(The following story by Michael Ratcliffe appeared on The Times website on October 5.)
HAMILTON, N.J. — More than 400 passengers were safely evacuated after a small but extremely smoky fire broke out in the car at the front of an Amtrak train Friday evening, an Amtrak spokesman said.
Amtrak Train No. 148 — bound for Springfield, Mass., from Washington D.C. — stopped on the Northeast Corridor railroad tracks beneath the Sloan Avenue overpass, and just a few hundred yards south of the Hamilton train station, after the blaze was discovered about 5:40 p.m., Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole said.
Cole said one of the train’s staff, either the engineer or conductor, raised the alarm after smelling smoke.
All 413 passengers on Train No. 148 were transferred to a NJ Transit train that was pressed into service and positioned alongside the disabled Amtrak train, Cole said.
The Amtrak passengers then proceeded in the NJ Transit train to New York’s Penn Station, where they again switched to a new Amtrak train to continue their journey to Massachusetts, Cole said. He estimated the passengers incurred a delay of at least 90 minutes.
The smoldering fire generated a thick, acrid smoke that hung over the area, but flames were never visible and the fire did not appear to be in danger of spreading beyond the lead car of the train.
Firefighters from the Mercerville, Enterprise and Hamilton fire companies responded to the fire.
Other train traffic along the Northeast Corridor continued to flow but was slowed down near the Hamilton train station because of the passenger transfer and the presence of firefighters and other emergency personnel along the tracks, Cole said.