Railfan & Railroad's "Railnews" column reported today that the former New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad depot in Sparta, New Jersey, was destroyed by fire:

http://railfan.com/railnews/

Found a photo of it here: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=219475
Looked pretty well worn in that photo...

Was that used in the movie "The Station Agent"?

That was the Newfoundland station Tommy. It looks much better than the movie portrays it- it was dirtied up for the production.

Joshua

Dang! Ain't nothin left!

http://www.njherald.com/story/19445070/ ... ire-probed

Another link for your reference...

http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/2012 ... nav%7Chead

From what I can determine, Sparta had long been gutted, abandoned, and was boarded up at the time of the fire. I would suspect the fire is regarded as suspicious in nature.

Those who wish to keep tabs of rail stations of all sizes, as well as other such rail structures such as towers, etc., will find the Railroad Station Historical Society and its website of interest:

http://www.rrshs.org/

They maintain both a Facebook page and a Yahoo e-mail Group useful in sharing news reports. The database, though not necessarily complete, is extremely useful for checking up on potential scouting visits, photo locations, and the like, and often includes towers, historic bridges, and the like:

http://www.rrshs.org/Struct.index/strucindex.htm

Some of the database listings, such as those for Pennsylvania and Mexico, link to outside sites maintained by others, some of which are complete enough to include past stations, photos, and more.

I had actually helped clean out Sparta Station darn near 10 years ago with some other volunteers. Other than some partition walls added by the former use and broken glass the structure itself was in fairly good shape. The ticket window was still in place.

The roof at that time was slate and had some patch repairs done but the building was still water tight.

Ownership was the main hurdle. The surrounding property was a superfund site and under the EPA. This included the property under the station, but that area was not contaminated. I believe the Township of Sparta was finally able to obtain title within the last year or two.

A new roof was put on and the structure was painted and secured. The property was also regraded and dressed up. It looked as though good things and a bright future were not that far ahead. Such a shame.

It should also be noted this was the last NYS&W built structure left in Sussex County. The only other structure up the line in Ogdensburg was actually constructed by the New Jersey Midland. That station also burned a few years back and the last time I had seen it was still scorched. It sits adjacent to homes and was used for storage by an adjacent property owner. AFAIK it is privately owned.

I've been near there but never actually at it. It would have been great if it could have been restored/resurrected like the one in Maywood was. I visited that station a year ago and they did a wonderful job with it (along with the baywindow and S2).

Here's a few shots of how Sparta Station and water tank looked in the late-Fall, 1973, and early-Winter 1974 when the Morris County Central RR was making the move from Whippany, NJ to the NYS&W at Newfoundland, NJ. Photos taken by the late Earle Gil, Sr.

To make matters worse, a new ADA compliant parking lot was added to serve the station the week before the fire. This week, Sparta's owners took delivery of two pieces of rolling stock to display there, one of which is the two foot gauge steamer found in Andover last year. The owner's were really trying to make Sparta special again. So sad to see them get so close..

Just a follow up. The local paper reported that the fire was NOT suspicious and that the electrical panel was a contributing factor in the fire.

Truely sad, but at least it was not a malicious act.