GODFUCKING DAMMIT!

[MKSheppard]

Fucking HELL!

Historic Trolley Cars up in Smoke

Historic trolley cars lost in blaze

By Patrick Badgley
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

A fire early yesterday at the National Capital Trolley Museum in Silver Spring caused up to $10 million in damage and destroyed eight trolley cars, including a couple deemed irreplaceable.

"It's a tremendous loss to the museum as well as to the community," said Pete Piringer, public information officer for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service. "It's possibly the single-largest [monetary] loss from a fire in Montgomery County's history."

About 50 county firefighters worked for nearly an hour to extinguish the blaze in a car barn. No injuries or deaths were reported.

National Capital Park Police officers responded to a report 2 a.m. of a fire at the museum, located at 1313 Bonifant Road.

Smoke was still rising out of the charred skeletons of the trolley cars yesterday afternoon. The car barn in which the eight trolley cars were parked had cracks along its blackened walls.

There was no sprinkler system in the outdated barn, officials said.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is assisting the county fire service and the park police in the investigation. The investigators will study whether an overnight storm that included lightning caused the fire, Mr. Piringer said.

"Nothing has been ruled out," he said.

Mr. Piringer also said seven investigators walked along the train rails near the car barn to see whether there was evidence of storm damage.
They also plan to dig through the remains of the trolley cars to determine the burn patterns.

Wesley Paulson, a trustee of the private, nonprofit museum, which has been operating at the Bonifant Road address since 1969, said the organization recently had put about $250,000 into restoring a trolley car from Johnstown, Pa.

Four of the other cars operated in Washington, and three were used in Europe. The oldest was built in 1899.

Seven other trolley cars housed in another car barn on the museum grounds were not damaged.

Mr. Paulson said the destroyed cars had been a link to the past — for the community and in terms of the personal relationships he has had with other lovers of the museum. It was founded in 1959 after streetcar service ended in the District.

He believes the organization can rebuild the museum, and that visitors will get the same enjoyment out of it. About 20,000 people visit the museum every year.

"It'll be the same," Mr. Paulson said. "You'll go out on the trolley and you'll see the deer."

He said the organization had garnered more than $1 million over several years in a fund-raising effort to replace the car barn.

Members already had been considering replacing the barn in which the fire occurred.

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I was there about a year ago, and rode on a Toronto PCC which
had come all the way from Toronto to the NCC here in DC, and I've
also been inside one of the Trolleys from Germany, from 1899!

FUCK GODDAMNIT FUCK!

[LadyTevar]

Such a shame

[Howedar]

But I thought that since they were historical relics, we'd already learned all we could from them and therefore they had no real value?

[Montcalm]

I guess its some dumbass teen who did`nt know what to do for fun.

[Xenophobe3691]

Wow. That really sucks. Yet another bit of our history bows down to the sands of time

[Uraniun235]

But I thought that since they were historical relics, we'd already learned all we could from them and therefore they had no real value?

There's always sentimental value.

[Sea Skimmer]

But I thought that since they were historical relics, we'd already learned all we could from them and therefore they had no real value?

By that reasoning no for example painting we've taken a picture of has value either. Well, if you don't care I guess you don't care, now let the museum burning begin.

[Solauren]

If it was arson, the arsonist should be beaten to a bloody pulp after being ass-raped by a drunk, horney, blind gorillia

After that, we can get down to his punishment...

[Howedar]

But I thought that since they were historical relics, we'd already learned all we could from them and therefore they had no real value?

By that reasoning no for example painting we've taken a picture of has value either. Well, if you don't care I guess you don't care, now let the museum burning begin.

I do care. That argument has been used in the past over other artifacts, though. I don't agree with it, I was just pointing out a bit of a somewhat hypocritical position held by some here.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Go to San Francisco and loot their Trolley Collection before it become's earthquake damaged. They now have the largest collection, now that DC's got hit...