Michigan Central's restoration stirs memories of Detroit train station

• The public will get its first look next week after an outdoor concert June 6 (all 15,000 concert tickets were claimed within minutes).

Flashback: More than 4,000 passengers packed Michigan Central's vast waiting room every day in the 1940s, per HistoricDetroit.org.

• "It was Detroit's Ellis Island, where many generations of Detroiters first stepped foot into the city for factory jobs," the website says.

📬 We asked readers for their memories inside Michigan Central before it closed in 1988.

• Here's what they told us:

Earl R.: "Among my earliest childhood memories are meeting my father and my two uncles at Michigan Central returning from WWII in late 1945 and early 1946. I was just 3 years old, but the excitement of those reunions has stayed with me since then."

Paula T.: "Cass Tech class of 1966 went to New York City for our senior trip. I had visited the station as a youngster, but still recall the excitement of actually embarking from the inner rails of the majestic station. It was a true peak life experience for a Detroiter!"

Constance M.: "In 1971, I took my 5-year-old son to the train station to take the very last run of the 'Wabash Cannonball' from Detroit to Fort Wayne. The train was full of celebration and sadness."

Barbara C.: "In Christmas of 1967, my dad took me downtown to the train station to catch the train to Jackson for a sorority sister's wedding. We were a bit wary of the snowy roads and I was 20 years old and studying at U of M. It is a poignant memory of large trains in a noisy and grand station."

Patrick O.: "It was June 1946 and I had just turned five. My mother took me to visit some former neighbors from Indiana and Pilgrim in northwest Detroit. We departed Michigan Central with a steam locomotive to Chicago. Everyone seemed dressed up: suits and ties, fancy dresses, even my outfit with short pants. I remember entering the large waiting area. To a 5-year-old, it was overwhelming. I don't remember the details, just the sense of bigness and awe. It was my first train trip, so I was in awe of everything. I remember watching the train cars, with their bright silver skins and red-and-yellow Sante Fe stripes, go round the corners. Glimpsing the lead engine and auxiliaries became a passion."

Eldred B.: "Around the winter of 1964 after having won a writing contest at our St. James Methodist Church in Detroit, I boarded the night train from Michigan Central Station for the United Nations/Washington Peace Seminar. While sitting in the club car it was almost magical to see the snow flying, lit by the headlight of the train. I'll always remember that exhilarating experience."

Marianne U.: "When I finished graduate school in 1978, there was an Amtrak train from Ann Arbor to Detroit that arrived in time for us to be at our desks in downtown Detroit by 8 am and to leave at 5 – one train a day to and from Detroit. We had a loyal group of commuters who traveled to the Michigan Central Station from Ann Arbor for many years before the service was eliminated. Once there, we would be met by a bus that was at the station and dropped each of us off at various spots in Detroit. On Friday afternoons, we set up a bar in one of the cars going back to Ann Arbor for a Friday happy hour. It was a truly wonderful way to commute! I have fond memories of the Michigan Central Station even though it was already in its final days in the early 1980s."

Allan G.: "I have a vague memory of being in Michigan Central Station in the early or mid-1980s. I had moved to the Detroit area from Minnesota only a few years before and scheduled a couple of foreign students to speak about their language and culture in several local high schools. I remember a pretty empty station, but a very large and ornate main hall. I headed to the tracks to meet them and off we went to begin their Detroit stay."

Mary D.: "As a young adult it was my job to meet the train from Buffalo every Christmas. It was always late, so I spent Christmas Eve sitting in the terminal waiting for the train to clear customs in Windsor. They didn't always announce arrivals so I met all the people getting off. In days before cellphones it was impossible to know why it was late or when it would arrive. Great way to spend Christmas Eve!"

What's next: Open house dates beginning next week are full. More chances to experience the train station will be announced soon.

Note: Some responses have been edited for brevity.