Detroit Underground: March 2009

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Monday, March 9, 2009

One of the central focuses in my upcoming book is a place known as the Seven Center Towers. They stand as the center of chaos and suspense throughout the story as all the plot lines converge there. The Seven Center Towers are based on a futuristic represenation of the GM Towers that actually exist there.

You can see a Canadian view of the towers if you look at the top of this very page. They are the cylinder shaped spires right in the center.

I think a lot of people drive by this amazing spectacle without ever getting a peek inside. I found a few of these pictures for your enjoyment at:

http://spacing.ca/wire/2008/11/25/inside-the-belly-of-the-general-motors-headquarters/

Here are some samples

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Detroit City

This is an absolutely great film depicting the mood and feeling of Detroit City. Full credit goes to http://www.youtube.com/user/bumpinrunner for this post.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Railway Tunnel

In the fall of 1906 the construction was begun on the revolutionary Michigan Central Railway Tunnel. Only three years later it was opened to the general public for transportation.

Before the tunnel was completed, commuters were left to use a Ferry boat to move them and their cars across the river. Now they could move back and forth on two separate tracks.

Multiple accounts and stories about the railroad have been recorded in public documents. They include a story about an 11 year old boy in 1909 who was horribly mangled and crushed by a train when attempting to jump across the tracks just before the train.

Another story from 1927 tells of a brakeman who was only on the job a few days before misunderstanding directions. He pulled a lever at the last moment thinking he had made a mistake. The passenger train was sent head on into a freight locomotive. Amazingly only one person was killed and a few other injured from the destruction.

Many other stories about the railroad haunts its past. Not all the accidents happened in the tunnels, but future posts about the railroad are sure to come.