From The New York Times

DETROIT — The last train pulled away more than 20 years ago from Michigan Central Station, one of thousands of “see-through” buildings here, empty shells from more auspicious times.

Many of the blighted buildings stay up simply because they are too expensive to tear down. Yet Michigan Central is in a class of its own. Some city officials consider it among the ugliest behemoths to pockmark Detroit and have ordered its demolition, but others see it as the industrial age’s most gracious relic, a Beaux Arts gem turned gothic from neglect but steeped in haunting beauty.

Now Detroit has become embroiled in an urgent debate over how to save what is perhaps its most iconic ruin — and in the process, some insist, give the demoralized city a much needed boost.

Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/06/us/06station.html

From The Windsor Star

WINDSOR, Ont. — The rumours can finally be pushed aside as federal government and Via Rail officials announced Monday that Windsor will see construction of a new $6.3-million train station next door to the current location.

Construction will begin this June with a completion date slated for fall 2011. The new facility will be built just east of the existing station, said Marc Laliberte, president and CEO for Via.

Talk of a new Via train station in Windsor has been around for years with potential sites that included the current site, the airport or a location near Wellington Avenue near the rail tunnel entrance.

“The other locations, you need everybody agreeing,” Laliberte said. “There has been work on different scenarios, but it takes a long time. We don’t want to wait forever. We have decided to stay here for right now.

“It’s a project that we have been contemplating for many years and now is the time to do it. If something else happens in two, three or five years, we will look at it again.”

Article source:
http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Windsor+train+station/2628492/story.html

From The Macomb Daily

By Erica Stark, Macomb Daily Staff Writer

Jack Schramm, one of the founders of the Michigan Transit Museum in Mount Clemens, died Feb. 24 after a long illness.

Mr. Schramm had a great interest in history, especially Detroit and its railways. He obtained a job with the city of Detroit’s Department of Street Railways after graduating from Denby High School in 1942.

He worked there for 40 years until his retirement in 1982. His employment was interrupted during World War II when he served in the Army from 1943 until 1946 in Europe and the South Pacific with the 1275 Engineer Combat Battalion.

His job as superintendent of payroll with the DSR required him to keep accurate records which served him well later when he chronicled the history of the railway system from the horse-drawn streetcars to the demise of the streetcar system in 1956.

His son Kenneth recalls him as a great guy with a keen mind for detail, which he retained throughout his life. In addition to the history of streetcars, Mr. Schramm also authored several magazine articles on the history of Detroit and southeastern Michigan bus companies.

His great love for the streetcars resulted in several books written on the history of the Detroit Department of Street Railways and its predecessor company, the Detroit United Railway.

The Michigan Transit Museum group was able to save the old Grand Trunk Train Station where Thomas Edison learned telegraphy, as well as one of the last DSR streetcars that operated in Detroit.

“My father was a dedicated city of Detroit employee for 40 years who worked hard at preserving Detroit and southeastern Michigan’s rich transit history,” Kenneth Schramm said. “It was just a shame he couldn’t have lived a bit longer to see the light rail system they are working on now and perhaps been amongst the first to take a ride.”

A memorial service for Mr. Schramm will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday (3/9/10) at Historic Trinity Lutheran Church, 1345 Gratiot Ave., Detroit. Memorial contributions may be made to the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, 1820 Mt. Elliott St., Detroit MI 48207.

Article source:
http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/2010/03/06/news/srv0000007756251.txt

From The Detroit News

The city’s top fire official spared few words Monday when calling out firefighters who left on railroad tracks a ladder truck before it was struck by a passenger train.

“I’m very upset,” Executive Fire Commissioner James Mack said. “It was a $600,000 truck. We’re trained professionals. We should always be thinking.”

The fire truck was crushed by an Amtrak passenger train at about 11:40 a.m. Monday in southwest Detroit after firefighters responded to a crash between a tractor-trailer and a car near John Kronk and Lonyo. For reasons that are unclear, the fire truck was left on the tracks.
A firefighter saw the oncoming train and ran back to move the rig. He was in the truck when the train slammed into it. He suffered a gash to the head and was treated at Detroit Receiving Hospital. No other firefighters were injured.

No serious injuries were reported aboard the train, though a female passenger was taken to a hospital after complaining of neck stiffness, fire officials and witnesses said.

Read more:
http://detnews.com/article/20100302/METRO01/3020348/Official-slams-firefighters-for-parking-on-rail-tracks#ixzz0hDvfRr2U