I work in a New York office, and I’m known as the employee who lives in Jersey. When my manager had to visit Madison for a client, she came back and told me the Madison train station was really beautiful, and asked if all NJ Transit stations were like that.
Answer: no.
While Madison was elevating its tracks, William Haynes Truesdale, president of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad (formerly known as the Morris & Essex, but also known as the DL&W or “Delay, Linger, and Wait”), said that stations being built ought to be compatible with surrounding architecture. Because Madison is home to Drew University, the style of the station is collegiate Gothic; because Madison was an affluent and generous town, they raised wayyy more money for the construction of this station than other towns raised for theirs, and it is fancy indeed.
It was finished in 1916, and it’s been registered on the State and National Registers of Historic Places since 1984! The Gladstone-line shacks don’t have those kinds of bragging rights.
(P.S. Here’s a map of the line, in case you don’t remember where Gladstone or Madison are!)
References:
Cunningham, John T. (1998). Images of America: Madison. Arcadia Publishing: Dover, NH.
National Registers of Historic Places. (n.d.) Information board near door of station. Sponsored by NJ Transit: Madison, NJ.
New Providence Daily Photo 