There has been some discussion about the fate of various stations posted lately. Here is what appears to be a good outcome.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ford-buys-historic-detroit-train-144814051.html

That is great news for the station. I am so glad that the deal went through and that Ford is going to be using the facility. This should be interesting to follow.

I'm not surprised, but I expected it to be Google.

Better details are available at

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20 ... 59A458BBCC


Ford will make their announcement on 6/19/18

Bob H

This was in the Detroit News a couple days ago:

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/ ... 704129002/

Pretty cool. Gabriel Richard (say, "Ri-SHARD) park is a couple blocks away from the depot.

Aarne Frobom
Central Avenue

And this on CNN -
http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/17/news/co ... index.html

I apologize if this is the wrong place to post this, but I took some pictures during the open house Sunday if anyone here is interested.

Even in its current state it still manages to impress, though it's clear only a large company like Ford's could foot the bill for the work this building is in desperate need of.

https://imgur.com/a/p7YuZ7p

Some of my great grandparents entered through this station when they moved to Detroit, and my grandfather and his brothers departed and returned through the station when they were drafted during WWII. My grandparents dated at the restaurant once, and an uncle worked in the railyard nearby as a young man.

My parents were the generation whom were moved out of the city as children, and like them, while born in Detroit I've only known the city at it's lowest. The places and neighborhoods described by older relatives stood at odds with the vacant lots and decrepit ruins found in many of their places.

I would have never expected to visit this station in person, but as the crowds today and this weekend attest, this station is special to people, and to have a fragment of our collective local cultural history saved rather than cast down and plowed under is a sign that things can get better. Every day things have been renewed downtown, and I hope this station getting reborn will help revitalize the surrounding neighborhoods.

Great pictures of the station! Thanks for posting. As an aside, there is a seller on eBay who is claiming to have a sconce from the former restaurant for sale at a very high price. I have no connection with the seller, just passing on this info.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-BRASS- ... SwvDpbHJ8Q

Caveat emptor --- even if there is a letter documenting it's authentic.


Bob H

Agreed. when I contacted the seller asking for provenance, he got very defensive and said that he salvaged this so long ago that there was no documentation as to its authenticity.

There are allegations elsewhere online that this seller has attempted to sell this very item (and maybe other sconces) numerous times in the past several years, always at a horribly over-inflated price that seems to guarantee it doesn't sell. I'd have trouble, as a railroadiana collector, justifying getting that thing at one-tenth his asking price even if I wanted something from that depot.

It seems to me that anyone with stolen hardware from this station that they would admit to having would be rushing to undercut this seller on price or make arrangements to offer them to Ford or its architects at "reasonable" terms. And if I were Ford or its agents, I'd put out a semi-public call for the loan or voluntary return of such items. (Even better, if they wished to replicate the originals--and certainly cranking out hundreds of these things is within the means and abilities of a company that size--they could even threaten to flood the market with less expensive reproductions, the better to reduce or eliminate the value of stolen originals, hee hee hee hee.......)

I had similar thoughts, the seller in question seems to be trying to cash in with an item of dubious provenance.

There's a news article out this morning about more and more people wishing to donate items and fixtures that have gone missing over the decades.

https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2018/06/27/ford-return-detroit-train-station-items/734256002/

The listing for the sconce has been taken down from eBay by the seller. allegedly because "There was an error in the listing." Maybe too many questions as to authenticity and/or provenance.

Another story on the new restoration effort.

https://amp.detroitnews.com/amp/7027230 ... FsA7Ywck-Y

Current news about the rehab process. A lot of water is being removed from the basements.


https://www.freep.com/story/money/busin ... 207596001/