Locomotive fire halts train on tracks

A fire in a locomotive engine Wednesday morning stopped a Norfolk Southern train on the tracks headed toward downtown Macon.

Just after 8:50 a.m. Wednesday, Macon-Bibb County firefighters were called to Macon’s downtown industrial district for the fire.

Crews from different fire stations responded to the tracks to find the freight train, which was located behind Armstrong Industries near Guy Paine Road off Broadway.

“It was just an electrical fire in the engine. It was out before we got here,” Macon-Bibb Fire Battalion Chief Tim Johnson said.

The caller reporting the fire initially did not know the precise location of the train.

“They didn’t really know where they were, and it was going to be difficult to get to them,” Johnson said. “We actually responded to Walnut Street and came down the tracks all the way.”

Other trains were stopped behind Terminal Station as firefighters searched for the disabled train.

Another engine was expected to pull the disabled locomotive in for service.

This story was originally published August 17, 2016 at 10:30 AM with the headline "Locomotive fire halts train on tracks."