By Goya Dmytryshchak
A four-carriage ‘swinging door’ train dating back to 1886 was destroyed after an electrical fault caused a huge fire at the Newport Railway Workshops early last Wednesday morning.
The train had undergone restoration by Steamrail Victoria over 35 years and was only months away from operating as a living museum on the metropolitan railway network.
The fire at the Champion Road site, which started about 1.20am, also caused extensive damage to two heritage-listed buildings which were the birthplace of many of Victoria’s locomotives and carriages.
VicTrack leases the workshops, built between 1884 and 1888, to Steamrail Victoria.
Steamrail Victoria board director Michael McGlade said volunteers, some of whom had worked over the 35 years to restore the carriages, were devastated by the loss.
“There are three restored carriages destroyed: one each from 1886, 1889 and 1907, and we had one unrestored there from 1904.
“They used to operate on the Melbourne metropolitan network when it was operated by steam and then they were converted to electric and ran until the 1970s.
“They’re the last of those carriages in Victoria, so the oldest suburban carriages. It’s a major loss for the state.”
Mr McGlade said the destroyed 140-year-old train set would have been one of the oldest operating electric trains in the world and a major tourist attraction for Melbourne.
“The carriages are irreplaceable,” he said. “Not only were they among the last ones in existence, they were also the most intact.”
Valuable restoration tools and equipment were also destroyed in the blaze.
MFB spokesman Steve Moore said the blaze covered an area of about 50 square metres and flames were shooting through the roof when the first crew arrived.
Firefighters had difficulty accessing water, and three aerial crews were called in.
Specialist Hazmat workers were hosing down trucks and decontaminating firefighters and vehicles on Wednesday morning due to asbestos in the building.
Eighty firefighters took more than two hours to bring the fire under control. Most of the building was saved but the damage bill is expected to run into hundreds of thousands, along with the priceless loss of history.
MFB fire investigator Damian O’Toole said the blaze was caused by an electrical fault.
“There’s been an electrical fault with the wiring causing it to ignite combustibles under the train,” he said.
