I am surprised that many people in Durand have forgotten how the Baggage Car came to be on static display in Iron Horse Park in 1976. Initially the Durand Jaycees and many Durand residents thought that saving and restoring the Train Station in Durand owned by Grand Trunk Western RR (American subsidiary of CN) and closed/slated for demolition was a Bicentennial project to take on. The Railroad wanted a ridiculously high insurance policy to sell the building to Durand, so the project was shelved. Instead, the Bicentennial Committee for the Durand Area (formed in 1974 to plan our celebration in 1976) decided to purchase a railroad car, bring it to Durand and place it in Iron Horse Park to hold a museum dedicated to Durand’s place in rail history. Money was donated from several Durand Residents to purchase the 1919 Pullman Baggage Car from the GTWRR. (See the article in the Durand Express Fall of 1975 where the names of the donors were listed!) Norma Ward and Clark Harder, cochairs of the Bicentennial Committee arranged the purchase, transport and placement of the car which was in the yard in Pontiac being used as an office and soon to be scrapped. The Bicentennial Committee organized money and volunteers to restore the car and convert it to a museum as the Committee’s project for the celebration in 1976 of the 200th anniversary of the US.

The little Baggage Car was opened in May of 1976 as part of an expanded Railroad Days Festival, a month before I graduated from High School in Durand! But the story did not end there. Luckily, the City of Durand with the help of people like Margaret Zdunic, Clark Harder, our State Representative Frances Spaniola; Vice President Walter Mondale, the Durand City Council and Cleland Wyllie (to name a few people important to me) did not give up on saving the station. In 1979, the City of Durand was able to purchase the station and lease the property on which it sits from the GTWRR…but that is another Durand story for a later date.

For many years, the little Baggage Car operated as a small but well-done museum about Durand, our history, and our connection to railroading. In the early 1990’s, some residents decided that the little museum should be closed and the contents transferred to the train station as more of the building was now being restored and it was designated to become the home to the Michigan Railroad History Museum. So, the Baggage Car was cleaned out, abandoned, locked up, and left to rust in Iron Horse Park.

The abandoned Baggage Car continued to be appreciated by visitors and residents alike even though Iron Horse Park grew until more recently worn out and forgotten. In 2008, NRMI was created to work on developing Diamond District Park across the main rail from the Station. We struggled with developing a great new park dedicated to the rail while noticing the poor condition of the rail equipment in Iron Horse Park being neglected. Durand is and always be a railroad town in all the best ways. The rail pieces in Iron Horse Park identify who we are. It not only tells our history, but as well foreshadows the future. So NRMI took on the job of renovating and restoring the Gate Tower (for more than 100 years a fixture on main street) and refurbishing the Steam Locomotive #5632 retired in 1958. Now, fifty years after the baggage car arrived in Iron Horse park, in the Sesquicentennial year of our United States, NRMI has raised the money to not only repair, renovate and bring to life our 1919 Pullman Baggage Car but to bring over a 1950 refrigerator GTW car to join her. Fifty years, later NRMI/Durand250 has made saving the Baggage Car again as our gift to the Community for our Nation’s 250th birthday.

To the people who call or called Durand home, we derive our sense of who we are as proud “Railroaders.” Just like our railroad ancestors, we are strong, independent, industrious, creative, devoted to family and empathically connected to the railroad. These are the values of this community from the moment those rails crossed creating Durand. The past rail stories ground us but also help us reach for the future. It is important to learn from the mistakes of the past so we can continue to live up to the expectations and needs of our community now. We cannot build a great future if we forget the past. Durand’s place in the history of Michigan is as unique as the Baggage Car. Michigan’s rail history is proud example of our continuing industrial revolution from steam to diesel to digital technology.

To many the best part of the Declaration of Independence is the preamble including the phrase “all men are created equal.” This was not a truth but rather a promise by our Founding Fathers. We are still trying to live up to this promise and despite 250 years, we have not gotten it completely right yet. The Baggage Car obtained in 1976 was also a promise given to the Community to hold onto and tell our history as we build our future.

Entering a Pullman Baggage Car evokes stories, memories, and moments that cannot be appreciated otherwise. In Durand, rail history surrounds us and provokes discussions of why history matters. The project of preserving an impressive artifact of history is a celebration of who we were, validating who we have become, and letting us dream about who we will be. That is the power of history. Durand’s past Bicentennial Project reimagined for America250!