[locojoe]

Fire update

VANDALS HAVE STRUCK AGAIN AT A NORTH EAST RAILWAY MUSEUM.


AN ARSON ATTACK DESTROYED VINTAGE RAILWAY CARRIAGES AT A MUSEUM TODAY.
FIRE CREWS WERE CALLED TO THE BOWES RAILWAY MUSEUM AT SPRINGWELL IN GATESHEAD JUST BEFORE 7am.
A GRASS FIRE HAD SPREADTO WAGONS IN THE OPEN AIR MUSEUM.
IN ALL, SIX CARRIAGES WERE DESTROYED AND MORE THAN £100.000 OF DAMAGE WAS CAUSED.
THREE OF THE CARRIAGES IN THE FIRE WERE THE ONLY REMAINING EXAMPLES OF WORKMANSHIP BY THE WATTS YARD IN NORTH SHIELDS.
FIREFIGHTERS BATTLED TO PUT OUT THE FLAMES, WHICH SET ALIGHT TO MORE THAN 70 OTHER WAGONS.
POLICE WERE CALLED TO THE SCENE TO HELP SECURE THE AREA AND INVESTIGATE THE INCIDENT, WHICH IS BEING TREATED AS SUSPECTED ARSON.
BOWES RAILWAY'S OPERATIONS MANAGER, JOHN YOUNG, 45, SAID: IT SHOWS TOTAL DISREGARD FOR THE NORTH EASTS HERITAGE. THIS WAS THE BIRTH PLACE OF THE RAILWAYS, BUILT BY GEORGE STEPHENSON IN 1826.
PEOPLE MIGHT LOOK AND AT THIS AND THINK THAT THESE ARE JUST A BUNCH OF OLD RAILWAY WAGONS, BUT THEY ARE THE ONLY ONES OF THEIR KIND LEFT ANYWHERE.
THE WORST THING ABOUT IT IS WE DEPEND ENTIRLEY ON WORK FROM VOLUNTEERS. ITS SUCH A SHAME.
POLICE SECURED THE SCENE ONCE THE FIRE WAS OUT TO ALLOW INVESTIGATORS TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THE BLAZE.
THE CHARRED REMAINS OF THE WAGONS WERE DUE TO BE TOWED INSIDE.
FIRE CREWS ALSO REPORTED OTHER FIRES AROUND SPRINGWELL DURING THE NIGHT.
BOWES RAILWAY BOASTS THE LARGEST COLLESCTION OF INDUSTRIAL WAGONS IN THE COUNTRY.
MOST OF THE ROLLING STOCK DATES BACK TO BEFORE THE FIRST WORLD WAR AND IS NOW USED FOR ROPE HAULEGE DEMONSTRATIONS AND ENGINEERING WORKS.