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(The following story by Christopher Behnan appeared on the Daily Press & Argus website on November 20, 2009.)

LIVINGSTON, Mich. — Images of a moving train fully engulfed in flames from the 2005 remake of “War of the Worlds” may have been conjured in the minds of those who saw fire under a CSX train in the Howell area Wednesday.

Unlike the movie, however, the moving CSX train cars weren’t abalze.

They were doing maintenance to improve worn rail tracks.

The process created heavy sparking under the train cars, but a CSX water truck stood ready in case a fire broke out.

A person who witnessed the scene called 911 as the train crossed Chilson Road south of Grand River Avenue heading west toward downtown Howell.

“It appeared that some of the cars were on fire,” said Howell Police Chief George Basar, who sent officers to site at around 5:10 p.m. Wednesday.

“They just said, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s a train on fire.’ It really turned out to be a lot of nothing,” Basar added.

Still, Livingston County’s central dispatch was initially under the impression that several cars were on fire, but learned it was a false alarm before the train reached Howell, he said.

The officers were prepared with flares to signal the engineer if necessary to stop the train, but were made aware of the maintenance work.

Police were onsite for about 20 minutes, Basar said. He said the incident was the only one like it he’s experienced during his law enforcement career.

According to U.S. Department of Transportation documents posted on the Federal Railroad Administration’s Web site, www.fra.dot.gov, a rail grinder is used to remove irregularities from worn rail track to extend its life and improve the ride of trains using the track. Rail-grinder equipment can be mounted on a special cars and the grinding wheels, up to 100 of them, are set at controlled angles to restore the track to its correct profile.

A CSX spokesman didn’t return phone calls Thursday.