Michigan Central Station

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Never rode a train into Michigan Central station, but did ride in to and out of the old Fort Street station on the C&O.
 
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I rode to and from it late in its life in 1984. It was in really bad shape. There was a large hall in the front of the station that was walled off with plywood partitions making a hallway from the station entrance to the concourse. So you walking down this plywood corridor through this large, high ceiling darkened hall.

The subway out to tracks smelled like pee.

When we arrived there it was nearly midnight and that station was beyond creepy. We left in the morning and more was visible, but still felt like an abandoned building, which it was soon to become.

About 70% of the passengers detrained in Dearborn and didn't ride all the way into Detroit Michigan Central.
 
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Did the Via trains between Toronto and Chicago use the tunnel? I wonder how many of the cars parked at the Windsor station were going to NYC vs. up the corridor to Toronto, Montreal, etc?
 
CraigDK said:
Metra Electric Rider said:
Did the Via trains between Toronto and Chicago use the tunnel? I wonder how many of the cars parked at the Windsor station were going to NYC vs. up the corridor to Toronto, Montreal, etc?
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No, if you are referring to The International. That train used the rail tunnel between Port Huron, MI and Sarnia, ON.
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Well, I suppose one could argue that's "the" tunnel, but yes, I'd forgotten it was routed that way. :p
 
Metra Electric Rider said:
CraigDK said:
Metra Electric Rider said:
Did the Via trains between Toronto and Chicago use the tunnel? I wonder how many of the cars parked at the Windsor station were going to NYC vs. up the corridor to Toronto, Montreal, etc?
Click to expand...
No, if you are referring to The International. That train used the rail tunnel between Port Huron, MI and Sarnia, ON.
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Well, I suppose one could argue that's "the" tunnel, but yes, I'd forgotten it was routed that way. :p
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No worries. I couldn't remember if there was a different VIA or Amtrak train that was routed through the tunnel between Detroit and Windsor. :lol:
 
CraigDK said:
Metra Electric Rider said:
CraigDK said:
Metra Electric Rider said:
Did the Via trains between Toronto and Chicago use the tunnel? I wonder how many of the cars parked at the Windsor station were going to NYC vs. up the corridor to Toronto, Montreal, etc?
Click to expand...
No, if you are referring to The International. That train used the rail tunnel between Port Huron, MI and Sarnia, ON.
Click to expand...
Well, I suppose one could argue that's "the" tunnel, but yes, I'd forgotten it was routed that way. :p
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No worries. I couldn't remember if there was a different VIA or Amtrak train that was routed through the tunnel between Detroit and Windsor. :lol:
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While I haven't checked Every Single Timetable, I don't believe that there has ever been a regularly scheduled Amtrak or VIA train which has used the Detroit/Windsor tunnel. However, when the New York Central System's Canadian cutoff between Detroit and Buffalo was still a going thing, there were plenty of passenger trains which used the Detroit/Windsor tunnel.
 
What route did the Niagara Rainbow use to operate to Detroit? I believe the 1970s incarnation of this train operated New York - Detroit (as opposed to the 1990s version which operated New York - Toronto).
 
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Eric S said:
What route did the Niagara Rainbow use to operate to Detroit? I believe the 1970s incarnation of this train operated New York - Detroit (as opposed to the 1990s version which operated New York - Toronto).
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Yes.....Amtrak's Empire State Express and later the Niagara Rainbow used the Detroit Tunnel and the xNYC, xPenn Central Conrail route (now mostly abandoned) across southern Ontario.
1) Michigan Central Station

2) St. Thomas Ont

3) St. Thomas Ont

4) Crossing under the Welland Canal

5) Crossing under the Welland Canal

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So where there historically other Chicago/Detroit/Other Midwestern Destination Cities - Toronto/Corridor trains that used the tunnel? Not just NYC trains... Or were they on the ferry?
 
Metra Electric Rider said:
So where there historically other Chicago/Detroit/Other Midwestern Destination Cities - Toronto/Corridor trains that used the tunnel? Not just NYC trains... Or were they on the ferry?
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The jointly operated Canadian Pacific - New York Central trains between Toronto and Chicago used the tunnel and until the late '60s CP RDC 'Dayliners' ran through the tunnel into Michigan Central Station.;
CN never used the Tunnel to Detroit. Through cars from Detroit to Toronto were ferried across to Windsor and attached to trains to/from Toronto.

CN's trains between Toronto and Chicago ran via the Tunnel at Port Huron/Sarnia.
 
Facebook user Ziggy Starz captured these photos. The lights are turned off around 8:00 p.m.

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Some of the articles mention that this could become an intermodal terminus. So besides Amtrak there might in the future also be some commuter rail lines. Maybe some of the track area could also be converted to make a station for Greyhound and other buses, smiliarly to what was done in New Orleans. Such a change can easily be reversed should the number of trains rise to the point that these tracks are required again. In the meantime they bring passengers and retail opportunities into what would otherwise be an abandoned area.
 
Abandoned vacant stations have been restored like Omaha's Burlington, Union Station,Kansas City and St Louis Union stations.. It can be done but with the passenger rail traffic of today, it is hard to justify Amtrak use unless you can incorporate commuter and regional rail there as well. Michigan Central was a beautiful grand structure at one time. Although it was filled with railroad offices it was never fully occupied but it did have an assortment of services for the rail passenger. I am hoping that someone would bring this station back as you could not build something like this today.
 

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