Inside train shed 1942 + early '20s

Loading Buick's in the twenty's inside the train shed.

This is 1942 showing conversion to war production inside the old train shed. This view is facing north.

Loading 1936 Buick specials, this view facing north east towards the old (Buick Height's) St John st. neighborhood.

This view is the same as the one above called "Inside train shed 1997" except facing north east. The Rail tracks have been covered over for war work and as far as I know the rails were never replaced because building #94 was built in 1940 & was now used for new car shipping.

Another view inside factory #02/08

This was my work station inside of factory #02/08. This area was used for front & rear fascia storage. I had the whole place to myself on second shift and it could be spooky sometimes late at night. Day shift used the main building (old train shed) for setting up & checking the A.G.V. carriers for the assembly factory, A.G.V. stands for automated guided vehicle.This factory originally was the #02 shipping factory and train shed. It took over the #08 designation when plastic injection molding was started here.

This is the same view in factory #02/08 during World War II as is shown above. This shows the prop shaft forgings for the Liberator engine during WWII.

Inside the train shed 1997

This is an A.G.V. (automated guided vehicle) in the old train shed 02/08. Repair and testing took place here because they needed a large open area. They even had the electrical track embedded in the floor complete with the recharging stations. These vehicles were required for a platform to build up the chassis components and they were then raised for installation into the body.

In this view I'm facing south east inside the old train shed. You can barely see the main roof structure but it was all ceder slats. I can just imagine what that old wood was worth when they demolished the building. But that's small potatoes compared to the waste I seen in my 25 years there. We used to always say "This would be a great place to start a car company".

I used to visit a friend in here during the early 80's when they did plastic injection molding. I think this photo is from that time.

Northend factory #02/#08

This photo shows the construction taking place during the remodel of the old train shed,which became the Buick plastic injection factory. Photo taken early 1978.

Building #02 Factory #08. This is the truck dock I used at the north end. As far as I remember the factory was called 08 when they did plastic injection molding in the 70's-80's.

Train Shed At Buick Rail Entrance

The original photo that the postcards were made from.

This is a clean copy of the same postcard without the postmark ink.

This is a view of the train sheds from an old postcard, facing south.

Factory #02 train shed 1923

This view is looking south west from the main line tracks at the Buick train shed, used for loading cars under cover for shipment. Notice the soot above the dock entrances from the steam locomotives of that time.

October 4, 1917 article.

Factory #02 Train Shed Vehicle Entrance

The train shed in 1917 just after construction. This is looking northeast across Division st.

This view looking north east at factory #02 around 1923, with Division st. in the foreground. This area at the left would become a two story structure.

Division street Buick 50's / 90's

This is the same view as the one from 1997 only in the 50's and about 200 feet north. This is the powerhouse with #02/#08 in the distance. The ramp in the distance is also visible in the 97 photo except that the lower half had been removed. My friend Kip Davis lost control of a fork truck on this ramp once during a rainstorm, in which he then bailed out as the truck went over the side. When I hired in this ramp went to the second floor pilot assembly area.

This view on Division street shows factory #40 building #16 north end at right and factory #08 building #02 on left. Building #02 was built in 1917 and was the old train shed used originally for new car shipping. The part visible in this photo was built as a single story with the large sheds located to the east. The first bridge #43 over Division street was for the car carriers transporting finished vehicles overhead to factory #94 new car shipping. The second bridge was for Wheeled vehicles going either to factory #02 or #94. When you enlarge this photo you will notice (a red sign) on building #16 factory #40 above the second truck to the right, that is backed into the dock. The line of window's above this sign show's two exhaust fans. Now just between those two fans you will notice a light colored area. This was where my friend Greg Lamay accidentally knocked out a set of window's with his fork lift truck. The frame landed on top of a truck being unloaded at the dock. Instead of putting the window's back, they just filled this area in with sheet metal. There are a million story's in people's minds from this place called Buick.

 follow the link for bridge #43

Buick City Bridge #43

Division Street Buick 1997 + Buick layout

This photo shows the two factory 40's old on left new on right. The truck dock you see at the left is a replacement for the original wooden one, which burned in the early 90's.

Division street During 100 Years.

Here is a 1922 advertisement for "Cyclone Fence" that is mentioned below.










This is a close-up of the photo directly below, taken during demolition. This is a frame from the film on the Buick demolition by: Leonard Thygesen










Division street 90 years apart. Both photos are looking north from the same location on Hamilton avenue, looking up Division Street. The bottom one is from around 1910 and shows a simple fence made out of wood. This was later replaced with a fence made of common pipe. During the early twenty's "cyclone fence" with barbed wire went up all around the Buick property. In the photo above that, the first bridge you see (crossing from old factory #40) went all the way over to factory #04. This bridge also contained several different monorails over the years, hauling everything from body's (Riviera) to fenders and hoods and also tires and wheels and exhaust systems.










Division street looking north showing "two" factory 40's. Old 40, built during 1919-1920 is on the right and new 40/bldg. #16 on the left, built during 1946-1947. The first bridge in this picture (connecting the two buildings) was for wheeled vehicles. The structure jutting out from the left was the medical department on the first level, cafeteria on the second. The next bridge contained two monorail lines, bringing exhaust systems and tire and wheels to the assembly plant (on the left). The last bridge in the far distance was another vehicle bridge which connected with factory #02 and then proceeded all the way to factory #94 over bridge #23. You could also exit onto Division Street from this bridge. I took this photo from my enclosed work truck in 1997. 1993 90th anniversary story.







Buick medical link 1967.












Links:
Demolition View 2012
Factory #06 Assembly
Factory #40 A Trip Through Time.