What's happening with the proposed Ann Arbor to Detroit commuter rail trains? The Great Lakes Central Railroad purchased two dozen ex-CB&Q Budd-built bi-level commuter cars for use in this service, and completely refurbished them at a cost of over $300,000 per car. Now those same cars are being offered for sale by Sterling Rail, Inc. Has Michigan given up on this project?
I live in Cadillac, MI, and I see the cars stored there (it looks like about 2 dozen.) I will try to keep an eye on them to see if they move. Detroit is undergoing bankruptcy, but I don't know if that affects the project.
What downtown station did they plan on using? Problem with the old commuter trains is that the Michigan Central station is west of downtown Detroit and a streetcar, then bus, or taxi ride was required in Detroit.
I wrote the appropriate people a long time ago that the tram-train sollution was needed: Run on the NS to near the MC Sta., then street running on Michigan Avenue to connect with the Grand Trunk ine to at least Pontiac or Durand. Now just connect to the new Woodward streetcar line.
The current Amtrak station will be connected to the new streetcar line. The old GT line in downtown Detroit is now a linear park/bike-way.
Thought the new streetcar was just in Woodward. Do you mean it will turn west on Michigan? How far toward downtown is the GT RoW still available for rail service? Could the Woodward line eventually use it to extend service farther north or would it make sense to simply continue up Woodward? In the PCC era Woodward cars only ran up to the Fairgrounds or 8 Mile Rd. But I remember when DSR ran as far as Royal Oak, and beyond 7 Mile there was a center reservation and operation was more like light rail.
I'm under the impression from talking to people in Ypsilanti that the light rail line will go from there to downtown Detroit. I could be wrong. You can still see streetcar rails poking through the asphalt on Michigan Avenue near the MC terminal, maybe that's where it will go? It doesn't seem like the entire road surface is needed for automotive traffic. Not to hijack this thread but it would sure be nice if the terminal would be restored but who has the money for that?
And what about Pontiac and Royal Oak?
The current Amtrak station is located on Woodward Ave in an area called the "New Center" about 3 miles N of downtown Detroit. The new streetcar will run on Woodward from downtown to New Center. Amtrak continues beyond to Pontiac.
Current ATK station location: 42°22'4.54"N 83° 4'19.96"W
The active GT ROW toward downtown ends at: 42°21'7.14"N 83° 2'20.46"W
If you follow the former ROW to the South you will come into the Dequindre Cut pathway:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dequindre_Cut
Jog my memory a bit. The New Center is where Wayne State U is located, including Yamasaki's McGregor Building? Where the Fisher Building and Theatre are located? Is the Dequindre Cut Pathway just east of there?
daveklepper Jog my memory a bit. The New Center is where Wayne State U is located, including Yamasaki's McGregor Building? Where the Fisher Building and Theatre are located? Is the Dequindre Cut Pathway just east of there?
I live in northern Michigan about 200 miles from Detroit, and have only been downtown a couple of times. (I didn't grow up in Mich.) The only time I took Amtrak thru Detroit was about 20 years ago. At that time they had a train that came from Toledo, backed into the old MC station, and then continued to Chicago. Much of what I know about Detroit is gleaned from reading the Sunday Free Press. I understand the "New Center" is around Wayne State U and some large hospitals. Just East of there is Milwaukee Jct, where ATK goes N on the former GTW to Pontiac, and the line to the Dequindre Cut goes S. The last mile to the Detroit River waterfront is the linear park/pathway. Much of the upriver waterfront industry is gone and being converted to condos and parks. The streetcar project is called M-! Rail because Woodward Ave is Michigan route 1.
http://m-1rail.com
The New Center area of Detroit is where the former General Motors Headquarters building is located with the giant G-E-N-E-R-A-L M-O-T-O-R-S. Letters on the roof (I used to work there). It's on West Grand Blvd. New Center was developed by General Motors in an effort to revive that area of Detroit. It's a small green postage stamp area as an oasis surrounded entirely by urban decay that looks like parts of the war torn Middle East. Bounded by the Lodge Freeway on the East and whatever the other freeway was on the West that went to the Northern Burbs. Past Detroit Administrations rewarded GM's investment kindness in Detroit Real Estate by locating a drug rehabilitation center there, then a welfare or food stamp office. Accordingly crime increased and GM had to spend more money on a Security Force as Detroit could not afford to staff the mini-police station in the New Center area. GM Executives that worked at the GM Building when I was there (including former Cabinet level appointees of the White House) were never in any Danger as they had a private and heavily guarded garage adjacent to the GM building as well as underground passages to it available to use. Us peons on the other hand needed to be constantly looking over our shoulder while the sound of crack pipes and discarded syringes crunched under our shoes.
So that is the New Center Area a few blocks away if you care to really take your life into your own hands and walk is Hitsville USA, the site of the original Motown Records.
I was happy to see them build the Amtrak station there. I see now that the Amtrak station there is going to be permanent. Originally the plan was to build it temporarily out of modular materials until Detroit decided to rebuild MC Station. It appears now that Detroit wants to connect the island of green called the New Center area to the rest of functioning Detroit downtown in the hopes of preserving the real estate there. Thats a good plan because GM has moved most of it's staffs to the Ren Center down town from the New Center area. Apparently they were getting tired of the City of Detroits neglect and abuse of their investment. Maybe the Woodward Avenue trolley will bring back or preserve the New Center area. I hope it does. Woodward is a great selection for return of the trolley because it is a very wide BLVD with a large median.
I just hope this move does not mean abandonment of MC Station as a station because I feel the tunnels there and potential with connecting under the river with the Windsor to Toronto Corridor would be a huge gain once Detroit gets it's act together. So I hope they still bring back MC station and run a secondary trolley down to it. Thats if the Woodward Ave plan works at revival.
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