Train Catches Fire on Tracks in Schulenburg

A Union Pacific train made an unscheduled stop in Schulenburg Tuesday morning after one of the engines caught fire.

The Schulenburg Volunteer Fire Department received a call reporting a train on fire at the east end of town around 10 a.m. They found a Union Pacific train stopped on the tracks along South Main Street just east of Herder Avenue near Tex Propane Company. The second locomotive on the train was billowing black smoke from inside the engine compartment.

Schulenburg Fire Chief Jeff Proske said the smoke came from an electrical malfunction inside the engine compartment. Firefighters doused the inside of the locomotive with water.

A spokesperson for Union Pacific told the Record that the train crew were not injured and the incident was under investigation. The train included 105 cars and stretched 9,973 feet, according to the Fayette County Office of Emergency Management.