Dashing Through the Snow

I do like trains but I wish that I could track some of the Norfolk-Southern trains.  It would give me a little variety in trains.  I know they pass by here on a regular basis but I don't know when.

 And so, here we are with the Wolverine again.  I will admit, the snow makes for a more dramatic picture.

 Although I don't have nearly the same amount of time as I do with ships.  Here she is about to pass the depot.

 A shot with the Depot, but I think I like the other vantage point better.

 I really like the way the snow is kicking up in this one.

 A shot almost straight on.

 I'd say she slowly pulls away, but that's not the case.

 A shot of the train and a couple of cars.

 One more car.

A shot of the full train as it heads towards Chicago.

Another Snowy Day in Ypsilanti

Well it was another bad weather day today.  So I decided to stick close to home again and take pictures of the Wolverine again.  The snow was on the light and powdery side, so I figured it would make for some cool pictures.

 I decided to go on the Freight House side this time.  Mainly because the lot I would have needed didn't look plowed and this provided some shelter for me.  Here is a shot looking down the freighthouse.

 Depot Town's namesake.

 I kind of liked the look of these trees as I was waiting for the train.

 A shot of Depot Town as I was heading back to my car.

 Another shot of Depot Town.

 The side I don't normally take.

 A shot of all of Depot Town.

 A shot of the Water Tower.

One more fuller shot.

Eastern Michigan Basketball Vs Rochester

These are what I thought were some of my better shots from the game today.

 Daylen Harrison going for the basket.

 Daylen Harrison passing the ball.  I kind of liked the look on his face.

 Da'Shonte Riley going for the basket.

 Mike Talley working his way around the defense.

 This is one of the hazards of shooting basketball.  One second, you're shooting a picture and the next second, you're dodging a player.

 Anthony Strickland working his way around a player.

 Jalen Ross working towards the basket.

 Anthony Strickland going for a basket.

One of the cheerleaders.

If you want to see other pictures go here.  Eastern ended up winning the game 92-54.  However, I don't think this game was a real test of their talent but it was a good break after playing Duke and Syracuse.

Shots From Around the Convocation Center

I went to the Eastern Michigan basketball game today, so I got some shots from around the Convocation Center.

 Rynearson Stadium lies dormant in the snow.  I'm not sure if you can tell that we got a bunch of snow in the past couple days.  If the weatherfolks are to be believed, we are going to get a bunch more in the next couple of days.  All totaled, we are looking at over a foot of snow, I think.  But still, despite the cold appearance of this picture, spring is around the corner.

 As I was leaving the game, I noticed that the flags were almost straight out.  So we have the Eastern flag flying proudly in the wind.

 Same with the Stars and Stripes.

And I had to get a picture of the Michigan flag as well.

The Michigan Central Train Station

I don't normally like to post pictures of the ruins of Detroit on this blog but this station was in the news recently, so I figured I would get some pictures of it.

 The Michigan Central Station became operational on December 26, 1913 after the old station burned down.  It was planned as part of a project that included the tunnel that goes from Detroit to Windsor.  The old station was located on a spur line and was inconvenient for the passengers.  The architectural style is known as Beaux Arts.

 At the time of its construction, it was the tallest train station in the world.  While it is outside of the downtown area, it was hoped that this would spur development in the area around it but that never quite happened (unlike the Fisher Building).

 At the peak of railroad travel in the early days of this station, about 200 trains per day would pass through it.  In the 1940's, more than 2,000 passengers would pass through per day and about 3,000 employees worked in the building itself.

 After World War II, passenger traffic started to decline with the advent of other means of travel.  It didn't really help that the station was kind of out of the way.  In 1956, there was an attempt to sell the station for a third of its building cost but that fell through.   In 1967, the main terminal was closed down because of the high maintenance costs versus the volume of passengers passing through.

 Things started to look up in 1971 as Amtrak took over passenger service.  The main terminal was reopened and a renovation project began in 1978 but further renovations were not performed and another deal to retask the building fell through.  In 1988, Amtrak discontinued use of the station but still used a platform for passenger service until the opening of its terminal on Woodward in 1994.

 In 1996, the building was bought by Manuel Maroun.  He's the guy that also owns the Ambassador Bridge.

In 2006, the Detroit City Council voted to have the building demolished but was sued under the National Perservation Act.  So the building remains standing.  If there is one building that stands as a symbol of what used to be Detroit, it is this one.  There have been a number of plans to renovate this building but none of them have come to fruition.  Much like the city, this building's future is undetermined.

Random Shots Around Detroit

These are just some of the shots I took as I was wandering around.

 A little bit of the ice on the River.

 A shot of the Renaissance Center from Milliken.  I'm not sure how much snow you can see in this picutre.

 A better shot of the ice.

 An idle carousel.

 The animals on the Merry Go Round are representative of what you would find around here.

 An eagle.

 This is a sculpture that depicts different industries.  This is at the end of Campus Martius.

 Looking down Michigan Avenue.

 A shot from MGM Casino.

 Another shot.

At the Corner of Bagley and Third Street.

A Pair of Helicopters

As I was taking pictures of the ships, I saw a couple of helicopters fly over.

 I'm not sure what kind of helicopter this is but I think this belongs to one of the local hospitals.

 Next up is the Dolphin from the Coast Guard.  I'm not sure what he was doing out and about but it was kind of cool.

 Especially since I don't get to see the Dolphin all that often.

One more shot of it as it moves off.