Railway Ghosts

[oldrover]

Fascinating stuff

 

[Ronnor]

Thanks for all the comments. I wasn't sure how my post would be received, given that it reads like a ridiculous cliché ("but only then then I realised" etc..). I suppose that's unavoidable to an extent when writing about things like this. I originally submitted it to It Happened to Me, but it's now been moved to this thread about Railway Ghosts, which I have just enjoyed reading.

The first incident left me bemused, the second with the sound of the train shook me up a bit. There is no doubt that my colleague's experience with the phone affected him - he had clearly been wanting to tell someone about it for some time. For the record, I believe him. The chap who told me he's been hearing the train since he arrived at the box 10 years ago told me in such a matter of fact way that it seems he just accepts it as part of the furniture.

The signalbox where it all happened is actually in the middle of a town - Cupar in Fife - but some I work are quite isolated. One of them has a reputation for signalmen experiencing irrational panic and terror at around 2 in the morning, though I have never felt it despite working nights there many, many times. Supposedly you are overcome with a sense of dread and loads of people have fled the box for 10 mins or so only to return to find everything normal. Like I say, I have never felt it but plenty have and it occasionally comes up in conversation. That's about the only other Fortean thing I can think of from my time in signalboxes.

 

[Spookdaddy]

...The signalbox where it all happened is actually in the middle of a town - Cupar in Fife - but some I work are quite isolated...

I went out with a woman from Cupar for several years - now that was a frightening and Fortean experience. Actually she originally came from Ladybank which, if memory serves me right, used to be a major junction. The depot and yard were derelict (although, of course, the station remains) and those places always seem bleak and liable to, under the right circumstances, give you a good old dose of the horrors. On a tangent: her dad told me that the original name of the station should have been Our Ladies Bog but was deemed inappropriate. Mind, I'm not absolutely sure that he wasn't pulling my leg.

Great story Ronnor. Somewhat reminiscent, at least in atmosphere, of the one I provided a (now broken) link to way back at the start of this thread: remote sidings, Peak District, shuffling footsteps, stick man - I'll have to see if I can find the original.

 

[Ronnor]

I went out with a woman from Cupar for several years - now that was a frightening and Fortean experience. Actually she originally came from Ladybank which, if memory serves me right, used to be a major junction. The depot and yard were derelict (although, of course, the station remains) and those places always seem bleak and liable to, under the right circumstances, give you a good old dose of the horrors. On a tangent: her dad told me that the original name of the station should have been Our Ladies Bog but was deemed inappropriate. Mind, I'm not absolutely sure that he wasn't pulling my leg.

I've heard about Our Ladies Bog before, so there may be a grain of truth in it. There's a good story about the next station up the line from Cupar, Leuchars. It sits in an exposed position with open fields on one side and the North Sea on the other. It is always windy. In 1925, Fridtjof Nansen (the Norwegian Polar explorer) was appointed as Rector of St Andrew's University, which at that time had a branch line from Leuchars running to it. He was interviewed by one of the London papers and was asked "You've been to some of the most inhospitable and barren places in the world. Where would you say was the bleakest?". He replied straight away with "Leuchars Junction Railway Station"...

Great story Ronnor. Somewhat reminiscent, at least in atmosphere, of the one I provided a (now broken) link to way back at the start of this thread: remote sidings, Peak District, shuffling footsteps, stick man - I'll have to see if I can find the original.

Sounds suitably weird, I'd like to read that!

 

[Sogna]

I lived close to Barking railway station when I was a kid, and my father told me once that at 2 o'clock in the morning, a ghostly steam train could be heard running along the line near to our house. Not surprisingly I thought I heard the phantom train more than once, but it was probably a freight train. Interesting how parents like to scare the bejeezus out of their children sometimes.

 

[escargot]

Yup, I was recently at a conference and learned that some train-track fatalities happen to people using the track to navigate (possibly drunkenly) home.

They know that the local passenger services have stopped for the night but don't realise that other trains - measuring trains, freight, snowploughs, whatever - also use the track and may run them down.

So a railway worker might know about a regular freight train and naughtily scare his kids.

By the way, we have other threads about railway ghosts. However, as the sun is high over the yardarm, someone else'll have to find them. :lol:

 

[Spookdaddy]

Great story Ronnor. Somewhat reminiscent, at least in atmosphere, of the one I provided a (now broken) link to way back at the start of this thread: remote sidings, Peak District, shuffling footsteps, stick man - I'll have to see if I can find the original.

Sounds suitably weird, I'd like to read that!

Seems to have disappeared into the ether in one of the board's occasional fits of cleaning.

The following is the bare bones from memory, so it might not be completely accurate.

Basically, the story related to a particular location somewhere in the Peak District which was unpopular with railwaymen. It was, I think, not on a public line, and although I don't think it was specified I assumed it to be on one of those that service the areas quarries. Apparently the place had a general atmosphere of unease and threat and drivers would ensure that their doors and windows were shut when working in the area.

The story was related by a woman whose husband, a railwayman, had told her that once when he was taking shelter in a line side hut at the location (I think at dusk or during a night shift) he had heard a dragging sound on the gravel outside and had then seen what appeared to be a stick-like arm raised outside the hut window.

Partly because I suspected that I live fairly close to the site this story always fascinated me and quite recently I bumped into a guy I know who has recently retired from the railways. For some reason we got onto ghost stories and being reminded of this one I related it to him and asked him if he knew anything about it. His immediate response was 'Topley Pike', which was a bit bizarre because, without knowing anything of that location's reputation, it's where I'd imagined it happening when I first read the story. He hadn't heard that particular tale but told me that the area was unpopular with some railwaymen who found it an unnerving place to work.

Topley Pike itself, being a quarry, is quite open but some parts of the approaches are heavily wooded and gorgelike and, like many areas of the Peak, although very rural it is studded with decayed and overgrown remnants of it's industrial past, which can give some places a decidely uncanny feel.

I had a trawl around the net last night to see if there were any relevant online references to the area. I was unsuccesful with regard to this specific case, but I did find this thread on another message board which, if you filter out the bickering, contains some interesting stories.

 

[rockandrose]

I've heard a very similar story to this

I've been on the railway 12 years as a driver and controller but suprisingly only heard a few stories, (however many about the strategic reserve etc...Marsden tunnel in this case!) i think theyve died out with the 'old hands'

This one i can only loosly remember but is was based at a sidings that Peak Forest based drivers frequented.
The shunter on the nightshift heard footsteps coming towards his hut, no trains where due and there was no one down the sidings with him, the footsteps where also accompanied by a dragging noise descibed as a ball and chain. The shunter cr***ed himself and hid in a corner, the only other detail i remember was that the footsteps/ dragging got to the door and allegedly tried to get in!!!

Otherwise there was an incident where 5 drivers (training train) travelling at high speed through a local suicide spot saw a 'white body' in front of the train, which they then travelled over, all were mighty shook up and swear they saw it, but that it was like a white shadow, the CCTV on the front of the train confirmed it...
The track guys found nothing....probably platic wrap or something similar

 

[Spookdaddy]

...This one i can only loosly remember but is was based at a sidings that Peak Forest based drivers frequented.
The shunter on the nightshift heard footsteps coming towards his hut, no trains where due and there was no one down the sidings with him, the footsteps where also accompanied by a dragging noise descibed as a ball and chain. The shunter cr***ed himself and hid in a corner, the only other detail i remember was that the footsteps/ dragging got to the door and allegedly tried to get in!!!...

Bells are ringing: Peak Forest was actually mentioned in the same conversation that Topley Pike was, so maybe that is the site of the original story. (For those unfamiliar with the area, the two sites are not that distant from each other.)

Slight tangent, but there's another Peak Forest story (non-railway) that's always fascinated me, but which I've never tested. I've heard from several different sources that there is a bend in the road somewhere in the area where, in the right weather conditions and at night with headlights turned on, you'll see the 'ghost' of a horse leap onto the road - only it's not a ghost, but some kind of optical illusion.

Might well be bullshit, but if you translate 'ghost of a horse' into 'large amorphous shape which is lighter than the area around it', it becomes more believable, but slightly less dramatic - unless you're driving at 2.00 am along unfamiliar roads in the middle of nowhere, when I expect the difference would, at least initially, be academic. (You should always carry a spare pair of trousers in the boot.)

 

[escargot]

Hmmm, yup, some years ago there was a letter in the FT from a puzzled bus driver who slowed down for a woman waiting at a stop. She was wearing a red jacket and he saw her clearly, but she disappeared as he drew close.

She was an illusion, which all the drivers were used to but for which new drivers would slow down until they sussed her. Something to do with a pillar box. :lol:

 

[blacktractor]

Haunted Loco's are new to me Caveynaut!, I think you will find the owner of the said Loco are Freightliner and not GB Railfreight as you stated in your original post. Sorry to pull you on that one mate, as we had that loco (Class 66) from brand new, tipping ballast on the CTRL in Kent about 2 years ago.

Hi everyone. I'm a longtime lurker but as this one is close to my heart I thought I would post..(I am an employee of GB Railfreight)
I did not know of the apparent haunting of 66526, but can confirm that it was named after Steve Dunn, the Freightliner driver who was killed in the Great Heck crash. I see it trundling by from time to time, proudly displaying it's nameplate.
He was "road learning" that day, with another driver. I was on my way to Doncaster to do my bi-annual rules exam and all the trains were disrupted due to "an incident" near York. By the time we got to Doncaster the full details of the horror were unfolding and the first pics were coming through of the crash. :cry:
The main reason for my post though is the rather fortean fact that one of the DVT (power cars) of the derailed inter city train which struck Steve's train was also involved in the Hatfield train crash, and re-numbered to try and hold off driver's fears of a jinxed loco. Considering how many serious railway accidents we have in this country I think that that is pretty bloomin' spooky. I believe that, although pretty much undamaged after both crashes, it was finally scrapped as nobody would drive it lol. I do stand to be corrected on that though. It may just be a railway rumour!

 

[blacktractor]

Was there not a Deltic that was re-numbered, but kept being involved in fatalities.

There was a Deltic that was seen running after it was definitively scrapped but I cant remember if that was the same one.

Not sure, deltics a bit before my time (although one did whizz past my work on Saturday hauling a load of spotters) but I have heard of locos being renumbered before before due to superstition, just not got any facts to back it up.

 

[Tanglebones]

Can't recall any Deltic being renumbered, apart from the introduction of TOPS back in the 70's.

 

[CarlosTheDJ]

My colleague at work lives in an old farmhouse, on the hill right above Clayton Tunnel.....

The Clayton Tunnel rail crash, which took place in 1861, five miles from Brighton on the south coast of England, United Kingdom, was the worst accident to occur up to that time on the British railway system. An excursion train crashed into another which had stopped in the tunnel, on Sunday 25 August 1861, killing 23 and injuring 176 passengers. The first train had stopped because the driver had briefly seen the red flag waved by the signalman at the south end of the tunnel. The second train was cleared to enter the south end, because the signalman, Henry Killick, thought that the first train had not seen his flag. In any case, the signalman at the north end had sent a telegraph signal that the tunnel was clear. But the situation was actually more complex. There were in fact three trains involved in the scenario. They all left Brighton station within a few minutes of one another, all travelling north. They were

Portsmouth Excursion left at 8.28 am
Brighton Excursion left at 8.31 am
Brighton Ordinary left at 8.35 am
The very first train was not involved in the collision, but it was the relative movements of the trains, and the confusion about which train was where, which led to the crash between the last two.[1]

.......

Charles Dickens probably based his story "The Signal-Man" on this accident, dramatising the events (especially the bells and the telegraph needle), as well as adding other incidents. His own experience at the Staplehurst rail crash may have inspired him to write this seminal ghost story. The memory of the Clayton accident will still have been fresh to the readers of the story at Christmas 1866.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton_Tunnel_rail_crash

There are some spooky goings on in her house, nothing terrifying but she has found spaghetti thrown all around the kitchen, doors locking and unlocking themselves and her dogs barking at invisible things. Also, her two cats quite often watch the same invisible something moving across the room and going out of the door.

From Paranormal Database....

Location: Brighton (Sussex) - Clayton tunnel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Since a tragic train crash in 1862, there have been reports of screams, cries and the sound of crunching metal emanating from this tunnel.

http://www.paranormaldatabase.com/reports/rail.php

 

[Tanglebones]

Found one mention of the ghost Deltic.

http://forums.uktrainsim.com/viewtopic. ... view=print

Sounds like wishful thinking to me, but you never know!

 

[Tanglebones]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_37

Class 37 loco 37069 (formerly Thornaby TMD) is reported to be haunted. The supposed manifestation is that of a driver who was killed when an object smashed through the window hitting him on the head killing him instantly. This incident is reported to have occurred whilst under the pre-TOPS identity of D6769. Reported incidents include the horn going off unexpectedly, the fire bottles discharging of their own accord and an unexplained feeling of not being alone in the cab. An apparition of the driver has been reported in the driving position.

 

[blacktractor]

Found one mention of the ghost Deltic.

http://forums.uktrainsim.com/viewtopic. ... view=print

Sounds like wishful thinking to me, but you never know!

That thread's fascinating. Lots of good stuff on there.
By the way. I'm pretty sure I've been on 37069 several times without incident. I feel a bit cheated now lol

 

[searinglight2]

I seem to remember someone (OTR?) mentioning one of my own long held theories in passing - so i thought i'd mention it again just to see if anyone has any thoughts. The way i see it rails are big lumps of metal spread across the country in a massive weblike structure, if the "Stone Tape" theory is correct wouldn't (or couldn't perhaps is a better word) these rails possibly act as some form of recording device or channel for fortean phenomena or even as a kind of man made "ley line"?

Also as has probably been mentioned on another thread but i think is relevant here as a child traveling on the London underground i was told every time we went (probably only 3-4 times a year between the ages of 5 and 14 years) that on a certain line if you looked out of the window you would sometimes see the ghosts of plague victims or those killed when the tunnels were being built through the windows when the train went dark.

I always assumed it was my dad trying to make me sit still but i still look when i have occasion to visit.

 

[SHAYBARSABE]

I always assumed it was my dad trying to make me sit still but i still look when i have occasion to visit.

Your dad was either a great child psychologist or had quite the sense of humor!

 

[Tanglebones]

That thread's fascinating. Lots of good stuff on there.
[/quote]

I must be honest, I was surprised to read the earlier comment about the ghost Deltic, but the stories of ghost Westerns knocked me sideways! I'm thinking of checking my old ABC's to see if I needed any of those now reported as phantoms. Time for a seance on the Great Western Main Line methinks!

 

[Spookdaddy]

...I'm thinking of checking my old ABC's to see if I needed any of those now reported as phantoms. Time for a seance on the Great Western Main Line methinks!

There's got to be a great little short-story somewhere in there: a cabal of elite trainspotters who prowl the platforms of Britain ticking off the trains that no-one else can see - or ghost spotters looking for similarly see-through trains, their figures only visible to passengers for a few seconds when the train they are travelling on accelerates out of the station.

'Get a life,' the red-faced and wobbly Saturday afternoon drunk called from behind the closing doors of the 14.45 to Preston.

'No thank-you,' replied the strangely distant voice of the somehow ill-defined man on the platform as he looked up from his dog-eared notebook - 'I'm quite happy...just...as...I...am.' plink

 

[blacktractor]

...I'm thinking of checking my old ABC's to see if I needed any of those now reported as phantoms. Time for a seance on the Great Western Main Line methinks!

There's got to be a great little short-story somewhere in there: a cabal of elite trainspotters who prowl the platforms of Britain ticking off the trains that no-one else can see - or ghost spotters looking for similarly see-through trains, their figures only visible to passengers for a few seconds when the train they are travelling on accelerates out of the station.

'Get a life,' the red-faced and wobbly Saturday afternoon drunk called from behind the closing doors of the 14.45 to Preston.

'No thank-you,' replied the strangely distant voice of the somehow ill-defined man on the platform as he looked up from his dog-eared notebook - 'I'm quite happy...just...as...I...am.' plink

Hahaha, brilliant. I'd give you a book deal based on that alone!

 

[_Cobh_]

This is probably a bit off topic but it was quite spooky at the time...

I used to spend time waiting at Harrow and Wealdstone station for a connecting train, which was the scene of a major rail disaster in the 50's. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrow_and_Wealdstone_rail_crash

It seldom came into my mind when I was waiting there, but occasionally it would pop into my mind and I'd get the mental images from the photos I'd seen online.

Anyway, one sunny evening when I was waiting for the train, there was a rain shower, which produced a rainbow, and the strangest thing...the rainbow ended on the rail track. You could see it going right down to the tracks, then my train approached and travelled right through it, emerging through the colours. It was the most incredible sight, and filled my mind with all kinds of thoughts of the crash and some kind of cleansing act going on with the rainbow. Absolute nonsense I'm sure, but it was a powerful sight I thought I'd share on the rail thread!

 

[Spookdaddy]

...It was the most incredible sight, and filled my mind with all kinds of thoughts of the crash and some kind of cleansing act going on with the rainbow. Absolute nonsense I'm sure, but it was a powerful sight I thought I'd share on the rail thread!

Not nonsense at all. I love those little epiphanies that come out of nowhere and hit people in apparently incongruous places. Infinity and normality meeting in a spilled cup of coffee or winter morning light hitting a sandstone wall. Happen to me all the time - and I look forward to them.

Funnily enough I was talking to a friend from New York a couple of nights ago - she's well into music and drama and all kinds of performance and I had to admit that I didn't get the same buzz out of that kind of thing that I used to, and that what fills me with sparks nowadays is simple stuff, stuff that I just happen across (or happens across me) during my normal day - exactly the kind of thing that happened to you at Harrow and Wealdstone station.

Sorry people, off on a tangent - but I'm a bit of an evangelist where it comes to the awesome in the everyday.

 

[_Cobh_]

Not nonsense at all. I love those little epiphanies that come out of nowhere and hit people in apparently incongruous places. Infinity and normality meeting in a spilled cup of coffee or winter morning light hitting a sandstone wall. Happen to me all the time - and I look forward to them.

Same!
I was hoping that someone here would appreciate that experience, so thanks for your post!

 

[Ronnor]

There was a great and atmospheric story online of a ghost deltic being seen late one night at Retford but it seems to have disappeared now. More than likely just a bashing tale invented after a few too many on some rancid overnight fester somewhere...

As for the Hatfield/Great Heck connection - it was the same class 91 involved rather than the same DVT. It's not a particularly spectacular coincidence when you consider the class comprises of only 31 engines. The loco was 91023, and was indeed renumbered to 91132 which seems to have ended its run of bad luck. Another renumbering happened in 1981 when 47216 became 47299 after a psychic contacted BR to warn them that the loco would be involved in a fatal crash. It was, in 1983, despite the renumbering.

There was also a reputedly unlucky class 40. D326 was involved in a fatal collision at Coppenhall Jn (near Winsford) in December 1962. On the 7th of August 1963, the loco was hauling the Up Glasgow Mail train when it was stopped by a red signal at Sears Crossing near Ledburn. The signal had been sabotaged by a criminal gang who then proceeded to commit the infamous Great Train Robbery. In 1964 a secondman (a sort of assistant driver) was electrocuted when climbing onto the roof under overhead power lines. The same loco ran away and collided with another train for a second time in 1965, but only the only injury was to the guard. The loco ran away a few more times over the next 20 years before being withdrawn and cut up at Doncaster in 1984. In "Diesels; A Driver Reminiscenes" by LC Jacks, the author recounts a story about the lights on the loco turning themselves on with nobody around.

 

[Tanglebones]

There was a great and atmospheric story online of a ghost deltic being seen late one night at Retford but it seems to have disappeared now. More than likely just a bashing tale invented after a few too many on some rancid overnight fester somewhere...

The loco in question was 55020 Nimbus. Supposedly it's mentioned in a book called 'Railway Ghosts and Phantoms' by W B Herbert.

 

[Ronnor]

I haven't read that book, though I am intrigued enough by the title to try and find a copy. The story I read online started with a gang of bashers waiting one night (though I'm not convinced it was at Retford now) for the Kings Cross to Aberdeen sleeper a few months after the Deltics had finished. The signal at the end of the platform went to green and soon after they saw and heard a Deltic (no number mentioned) droning along towards them in the usual way. They couldn't believe their eyes, since they knew full well that all the class had been withdrawn. The train went out of sight behind a bridge but never emerged. When they looked up at the signal again, it was at red. It was a nicely written account, but more than likely the product of wishful thinking and wind-ups than anything Fortean.

Was it the tale related in the book though?

 

[Tanglebones]

The story I've heard was that two enthusiasts saw Nimbus enter Hadley Wood tunnel. They went back to the nearest station and asked if an express had passed through, and were told that nothing had been through in the last 15 minutes.

I'm a member of a railway forum, and have asked about this rumour on there. Caused a lot of discussion, and even led to one member claiming rhat he had seen 55020 in store at MOD Ashcurch, despite having been shown pictures of the loco being cut up at Donny Works. Someone else even claims to have seen Nimbus passing light engine through Derby in the early 1990's!

I haven't read the book, although it is available on Amazon, so I'll be ordering a copy after Christmas. I find it interesting that something so impossible should have 'gained legs'...if you look in the right railway forums, the story seems to appear with an odd kind of regularity.

Anyway, nice to have another railway knowledgable member on the forum! Any comments on the haunted 37 by the way?

 

[PrivatePike]

Hello all, another railway employed poster/newbie here aswell,im a signalman also.