Abandoned Michigan Central Train Station in Detroit, Filmed with DJI Phantom 2 Drone 

they are starting to restore it

Liberalism @ work. Happens every where you try it.

SkylineToTheSeaAndMe what you see here is exactly is what's happened to California, influx of so much money and the state or city government goes bonkers giving away money, you know "helping people" ! look at silicon valley ,and other places where huge amounts of money came in. Democrats elected because of their great socialist leaning ideals ,and look what happens!

Paul Lewis Don’t be an idiot. Liberalism had nothing to do with this building. It used to be the headquarters of a division of the New York central railroad. When Conrail was established in the 1970s the offices closed and the building was too big to continue to serve Amtrak. It is now undergoing a complete renovation by Ford Motor and will be used as a massive research center. Please learn your facts before spewing unadulterated bull shit.

Earl Wright You have no idea why this building was empty Earl. It had absolutely nothing to do with socialism and the government. The railroad who owned the building abandoned it when they consolidated offices and moved the passenger station. Today it is being completely renovated by Ford Motor to be used as a research center. I grew up and lived less than a mile from the building for fifty years. Please do not spew bull shit if you have zero idea why it was abandoned in the first place.

Yes it was once the forth biggest city in the us

All thanks to the great Gipper!!! and least not forget the dear unions

Born there in 1950, lived there til the 70's. It breaks my heart to see what has been allowed to happen - it looks like Europe after WWII - Our great old cities need a Marshall Plan. We rebuilt Europe, we could rebuild Detroit As with all of America's problems, we don't lack the means, we lack the political will

ral1329 Have you been back lately? I grew up in Cork Town and lived there for fifty years. Yes the city fell on unbelievably hard times but what is happening today is just as amazing as the decline. Private investment is transforming the city. There is so much renovation and new construction that I can’t begin to list it all. Come back for a visit you will be impressed. My wife and I moved to Brush Park bear the new stadiums two years ago. 15 years ago Brush Park was totally abandoned. Today? 3500+ new housing units, hotels and 20 story corporate headquarters are being built. The neighborhoods still need to be rebuilt but the city is in the midst of a turn around. So don’t feel sad. Those of us who stuck it out and never thought it would get better see progress everyday.

Chill Will You are right. It is surreal. The area around Michigan Central Station was poised for a massive change before the pandemic. We are not so sure now that the recession will not delay the big plans for hundreds of new condos/apartments in North Cork Town and in the Vernor corridor. But up until March every day saw more and more positive change. I was in the Florida Keys when all hell broke loose in March and just got back. After you have been away for a while all the new construction really hits you. I hope that they keep up the momentum. There are still dozens of square miles of desolation. But the attitude is good and people are determined to continue to transform this great city. Where do you live now?

No, boring!!!

Repetitive!!

+TheGadgetGuy1 Yes! I kept wishing you had gotten just a bit more focused in on the architectural details. I love the old sculptures at the top. Good to see the rooftop too. I didn't know it was so isolated in the city either. Really a nice view of it overall. I hope you go for another look.

+Laura Brown Hi Laura. Thanks for the feedback. And I completely agree. The Phantom 2 isn't ideally suited for really up close filming (at least not safely). I will soon be filming a follow up video with my Inspire 1. I will be able to capture the beautiful detail a lot more with that craft.

Nice drone. DJI phantom 2 is good even 2 years on.

Ray OfMinneapolis Long time, Ray. Nice to see you're still around.

What was the building used for? Like I don't understand why a train station is so tall.

Maybe it was also a luxury hotel for train travelers?

Bride OfChrist It was a corporate headquarters.

AMCNorthstar 93 restoring it would cost around 200 mln usd

RazorFX x0

RazorFX Who cares how much, the current owner can well afford it.

Yes and about time as well!!! :)

A smaller train station from the same company.

Hi. Glad you liked the video! I have actually been inside the station several times, and it's sad to see it deteriorate through the years. Hopefully it will be restored one day. Check out my other videos, and keep checking back. I'll be adding more videos of Detroit landmarks and ruins every week or so.

TheGadgetGuy1 And for that, you have earned a subscription.

Thanks! Glad you liked the video. Blackmill was absolutely perfect for the mood of the video. They were my first choice.

Benjamin Beytekin Hi! Glad you liked the video!! Yes, I agree that it's funny to see the backwards cars in that scene. Most people don't notice, cause they are too busy looking at the Train Station. :) Out of curiosity, how did you find my videos?

You're welcome! You living in or in the subs of Detroit? Lets meet at my next visit - I need a drone sometimes for some obejects. Your clip is on top of the list for "Michigan Central Station" here on RU-vid. ;o)

I'm in the Northern Suburbs of Detroit. The beautiful and historic buildings of Detroit fascinate me. Sad to see so many wonderful buildings neglected. Let me know when you'll be coming to town.

Yes, I will! Did you see the apartment complex blaze yesterday? The building has had wounderful decorated brick fassade. Sad... But there are some more in that street.

Hello. Good eye! Yes, that truck *IS* going backwards, and so is the rest of the traffic. You spotted a little cinematic trick: That segment of the footage is being played backwards in the finished video. :) Congratulations... You are the first person to have spotted that!!

Thanks for the compliment. The Station actually looks better now. They installed new windows to seal the structure and protect from the elements.

Kevin Kinney Kevin. You obviously have never been to Detroit or know what is going on here. While there are still plenty of problems the city is undergoing a transformation. The station and several surrounding buildings are undergoing a massive renovation project. Ford Motor is turning the area into a research center adding 5500 jobs. I grew up and lived in that neighborhood for fifty years. Today you literally have a hard time driving through the area due to all the construction. The same with huge swaths of the 48 square mile city core. And the beauty of this comeback? It is fueled by private investors. Hotels, office towers, and housing units are being built at a frantic pace. So dont feel sorry for us. The neighborhoods are still in trouble but those of us who stuck it out and refused to leave are witnessing a breathtaking transformation.

Arrogant? It used to be a regional head quarters for the New York Central Railroad. The floors were used by railroad employees. Not sure how that is arrogant.

I'm glad you enjoyed the video! It was a lot of fun creating it. To answer your questions: I have a video monitor that I watch while flying the drone. I see exactly what the camera sees. So I am not looking at the actual drone while it is flying. In this case, I was in a parking lot about ⅓ of a mile away. Theoretically I could have flown it inside the station, but that would have been extremely dangerous for the drone. Easy to bump into something you can't see, ya know? I have always had a fascination with the station (I used to go exploring inside many years ago), so of course it was tops on the list of places to film with my Drone! Thanks for the comments!

Ford just bought it. New research campus. 5000 jobs.

John C What If it crashed or stopped working though. Never could’ve retrieved it

already done

The song is Miracle by Blackmill

Closed in 1988.

Hi. Glad you enjoyed the video! The station is probably my favorite Detroit building, so I just HAD to make a video of it. Here's a link to the music. When I first heard the song, I KNEW it was perfect for the station video. itunes.apple.com/us/album/miracle/id491271894?i=491271895

TheGadgetGuy1 Congratulations you have sensitivity! José Brasil

Thanks for the comment. Glad you enjoyed the video. Sad that the building hasn't been re-purposed yet, but I still have hope that one day they will come up with a new use for it. Fortunately, it is still structurally secure, so it's not at any risk of collapse. And with new windows being installed this year, at least it will be weather tight again.

What were all those rooms used for? Seems very big for just a railway station.

***** The intention for the upper floors was an office tower, like any other office building. Unfortunately, since the train station is so far away from the "Downtown Detroit" area, most of the upper floors were never leased. As a result, a large amount of the upper space was never used at all.

Well it looks like there is life in the old dog yet :) I think it would make a great hotel.

***** I was told that the floors were practically crumbling and no one was allowed to enter, plus Asbestos is riddled throughout the walls (most likely). But most of my friends have used this building in their graduation photos. I even have a pedestal from the front of the building inside of my foyer.

How about a parking garage for small cars. Build a lift to take several at one time. The humans might need a couple elevators, if these aren't working?

cheeper to demolish than revamp and bring up to modern standards

Timosha21 or Western Michigan University

Ford just bought it and several area buildings. Constructing new research campus. 5000 jobs.

all the glass has been redone and the roof sealed, the 3 level basement pumped out. This place is going to look amazing when Ford moves in.

+Sedes Villarreal Did you just realize that?

Hello. Send me your email address and we can discuss your music video and work things out.

+Fortified Drastic Got it. Feel free to delete it from the thread.

+Fortified Drastic Are you still interested in my footage? I sent you an email but never received a response.

SweetGameplays I guess they use stairs to get there

Ford just bought it along with several other area buildings. New research campus. 5000 jobs.

you mean "what's the name of this song" its called miracle by blackmill

+madmax2069 It's

Drony Montana naw. Especially not now! 😐 they’ve been doing work on it.

Pretty sure the railroad built that station, not "the government"

Karl Dahlquist according to historicdetroit.org: The city forked over $680,619.99 ($14.75 million today, when adjusted for inflation) in condemnation proceedings on Aug. 6, 1915, to acquire the land for the depot and the land in front of it for a park. Yes the railroad built the structure. I adjusted my comment.

Charles Rinehart www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2015/04/29/michigan-central-station-riverside-park-plans/26563283/ I don't think $5m will go very far

Cars and planes beat trains.

The city went from around 15% Black to around 85% black today. The larger the black population in any given area, the more likely it will look like what you see here.

Because there is no other answer and the question was "why was it abandoned?", which warrants and honest clear answer. You can say Leftist economic policies or unions ruined the city, but none of that matters. The same policies that were and still are in place in Detroit, as well as the unions, can be found in all white areas. But without the same negative results. Cars ad planes make no difference either. The Detroit Central station is the cities equivalent to New York Cities Grand Central Terminal. A large black population simply cannot maintain beautiful infrastructure as has been demonstrated over and over again.

+Aeros802 He was asking why this building went abandoned not the whole city...

So what you are saying is that Michigan Central Station closed because of black people? It wasn't the fact that it is a multi story building designed as an office tower for railroad employees who were consolidated into other offices as Conrail moved offices out of Detroit? It wasn't the fact that the station itself only served four round trip trains a day when it closed in 1988? It wasn''t because Amtrak, a perpetually underfunded entity was asked to take on the burden of a building that was only 10% occupied? It wasn't the fact that Amtrak expanded service north to Pontiac Mi and continued use of the station would require backing up over two miles and then pulling back out to continue north. New Yorks Grand Central Station services literally dozens of trains a day. Amtraks Wolverine Services five round trips. Apples and oranges my racist friend The fact is simple. Except for New York, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles and Washington DC (A black city by the way) most cities cannot support a. viable rail terminal without multi using. Cincinnati Union Terminal, Philly Broad Street come to mind. No. Your honest clear answer is one thing. Racist nonsense.

+breezwonder Believe it or not, the train station is finally being properly taken care of. New windows have been installed, and the building is sealed and stabilized. Not yet 'restored', but a good first step!!

@@TheGadgetGuy1 good. Hope to see it running again. I saw this building when I visited Detroit.