Fire crews were forced to use breathing apparatuses to battle the blaze that started eight kilometres west of the town.

The locomotive was part of a goods train travelling from Dubbo towards Bathurst.

Rural Fire crews from the Millthorpe and Blayney as well the NSW fire service attended the blaze at 6.30pm.

The Rural Fire Service Operations officer at Canobolas, Brett Bowden, said the fire started in the engine locomotive that was pulling a train.

“What we know is there were two locomotives pulling a train when one of the engines back fired causing the blaze,” he said. Officer Bowden said the quick actions taken by the staff to detach the train prevented the fire from spreading to other carriages.

Fire crews battled the fire for an hour and a half, police and ambulance crews also attended the scene.