), to which 1930s railway company do the four stations belong?

“Monopoly” is an economics-themed board game in which players roll two dice to move around the game board, buying and trading properties, and developing them with houses and hotels. Players collect rent from their opponents, with the goal being to drive them into bankruptcy.

The game was based on “The Landlord's Game,” first published in 1906. In 1935 Parker Brothers published “Monopoly” in the United States and they began licensing the game for sale outside the US in 1936. The licensed manufacturer of the game in the United Kingdom was John Waddington Limited.

The locations on the standard British version of the game are set in London and were selected in 1935 by Victor Watson, managing director of John Waddington Ltd. Watson became interested in the board game after his son Norman had tried the Parker Brothers original US version and recommended the company produce a board for the domestic market. He took his secretary on a day trip from the head offices in Leeds to London and the pair looked for suitable locations to use.

The stations were the four London termini of the London and North Eastern Railway: Marylebone, Fenchurch Street, Liverpool Street and, importantly, King's Cross, which served Waddingtons' home town of Leeds.