Some Shots of the Michigan Central Train Station

 Since I had my drone with me, I figured it would be a good day to see if there was a train near the Michigan Central Train Station.  Especially with the sky looking the way it did.

There was a train there.  Unfortunately, it kind of gets lost if I try to frame it with the train station.  But still, I like this shot.

I tried to pull over to get more of the train.  Unfortunately, I think I had to pull back to get more of the station but I didn't want to fly my drone into anything, so here we go.

So I moved my drone to get some closeups of the train.

I think she was getting ready to go into the tunnel.  The tunnel is pretty close to here and I think that's why Maroun bought the station.

Just some other angles.

I kind of like this one.

I really like this one.

The Michigan Central Train Station

 After catching the other ships, I thought about going to the airport next but I wanted to make a slight detour.  I've wanted to catch this picture for a while.

They are getting close to remodeling the station, so I wanted to get pictures of it.

But I also wanted to get a picture of a train in front of it.  Even though the train is pretty much drowned out by the surroundings.

I decided to pull the drone down to get some closer pictures of the train.

I think I like this one.

This makes for a more or less normal picture of a train.

Pulling back a little bit.

Trying from another angle.

This one might be my favorite.

Another angle with the train.

The train is drowned out.

This is probably my favorite with the train.

And one more.

The Michigan Central Train Station from the Air

 So I went over to Port Huron yesterday to catch a pair of boats.  I didn't realize that there was construction on I-94, so I got off I-94 at Livernois and headed to Michigan Avenue.  As I was approaching the train station, I noticed that there were several train cars backed up.  I figured that gave me the opportunity to get a picture I've been wanting for a while.

I tried to get this shot before but there was a Tiger's game and I couldn't fly my drone in the area.  I was hoping that there wasn't a game.

Turns out that there wasn't and I was able to fly my drone.  If I had gotten the shot last time, it would have been a Canadian Pacific engine.

This time, it was a Union Pacific engine, which is fine by me because they are fairly rare in this area.

It also gave me a chance to get some pictures of the train station.  Since Ford bought it, they have done quite a bit of work on it and it is starting to come back to its former glory.  I'd have to say that this building was probably one of the most famous in Detroit.  It also was a stark reminder of the decay that was Detroit.  For the longest time, it didn't even have windows.  Ford is bringing it back and I guess it can represent another rebirth of Detroit.

I was trying some angles where I could get the whole station in the picture.  This was probably the best.

Since the train was stopped, I had several chances to get the angle I wanted.  Apparently the reason why this station was bought in the first place was because the trains going to Canada had to pass by it.  I'm not sure how that worked for the owner though.

Looking off towards downtown.

A beam shot.

Another shot with the station.

Unfortunately, the track near here needs some work.

A Train Near the Michigan Central Train Station

After catching the ships, my mom wanted to see the graffiti in the area of the Michigan Central Train Station.  I figured it would be cool to go there because I wanted to see the progress of it and based on what I saw, it looks like they are progressing really well with it.

But what really caught my eye was the train engine parked in front of it.  I've always wanted this picture.  First, I tried a picture with my camera but I was too close, so I pulled back and got it.

Then I tried it from another angle, it was a little better but still not good enough.  I was hoping I could get a drone shot but there was a Tigers game going on and I was within a no flight area.  Oh well, maybe next time.

 

Some Sort of Light Show at the Michigan Central Train Station

Recently it was announced that Ford Motor Company would be buying the Michigan Central Train Station from Matty Maroun.  They will be converting it to a tech center of sorts.  I think they are also going to buy some of the abandoned buildings around it in order to turn it into a campus of some sort.  At any rate, it is nice that Detroit's most famous abandoned building will be getting a makeover soon.

 My mom mentioned something about a lightfest they were having at the train station, so after South Haven, I decided to head over to the train station.  It was pretty neat.  They were starting with a slide show.

 Some of it looked like graffiti.

 But some of it looked kind of cool.  Sadly, I didn't bring my tripod with me, but I think I needed a higher shutter speed anyway, because some of the light was "moving".

 This looked kind of like a bird.

 I wish this one were a little clearer.  It looks like a Santa Fe engine.

 Since Ford was sponsoring it.

 This is how I imagined the train station looked inside at one time.

 Some bricks.

 This was also kind of neat, it showed the plans for what they were going to do with the area.

This was kind of neat.

And Now With Windows

A few months ago, I saw that they added some windows to the Michigan Central Train Station.  I was going to take pictures of it at some point.  Since I was so close, I decided to head over to it.

 If there is one building that is the symbol of the decay of Detroit, it is probably this one.  Because of the buildings that it is surrounded by, it is a prominent feature in the area.  There are many photographs that have been used to show just how far Detroit has sunk.  Especially since pretty much every window in the building was broken.

 The station was built in 1913 to replace another train station that burnt down.  At the time of its construction, it was tallest train station in the world.

 On January 6, 1988, the last Amtrak train pulled away from the station as the owners decided to close the building.  The Amtrak station is now by the New Center Area of Detroit and doesn't look nearly as elegant.

 The building has stood vacant since then and has been the target of many vandals.  I think they managed to break every window in the building.  I will have to admit, the addition of windows makes it look alot better but there is still a ways to go.

 In February of 2015, the owners came to an agreement with the city.  They would swap some of the land along the Detroit River and gave much needed money to the city for improvement of the parks.  Another part of this deal was that they would at least add windows to the building.

 Work started on that in July of 2015.  They also added a barbed wire fence to try to keep vandals away from the building.  I'm not sure when they put the rest of the windows in.

 There is still alot of work to do on this building.

 And despite the improvements, its future is still cloudy but at least something is being done.

 I'll have to admit, it was pretty cool going down Woodward and seeing all the construction (not that it has anything to do with this station).  I think Detroit is going to make a major comeback.

 I love the stonework.

 Another angle.

 It would be nice to see condos or something built here.

 But who knows how much work needs to be done.

One more shot.