Terrible news indeed. Does Steamrail have the preserved Tait set down there at Newport at present? Hopefully, it wasn't damaged as well.

Attached are two photos of doggies when the VR had them. Both cars were burnt in the Newport fire. 137M is at North Port on a down Port Melbourne on the last day of the doggies (26 January, 1974) and 137M trails 12D into Jolimont Yard after an ARE tour on 28 October, 1973. Cheers, Andrew (who travelled in 137M many times, between Rosanna and North Port, in the 1960s and 70s).

To:tramsdownunder@...
From:TramsDownUnder@...
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2015 11:43:39 +0000
Subject: RE: [TramsDownUnder] Historic trains destroyed by massive fire at Newport rail yards

Very sad news. Were they the last swing door carriages left?

Regards
Geoffrey