Railroaders' Nostalgia > Haunted Rails book

Reading a great book about haunted rails and it got me curious if any railroaders have stories to tell about things they have seen?   Just a few places they talk about are the Tunnels near Horseshoe Curve (they did not say if this was Galitzen).   Also the Lincoln funneral train still being sen or heard along the route which I am guessing used the old B&O from Washington west?

Anyone have stories to add?

Thanks
Gary

I didn't exepience this, but a car foreman told me about this. This occured at UP's East Yard in Los Angeles in the late 1980's. The car foreman was coming out of the East End yard office at the bottom end of "C" yard when he looked towards the yard and saw a crew of 4 to 5 people walking toward the office but he thought it was strange as there were no crews on duty at the time. He also noticed they were dressed in older clothes and carried old kerosene lanterns which hadn't been used in decades. As he was staring at them, they just disappeared. He was pretty freaked out about it. As far as I know, he never saw them again.-BMT 

I grew up in central PA and there was a location between Mattawanna and Ryde near the old PRR Middle Division where a single light would appear in the far left corner of a field near the tracks. The light would travel along the tree line from left to right and at the far right corner of the field, start coming along the right side tree line toward the road. When it got about halfway toward the road, it would disappear and almost immediately reappear back in the far left corner and repeat the process. Our identifier for the location was simply “the light” as in “you wanna take a ride up to the light tonight?”

The backstory associated with the light was that a brakeman had been decapitated in a derailment many years before and was searching for his head by the light of his railroad lantern.

I heard numerous explanations from adults for what caused this ranging from swamp gas to lights reflecting from a distant highway but; none really made any sense.

I haven’t visited “the light” since around 1972 and sometimes wonder if today’s teens still go there.

Posted from iPhone

What was the name of the town? There were several stories from PA in the book


Gary



Juniata Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I grew up in central PA and there was a location
> between Mattawanna and Ryde near the old PRR
> Middle Division where a single light would appear
> in the far left corner of a field near the tracks.
> The light would travel along the tree line from
> left to right and at the far right corner of the
> field, start coming along the right side tree line
> toward the road. When it got about halfway toward
> the road, it would disappear and almost
> immediately reappear back in the far left corner
> and repeat the process. Our identifier for the
> location was simply “the light” as in “you
> wanna take a ride up to the light tonight?”
>
> The backstory associated with the light was that a
> brakeman had been decapitated in a derailment many
> years before and was searching for his head by the
> light of his railroad lantern.
>
> I heard numerous explanations from adults for what
> caused this ranging from swamp gas to lights
> reflecting from a distant highway but; none really
> made any sense.
>
> I haven’t visited “the light” since around
> 1972 and sometimes wonder if today’s teens still
> go there.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Gary:

The location of the light would probably have had either a McVeytown or Mattawanna mailing address but physically; it was out in the country.

Posted from iPhone

In SE Ohio is the Moonville Tunnel.  Originally part of the B&O, it is now a bike trail.  Very desolate and you get an eerie feeling when walking through the tunnel.  We know others who believe they have seen ghosts there.

I think that one was in the book

Gary


DLM Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In SE Ohio is the Moonville Tunnel.  Originally
> part of the B&O, it is now a bike trail.  Very
> desolate and you get an eerie feeling when walking
> through the tunnel.  We know others who believe
> they have seen ghosts there.

Posted from iPhone

Some may know, that on the CSX James River subdivision that between just east of Buchanan to Natural Bridge, NS's Shenendoah DIstrict is directly across the river. Occasionally if we see one another we may banter about business for a minute so, mostly exchanging good wishes......and it happens.....one encounter that we call the Alpine Ghost Train....when you go eastward and come to the east end of Alping siding....at night....you may see the headlight and ditch lights of a locomotive at speed heading directly toward you. The first time you see it you will reach for the emergency position......what has happened is that the angle of view from our side is toward a bend in the river that looks straight at a stretch northward on NS....when their train is southward at just the right point you look right at it....of course they will see the same thing from their point of view as they are looking at us!

Any odd occurances around the Church Hill Tunnel in Richmond, NC? It collaped on October 2, 1925, trapping a work train. In the disaster, the engine crew died as a result; two laborers were never found. Perhaps their souls wander around the tunnel portals?

* JB *