  The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 2143 Registered: 11-2003 |
Thank you, Johnlodge, for posting the 3 photos of the B'ham train station. And for the menu recommendation, too! Amazing that the corridor below the tracks is now a dining area.I don't think we have stepped foot in the old station since Eaton Street Station restaurant closed so many years ago. So we look forward to a lunch there next week. I recall reading that the long cement platforms at the station were so high above the tracks that to get in and off the coaches, the GT used what were called "Birmingham Boards", They were slightly curved metal pieces with fitted rubber treads that were used to bridge the gap to the platforms. So you actually stepped "down" when entering the coach and "up" when getting off. I remember those "boards" quite well. The Pontiac GT station was a really busy place. Not as nice looking a station as Birmingham, but they had a roundhouse there, lots of tracks, a real hub-bub of activity. But I guess that's another story for another Thread. (Same for the venerable Durand station) | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 769 Registered: 08-2007 |
Edgewater park, 7 mile and Berg ---- jeeze, I wasn't being a copy-cat (Message edited by gnome on February 20, 2008) | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5200 Registered: 10-2003 |
Ah, a very good guess Gnome. But not correct. This place WAS sold to the Wagner Bros, who owned Edgewater Park, in the 60's, but this place did not survive to the end of that decade. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5201 Registered: 10-2003 |
Oops, missed your post Rel. Good guess for you too, then. | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 770 Registered: 08-2007 |
walled lake ... casino | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5202 Registered: 10-2003 |
 Looks like I'll have to make these a little more difficult! Well done, Gnome. | ||
Rel Member Username: Rel Post Number: 183 Registered: 02-2008 |
Wow  I didn't even know that existed! Where was it located? | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5203 Registered: 10-2003 |
 It was located approximately in this area. There is a wealth of information about it, including photos and promotional VIDEO, here at this site: http://www.waterwinterwonderland.com/walledlakeamusementpark.asp | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 1532 Registered: 08-2007 |
I was there with my aunt only once, must have been about seven at the time. All I remember is the great speedboat ride and the beach and all the guys hitting on my aunt. There were tons of people there. | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 2144 Registered: 11-2003 |
Now we are in to roller coasters. Neat. I remember riding that old wooden roller coaster at Walled Lake. That "clickty-clack" sound is a childhood memory, like the GT steam engine whistle as she pulled out of the Brush street station. Com'on, lodge, Pontiac and Durand RR stations can't be far behind. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5204 Registered: 10-2003 |
Rock, you like the rail theme so we'll stick with it! This one is very cool to me. This place has scared the bejeebers out of me my whole life.  It still stands to this day, though it has been through a couple different incarnations. Where is this place? What was it originally? What else has it served as? | ||
Rel Member Username: Rel Post Number: 191 Registered: 02-2008 |
Stumped. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5206 Registered: 10-2003 |
A small hint: this is in a suburb of Detroit, and is NOT in any sort of industrial setting. It was built in 1898. | ||
Rel Member Username: Rel Post Number: 192 Registered: 02-2008 |
Somerset Mall!! What do I win? | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5207 Registered: 10-2003 |
This structure was built and owned by a Railroad company. It was NOT a train station, however. Here you can see it in the background, behind what WAS the station for this town.  It's purpose changed in the early 30's. Some event in American history spurred this change, prompting a Canadian company to relocate their operations to this location. | ||
Oldredfordette Member Username: Oldredfordette Post Number: 3945 Registered: 02-2004 |
I can't read the writing on the front! Is it on Michigan Ave. in Dearborn? | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5208 Registered: 10-2003 |
I will tell you that it says Detroit and Northwestern Railway on the front. That lettering was there until the early 30's, when it changed ownership. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5209 Registered: 10-2003 |
And no, not Dearborn. | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 772 Registered: 08-2007 |
looks like the Northville station, Great depression was the event, maybe Burroughs Corp? | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5210 Registered: 10-2003 |
Not Northville. Great depression was not the event. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5211 Registered: 10-2003 |
 Here's a photo of the front of the structure AFTER being purchased from the Railroad. As you can see, the beautiful arched windows have been all but bricked up completely. I've blacked out the lettering on the front, as it would be too easy to Google the structure with that information. | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 773 Registered: 08-2007 |
Hmm, Repeal of the Volstead Act? | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5212 Registered: 10-2003 |
Yes Gnome, the end of prohibition in the U.S. | ||
Rel Member Username: Rel Post Number: 193 Registered: 02-2008 |
So it's a brewery? | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5213 Registered: 10-2003 |
Not a brewery, but very, very close. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 2757 Registered: 01-2005 |
Looks a little like the old winery on Grand River in Farmington, but there ain't any railroad tracks within miles of that place. Anyway, I'll say it was a winery, but no idea where it might be. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5214 Registered: 10-2003 |
Ray, you win!  Originally built in 1898 by the Detroit and Northwestern Railway (precursor to the D.U.R. Interurban) as an electric powerplant. The first lights in Farmington were Streetlights, powered by this plant. It was a requirement of Farmington that D&N Rail light up the town if they wanted to operate there. Following prohibition, The Windsor Wine company purchased the building and turned it into The Lasalle Winery on April 10, 1933. There has been at least one serious attempt to renovate the building into a restaurant in the70's, but that fell through, article here: http://caravantradingcompany.com/art3.html Today, the building is open once a year, Halloween, as the Haunted Winery. Link: http://www.thehauntedwinery.com/1.html Ray, the reason there ain't no tracks, is because the D.U.R. Interurban, as we know, was torn up years ago! (Message edited by johnlodge on February 20, 2008) | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 1536 Registered: 08-2007 |
It IS! Interurban line powerhouse. Dang, sometimes I type too slow. (Message edited by gazhekwe on February 20, 2008) | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 2758 Registered: 01-2005 |
Ah, sure, the interurban! I got trains in my mind and couldn't shake that thought, throwing me off! Well, I fumbled my way through that one! | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5215 Registered: 10-2003 |
I'm amazed Ray got this, I was getting worried it was way too difficult. There's clearly been the addition of a loading dock to the building since the historical photos were taken, as can be seen on the left of the new photo, making it pretty tough to identify. |
