Sardinia OH Depot Fire in the OLD depot

[NW Mailing List]

Gentlemen:  the Sardinia depot did indeed burn down, but in 1907.  This
depot was off Main Street where the Ohio River & Columbus track , the old
Columbus & Maysville right-of-way,  and was not in the center of the
Hillsboro Branch wye.  It was built by one of the predecessor roads , the
Cincinnati & Eastern, sometime in the early 1880's.  This depot burned down
in 1907 creating a dilemma for the N&W as they needed a depot at that
location and could not transact business without one.  They were negotiating
with  F. R. (?) Kennedy, a promoter in the area, for the property within the
wye for a new depot.  At that time he had a lumber mill on that property and
was negotiating with the N&W to have them move the mill southward over the
track to the edge of the ravine across from the wye and install a spur track
for the mill service.  The N&W had wished to build a new depot in that
centralized location and get all of its railroad services moved there.  The
N&W had worked with Kennedy previously when they had contracted him to
provide water to the N&W tank in Sardinia; Kennedy (or his employees) were
to run the pump and fill the tank.  He had proven unreliable in this service
and the N&W ended the contract.

 

The N&W accelerated the negotiations, but Kennedy knew he had the upper hand
and charged  a high price for the land and did not empty out the mill
quickly.  The N&W was forced to push logs around to build the depot.
Kennedy also got a longer spur than the N&W felt was justified for service
he required.

 

Kennedy also owned a grocery/general store just to the west of the wye and
owned the fairgrounds used for the Highland County Fair.   Kennedy was
always over-extended and soon lost his small empire in Highland County and
other neighboring counties (he ran other fairgrounds , too).  

 

The early Peebles depot also burned down in 1907 (also just west of Main
street in Peebles) and was replaced with the N&W standard second class wood
style that stood until the 1980's.  

 

Gary Rolih

Cincinnati

 

From: nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org
[mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
Sent: Sunday, March 20, 2011 6:50 PM
To: NW Mailing List
Subject: Re: Sardinia OH Depot

 

Hi George,
I live in Sardinia and every time I leave my place to go somewhere, I
look at the location where the depot was.  I contacted my cousin who has
lived here most of his life and and worked for the village.  He
confirmed what Jim said, there was no fire, it was torn down.
The only thing on the lot now are recycle bins and what looks like a
storage shed.  The "Y" to the Hillsboro branch is still there but is
covered with pavement in some areas and the track ends on the North side
of Rt. 32.  The depot sat between the "Y" and the main line.
If you Google Earth Sardinia, Ohio and go to the east side of the
village,  you can see the mainline and the "Y" and the lot where it was.
It is located just west of where the mainline crosses the road and the
passing siding starts on the east side of the road crossing.

Bob Beckelhimer
Sardinia, OH

On 3/20/2011 11:27 AM, NW Mailing List wrote:

> Hello George,

>    I have seen no evidence that the Sardinia depot ever caught fire,

however

> I don't live there so cannot be 100% positive. I stopped there on just

about

> every excursion train that passed there in the late '80s, and can say what

> you may have witnessed is a combination of black and gray paint applied to

a

> large portion of the building, the flaking off of this paint, plus the

> simple deterioration of the structure. From a distance or a passing glance

> on a video, it probably would appear that a fire had occurred. The last

time

> I was there in late 1988, the windows and doors had been covered with

> plywood, but there had been no fire. The depot was torn down in October

> 1989. I'll try to email a picture to you to see if that could be what you

> saw.

>

> Now a depot in the area did catch fire and burned to the ground during

this

> time. In July 1988, arsonists burned down the depot at nearby Peebles, OH,

> just east of Sardinia. The building was burned completely to the ground

and

> still smoldering 2 days later when I happened to stop by there on our way

to

> a Cincinnati Reds game. I had no idea of the fire and wanted to take

> possibly a few last pictures of the building before they tore it down. I

was

> two days too late!

>

> Jim Detty

> Lucasville, Ohio

>

>

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org

> [mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List

> Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2011 5:54 PM

> To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org

> Subject: Sardinia OH Depot

>

>

> I was watching a Greg Scholl Video, NS's Peavine.    There was a quick

view

> of the Sardinia Depot.  It appeared as if it had been damaged by fire.

The

> narrator said the depot was gone.  Did the depot have a fire, if so when?

> I am trying to collect info and photos of the depots of the various former

> N&W Divisions.  I will retire shortly and also planning rail-fan/chase

trips

> along the various divisions in my future travels to create a depot

> program(s) for future NRHS programs.

>

> Thank you in advance for any info, and if you have a photo you would like

to

> share or point me to, that will be greatly appreciated.

>

> Have a good day.

>

> George

>

> George L Weber

> Winston-Salem Chapter NRHS

> Secretary&  Editor The Rail

> Phn: (Hm) 336-812-2963 (Wrk) 336-474-5411 (Cell) 336-870-4506

> Email:   (Wrk) gweber at lexington.com<mailto:gweber at lexington.com>

> Benjamin Franklin had it right when he said, "All that's necessary for

evil

> to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

>

>

>          Appreciate Freedom???     Thank a Veteran!!!

>

>

>

>

>

>

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