Four of Melbourne's historic red rattler train carriages were damaged and two heritage-listed buildings were destroyed in a big coal fire in the early hours of Wednesday.
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Firefighters were called to the Newport rail yards in Melbourne's inner-west about 1.30am where flames had engulfed two workshop sheds.
The sheds, which housed historic locomotives for restoration, were built between 1884 and 1888. Both buildings were heritage listed.
It took more than two hours for 80 firefighters to bring the fire under control.
Some of the carriages destroyed in the fire were believed to be up to 100-years-old. Four red rattlers were also damaged.
"It's quite a loss in terms of the historic value of those carriages," assistant chief fire officer John Jugum said.
Newport: Reports of a number of historic carriages damaged in the large coal/building fire
pic.twitter.com/gbb7oXl1uA
pic.twitter.com/2Ud8gsNbBO — Melbourne Inc Alert (@incidentAlertMe)
March 3, 2015
Firefighters had to cut power to part of the site, which affected train services on the Werribee line during the morning peak hour.
The cause of the fire is still not known and investigations are continuing.
The sheds at Newport, which are operated by the state-owned Victorian Rail Track Corporation (VicTrack), are leased to Steam Rail Victoria for its heritage operations.
