Major fire on the Scenic Railway 7th Apr. Suspected arson.

[EAS]

Nick doesn't live in Margate.

And without the Scenic, what is there going to be of 'heritage' to build around?

[Josh]

I guess their still going to go for all of the rides they collected and put them there. But without the scenic its never going to be the same

[kevinashe]

i though as soon as he heard the news hed be on his way there though eas ,has anybody have footage of how bad the damage is and has the fire been contained.The tivoli fire was rumoured to be linked to turf wars so i would doubt it was the same people

[Gary]

This is a very dark day.

Words fail me.

[EAS]

He's a long way from Margate.

The damage looks bad.

[porf]

Closer photos

http://eastcliffrichard.blogspot.com/2008/04/dreamland-fire-more-photos.html

[Zoidstar]

The demolition of the remains will all depend on what exactly has been destroyed by the fire, if its the lower level stuff and the main structutre has not been affected then there is a slim possibility of a salvaging opitunity.

A major bracing excisice using scaffolding round what surrived and a long term rebuild plan could be put in place but...

The cost would be very very high and would probably not be met by the insurance company (if insured).

Sadly it is a wooden structure wood burns and with out propper care and maintanance...

If a proper care and maintanance programme had been implemented by the owers then things could have been tottaly diffrent, for example the decking on Southend Pier regually has a good soaking after closing time to help cut down on the risk of another fire...

A task as simple as this could have kept the fire down long enough to get crews to the site to catch the blaze before it spread so far.

As I am many miles from Margate and on the other side of the water in Southend could I ask somebody a favour please?

Would anyone be willing to send me a cutting from the local paper about the fire when ever its published I will pay the cost in stamps or cheque.

[gregfin]

Hi all,

Just been down to the multistorey to get some photos of the site to see how much of the track has gone down...



http://www.gregfindley.com/images/scenic/scenic1.jpg
http://www.gregfindley.com/images/scenic/scenic2.jpg
http://www.gregfindley.com/images/scenic/scenic3.jpg

(Feel free to use these images on other sites/blog posts etc)
Greg

[EAS]

The Scenic was half destroyed by fire in 1949, and rebuilt using wood from Lowestoft pier.

This is about how much historic fabric remains though - for listing.

Two of us here just gutted - and hundreds of miles away, which is probably just as well. The sight of it in reality... the Cyclone, and now this.

Unbearable.

[EAS]

Just had an email from Nick. I gather Sarah and Dave are on site now, but reports say the workshops and cars have been destroyed too. Structure bad.

[kevinashe]

eas it looks like the station has been missed by the fire or only has limited damage,it does look like a lot of the centre has been destroyed but perhaps it may prompt thanet council into doing something to protect its long term future

[EAS]

The station isn't very important - it's not original - but if the cars have gone...

[Sarah]

Just got back from the scene. Very upsetting. Sending my photos and report over to Nick for the News Page shortly, but just wanted to quickly say:

LET'S STOP TALKING ABOUT IT BEING DELISTED RIGHT NOW.

I know this is the worst kind of news for the Campaign, but it's not the end of the Campaign, nor the end of Dreamland. Come on, we're not going to roll over now.

[EAS]

Sarah - I hope not, I'm being realistic.

Just it's such a familiar scenario, so many fires... so many listed buildings gone...

[kevinashe]

sarah do you think the council will help in trying to shear up the remaining structure,i think all the remaining wood from the cyclone was cleared from the site in pleasureland but illl email jj and find out