The Mangalore bound Chennai express's onward journey was delayed after a tree got uprooted in strong winds and fell on the engine, damaging it, near Thinnapatti, 35km from here, railway sources said today.
 
The incident happened around 9pm last night.
 
The train driver informed the Salem Railway authorities and a diesel engine was sent to pull the rake to Mangalore by 2.45am.
 
In another incident, near Veerapandi, 15km from Salem, six Chennai-bound trains were delayed by about an hour following signal failure at around 3am today. The trains proceeded after it was rectified.