Looking for photos of Detroit's railroad stations

**jmlowman** · September-15-09, 10:22 PM

Hi, I'm new here. Former resident of Flint and now living in California.

Does anyone have any photos, particularly of the interiors, of Fort Street Union Station, Michigan Central Station or Brush Street Station?

I was in Detroit in July and shot a few photos of the exterior of Michigan Central Station. Hopefully, this structure can be saved. Any news on that? Last I heard, an individual was awarded an injunction to halt the demolition.

Thanks in advance for any leads,

Jim

**boulevard_nights** · September-16-09, 01:11 AM

I can't help with photos, but maybe one day. "Urban exploring" can be dangerous and is likely to be illegal.

Agreed, Michigan Central is a spectacular piece of work, even if it resembles a monolithic gravestone these days. Did you do any exploring when you were in the D, or only view the outsides?

**Detroitgayhistoryguy** · September-16-09, 03:41 AM

Here is a cool pic of MCS. You'll find tons of photos of it online.

**douglasm** · September-16-09, 06:09 AM

Aparently the forum has changed looks again, as I don't see a link to the old forum. If you can find a way in, there is a grand thread on Fort Street Union Station that ended up spreading out to cover railroads in Detroit in general. It's definately worth a look.

As to Brush Street, I'm suprised there aren't many photos out there, but you might try contacting the Grand Trunk Western Historical Society here:
http://gtwhs.tripod.com/
or by making a trip to Durand on Saturdays. Their archives are in Durand Union Station and are open Saturdays from 1 to 4 pm.

Hope this helps.....

**MikeM** · September-16-09, 06:44 AM

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/6790/54651.html

**jmlowman** · September-16-09, 12:52 PM

Originally Posted by boulevard_nights

I can't help with photos, but maybe one day. "Urban exploring" can be dangerous and is likely to be illegal.

Agreed, Michigan Central is a spectacular piece of work, even if it resembles a monolithic gravestone these days. Did you do any exploring when you were in the D, or only view the outsides?

Yes, I've seen at least one website with photos where someone climbed all the way to the roof level of Michigan Central Station. I'd be concerned about going inside at all, much less navigating 18 stories. Now it's fenced in.

I was there only a short time, got to the street side of MC Station and shot a couple of quick photos, not knowing how good or bad that neighborhood is.

**jmlowman** · September-16-09, 12:54 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitgayhistoryguy

Here is a cool pic of MCS. You'll find tons of photos of it online.

Nice photo - thanks! I'll look around online.

**jmlowman** · September-16-09, 12:59 PM

Originally Posted by douglasm

As to Brush Street, I'm suprised there aren't many photos out there, but you might try contacting the Grand Trunk Western Historical Society here:
http://gtwhs.tripod.com/
or by making a trip to Durand on Saturdays. Their archives are in Durand Union Station and are open Saturdays from 1 to 4 pm.

Hope this helps.....

I tried to do a search on the site, but it's asking for login credentials. Maybe it's for members only?

I was at Durand two summers ago and took a thorough tour of the museum, but I suppose I'd need to be present to view the archives.

**jmlowman** · September-16-09, 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by MikeM

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/6790/54651.html

Thanks, Mike. That's going to take a while to view, but should have a lot of good information.

**buildingsofdetroit** · September-16-09, 01:46 PM

Originally Posted by jmlowman

Hi, I'm new here. Former resident of Flint and now living in California.

Does anyone have any photos, particularly of the interiors, of Fort Street Union Station, Michigan Central Station or Brush Street Station?

I was in Detroit in July and shot a few photos of the exterior of Michigan Central Station. Hopefully, this structure can be saved. Any news on that? Last I heard, an individual was awarded an injunction to halt the demolition.

I have photos of the interior and exterior of the Union Station and MCS [[then and now) at www.buildingsofdetroit.com

**jmlowman** · September-16-09, 04:07 PM

Originally Posted by buildingsofdetroit

I have photos of the interior and exterior of the Union Station and MCS [[then and now) at www.buildingsofdetroit.com

Very nice! Thanks for those photos.

**douglasm** · September-16-09, 04:37 PM

You might try contacting The Michigan Railroad Club through their website.

http://www.michiganrailroads.com/Mic...RRClubHome.htm

Possibly one of their members has some interior shots of Fort Street Union and Brush Street. As to the GTWRHS, contact them anyway. Although they might not have any photos in their Durand archives, some of their members might. Like I said though, the problem with finding interior photos was that it was about the most nondescript station you'll run across. My theory was why waste film on something like that, when the Huron and Lansdowne's ferry slip was 20 yards away......

**jmlowman** · September-16-09, 10:15 PM

Originally Posted by douglasm

You might try contacting The Michigan Railroad Club through their website.

Someone answered my e-mail promptly, but said that the group really doesn't have a photo archive. Worth a try, though!

**PlymouthRes** · September-17-09, 09:38 AM

jm-

Have you seen or heard of the Arcadia Publishing book series? They have a pretty good book [[lots of old postcard type pictures) showing the entire Michigan railroad history. It also discusses the chronological progression of the railroad industry and the mergers/buyouts of all of the railroads that operated in Michigan from the very beginning until now.

The Acknowledgements and Introduction pages at the beginning also detail the sources, in depth, that were used in the compilation of the book. At the end of the book there is also an extensive bibliography to support the data within the book that may be of interest to you as well.

The MC terminal is higlighted on many pages, but pages 21, 22 and 23 show two exterior shots and two exterior shots that may be more along the lines of what you are looking for.

The book is available at all retailers around town. I would imagine that if you are doing this type of a project that the book would be essential to you.

Hope this helps!

Res

**PlymouthRes** · September-17-09, 09:40 AM

PS- Name of the book is "Images of Rail-Railroad Depots of Michigan".

**jmlowman** · September-17-09, 03:20 PM

Originally Posted by PlymouthRes

PS- Name of the book is "Images of Rail-Railroad Depots of Michigan".

Thanks! I don't live in Michigan any longer, but I put an order in with Amazon.com

Those Arcadia books are great - I have several of them, including one on the Michigan Central.

**mcsdetroitfriend** · September-17-09, 05:37 PM

does any of the older members have any photographs of the michigan central station while it's in use maybe some from your own personal collection, because there really isn't much out there save for photographs of when the building first opened and photographs of it how it is today, other than a few low res photos from the 50's

**Rocko** · September-17-09, 06:15 PM

For intermediate photos from the station, between when it was newish and today, I offer these links:

1973 - http://onlyndetroit.com/html/decay/o...-all_abord.htm

1982 - http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/galle...4250808&Ref=PH

See also the MC Depot Arcadia book.

This link may provide you some other resources:
http://savemcs.blogspot.com/

**douglasm** · September-17-09, 07:18 PM

You know, it's a shame the Michigan Railroad Club doesn't have a photo archive, given all the steam excursions out of Windsor [[Walkerville) and Brush Street they sponsored in the 60's. I still think I have cinders in my hair.....

**mcsdetroitfriend** · September-17-09, 10:18 PM

those are definitely a start I've seen both sites before they're very useful! Hopefully some people will post some unpublished photographs!

**jmlowman** · September-17-09, 10:19 PM

Originally Posted by Rocko

For intermediate photos from the station, between when it was newish and today, I offer these links:

Thanks for these valuable links, Rocko.

After Amtrak left, why did the subsequent owners of the property not do something to prevent the wholesale looting and defacement of the station?

**mcsdetroitfriend** · September-17-09, 10:40 PM

Originally Posted by jmlowman

Thanks for these valuable links, Rocko.

After Amtrak left, why did the subsequent owners of the property not do something to prevent the wholesale looting and defacement of the station?

If you read the book by Arcadia you would know that two people owned the building prior to matty. the first guy I'm told by Garnet Cousins - the historical authority on the station the guy from the 1987 video on youtube - that the first guy sold quite a bit of the interior to various restaurants around the area [[though some wound up in chicago). All the while never putting a fence up....then the next company was a security company who probably bought it as an investment opportunity at $80,000.

Most of the the stations current condition is due to the "protection" from the first two owners [[check out the Arcadia book and you'll see a poster from 1993 that shows the building looking quite a bit like it does today - matty bought the building in 1994).

**jmlowman** · September-18-09, 11:45 AM

Thanks for the information. It's been a while since I read the book, so looks like some review is in order.

**rsa.313** · September-21-09, 08:53 AM

just a quick correction; the first owner spoken above was a developer. he hired the security company to keep tabs on the building while he owned it. he wasn't able to make his plans work and the building went into foreclosure. the security company received the building for payment of their services that went unpaid [[they put a lien on the building).

my boss was one of the last people/companies out of the office tower. i documented the final years of the maintained station on here in a previous thread, you might be able to find it with the search if anyone's interested.

**mcsdetroitfriend** · September-21-09, 01:02 PM

Thanks for clearing up some of the info, while you definitely helped out why they owned the building, photos from the period the developer owned and forfeited the building show the two definitely did nothing to protect the building as most of the broken windows and graffiti occurred during their ownership, in fact no fence was erected until about 1993.

Will definitely look up your post if it's still up! =) Always interested in new information!