Railway Ghosts

[Paul_Exeter]

Didn't take long:

Monks​

Location: SW1 (Greater London) - Jubilee Line, from Westminster to Stratford
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early 2000s
Further Comments: Since the construction of the Jubilee Line, reports of phantom monks walking the tracks have begun to emerge. The sightings may be connected to the many graves which were disturbed while work was commencing.

https://www.paranormaldatabase.com/recent/index.php

 

[Sabresonic]

This is a great one:

Footless Figure​

Location: Portsmouth (Hampshire) - Portsmouth & Southsea Train Station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 January 2016, between 05:00h - 05:30h
Further Comments: Standing alone at the empty station, a commuter suddenly spotted a man wearing a 1940s suit standing at the opposite end of the platform. The slightly transparent figure did not have any facial features and, despite also lacking feet, started to walk towards the commuter, who fled in terror. The commuter refused to return to the site and subsequently used another station to travel.

https://www.paranormaldatabase.com/recent/index.php

Sounds a bit like that Ghost in the train Station (WW1) in Sapphire and Steel.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Have we had this one?

The Ghost of Haworth Station​

"On this occasion another railway volunteer was walking around the yard before departing to the sleeping coach for the night when he saw an unusual dim light through a window in the goods shed. Thinking it was rare to see anyone working at this late hour he went to investigate. As he entered the shed everything was quiet and still. There was a strange light coming from the corner….a soft light, almost as if it was from an oil lamp. Suddenly, the figure of a man emerged from the shadows and walked towards him, with a pole in his hand beckoning him to come closer. Our observer was frozen to the spot and then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the figure melted away in front of his astonished eyes."

http://bancroftsfromyorkshire.blogspot.com/2010/11/ghost-of-haworth-station.html

 

[Sabresonic]

Have we had this one?

The Ghost of Haworth Station​

"On this occasion another railway volunteer was walking around the yard before departing to the sleeping coach for the night when he saw an unusual dim light through a window in the goods shed. Thinking it was rare to see anyone working at this late hour he went to investigate. As he entered the shed everything was quiet and still. There was a strange light coming from the corner….a soft light, almost as if it was from an oil lamp. Suddenly, the figure of a man emerged from the shadows and walked towards him, with a pole in his hand beckoning him to come closer. Our observer was frozen to the spot and then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the figure melted away in front of his astonished eyes."

http://bancroftsfromyorkshire.blogspot.com/2010/11/ghost-of-haworth-station.html

Time slip for both for the railway volunteer and man wit the pole.

 

[escargot]

Suddenly, the figure of a man emerged from the shadows and walked towards him, with a pole in his hand beckoning him to come closer.

A shunting pole/hook? They are substantial objects resembling mediaeval weapons, variously pikes or quarterstaffs.

Some trains still carry them. Railway staff discuss grabbing one for disarming an onboard terrorist with a knife or gun.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

A shunting pole/hook? They are substantial objects resembling mediaeval weapons, variously pikes or quarterstaffs.

Some trains still carry them. Railway staff discuss grabbing one for disarming an onboard terrorist with a knife or gun.

Yes, would most likely have been a shunting pole:

 

[ramonmercado]

A shunting pole/hook? They are substantial objects resembling mediaeval weapons, variously pikes or quarterstaffs.

Some trains still carry them. Railway staff discuss grabbing one for disarming an onboard terrorist with a knife or gun.

Railway Ghost Hunters require more training on these topics.

 

[escargot]

Here are a modern hook and pole kept on an Avanti Voyager. You wouldn't like that up yer.

 

[Swifty]

Someone I used to know's just sent me this one:

'I work on the railway and was ready to leave my last train at the end of my shift, standing in the staff doorway in First Class.

There was a catering trolley beside me and my own work trolley on the floor in front. My bulky rucksack protruded into the limited space behind me.

When I'm in this position, sometimes the train Guard will be in the driver's cab on the approach to the station.

They'll dart out, slam the heavy cab door behind them, shove past my rucksack, call out 'Seeya later, Matey!', open the internal carriage door and rush off along the train to prepare for the stop/dispatch procedure.

I'll hear the cab door slam and turn round far enough to look briefly into the Guard's face and return the greeting, and the external carriage door will open and I'll jump off.

This time I stood beside the external door as normal, and heard the internal door slam and felt my rucksack move, and turned to say 'Laters!' but there was nobody behind me. The internal carriage door was closed.

I know the door sound and the rucksack movement very well. Didn't imagine any of it.'

I'd be asking for a pay rise.

 

[escargot]

I'd be asking for a pay rise.

Maybe a laundry allowance.

 

[Swifty]

Maybe a laundry allowance.

My pants would look like the landing deck on The Ark Royal.

 

[Krepostnoi]

My pants would look like the landing deck on The Ark Royal.

I blame the phantoms.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Will put this one here, too:

Future Train​

Location: Whitland (Dyfed) - Area close to or between the abbey ruins and River Taf
Type: Other
Date / Time: Pre 1864
Further Comments: A fisherman witnessed the ground shake and a loud whistle fill the air. Moments later, the sound of 'a thousand wheels' panicked nearby horses which leapt into the river to escape. The witness considered his experience an ill omen, and although nothing untoward occurred to the man or his family, a few years later the South Wales Railway company dug out a tunnel which crossed the land where the event had occurred.

https://www.paranormaldatabase.com/recent/index.php

Have been through that tunnel on a train to Fishguard, alas no startled fisherman and horses...

 

[escargot]

Will put this one here, too:

Future Train​

Location: Whitland (Dyfed) - Area close to or between the abbey ruins and River Taf
Type: Other
Date / Time: Pre 1864
Further Comments: A fisherman witnessed the ground shake and a loud whistle fill the air. Moments later, the sound of 'a thousand wheels' panicked nearby horses which leapt into the river to escape. The witness considered his experience an ill omen, and although nothing untoward occurred to the man or his family, a few years later the South Wales Railway company dug out a tunnel which crossed the land where the event had occurred.

https://www.paranormaldatabase.com/recent/index.php

Have been through that tunnel on a train to Fishguard, alas no startled fisherman and horses...

That's more like a time slip.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

That's more like a time slip.

Posted over there, too.

Found this, he is now a 'farmer':

"Given these articles, we now know that the day foretold by the spectral locomotive arrived toward the very end of 1853. This is about a decade before Fenton’s record of the strange manifestation was published. We also know that the clamorous event was not welcomed by everyone. In other words, the anecdote might be a folktale — but there’s a fair amount of truth woven into it."

https://brombonesbooks.com/2024/02/...sit-a-phantom-locomotive-near-whitland-wales/

 

[Paul_Exeter]

There's just something about the combination of railways and ghosts that's particularly good at sending a pleasant shiver down the spine. WB Herbert's book has been a personal favourite since I found it in the local library as a young 'un. Naturally, I have a personal copy, now.

We also have a tragic railway story nearby, with a fair degree of haunting mystery and a tinge of ghostliness. Just a few miles north of us is the vilage of Charfield, which is on the main west coast line. In the early hours of the morning of 13th October 1928 a night mail train failed to stop at a signal; it collided with a freight train that was in the process of being moved into a siding, and the tail end of a third train of empty goods cars that was moving through the station was caught up in the accident. Many ended up crunched under the close-by bridge, and a fire born of gas-lighting still used in some of the older carriages soon engulfed them, impeding rescue efforts.

Two mysteries linger, one regarding the cause of the disaster. The driver and fireman of the mail train, who both survived, insisted the signal had been green, but the signal box's mechanisms were confirmed set to red, and it seems the points being positioned to allow the freight into the siding would automatically cause the signal to show red. No trace of any interference was found.

The other, sadder mystery has to do with the victims. Fifteen or sixteen people, depending on the report you read, lost their lives, and forty-one were injured. Among the dead were two children who couldn't be, and still haven't been, identified; they carried nothing to help, none of the survivors recognised them, and no-one ever came to claim them. They and the other deceased were interred in the graveyard of the village church, and a monument erected. For around thirty years afterwards a woman clad in black was reported as visiting the site, but she too was never identified.

The ghostliness? Let me quote from one of the online accounts I've consulted to refresh my memory...



(Source: https://madmikesamerica.com/2017/07...y-disaster-and-the-mysterious-woman-in-black/ )

Brings a shiver...and a tear...

@WanderingFox​

The Woman in Black​

Punt PI Series 5

Steve Punt turns private investigator, investigating bizarre rumours surrounding the 1928 Charfield rail crash.
2. The Woman in Black. For 25 years following the 1928 Charfield rail crash in Gloucestershire, a woman in black laid flowers at the memorial to the accident. Arriving in a chauffeur driven car, she never revealed her identity but locals have assumed she was in some way related to two young unknown victims of the accident.
The means of this rich woman's arrival has led to feverish speculation - most notably that the was a member of royalty and the children were illegitimate offspring. Add to that questions over the cause of the crash and you have a field day for conspiracy theorists.
Punt sets to work sorting fact from fiction, calling in the experts and cross-examining locals. He gets to grips to with the cause of the crash and gets tantalisingly close to the the possible identity of the woman in black and the two unknown victims.
Producer: Laurence Grissell.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mn32c

A fascinating listen

 

[WanderingFox]

@WanderingFox​

The Woman in Black​

Punt PI Series 5

Steve Punt turns private investigator, investigating bizarre rumours surrounding the 1928 Charfield rail crash.
2. The Woman in Black. For 25 years following the 1928 Charfield rail crash in Gloucestershire, a woman in black laid flowers at the memorial to the accident. Arriving in a chauffeur driven car, she never revealed her identity but locals have assumed she was in some way related to two young unknown victims of the accident.
The means of this rich woman's arrival has led to feverish speculation - most notably that the was a member of royalty and the children were illegitimate offspring. Add to that questions over the cause of the crash and you have a field day for conspiracy theorists.
Punt sets to work sorting fact from fiction, calling in the experts and cross-examining locals. He gets to grips to with the cause of the crash and gets tantalisingly close to the the possible identity of the woman in black and the two unknown victims.
Producer: Laurence Grissell.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mn32c

A fascinating listen

Ooh! Definitely worth a listen. Thank you for the heads-up!

 

[escargot]

Here's a weird one. Haven't reported this before as I didn't know what to make of it.

A few years ago Techy and I spent a weekend happily cycling around as usual.
On the Sunday there was a motorcyclist killed on the road right next to a cycle path we used. We didn't see it but had to argue with the police to get through the roadblock further down.

We though Oh no, not more death! because on the Saturday we'd seen what seemed to be the result of a 'fall from height' on a railway platform.

After pedalling around the Lake District or somewhere we'd arrived back at our local station to find a steam engine hissing away.

We of course went over for a closer look but found some men in overalls standing around and what looked like a person covered in thick white cloth, like a duvet with no cover, lying on the platform. Everyone was sombre.

We overheard someone asking what had gone on and being told that there'd been an accident and someone was dead, having fallen backwards while climbing down from the cab. The ambulance was on way. We heard the siren.

It seemed best to get out of the way so we set off home. Didn't see an ambulance even though we should have passed it on way off the station.

Bit of a downer, and and we were soon off to bed and up early next day for more riding so didn't discuss it much.

However: a few days later I was chatting with a H&S worker on another station and mentioned the recent sad fall from height.
He hadn't heard about one and as he had his paperwork handy we both looked for it and found no mention.

So Techy and I are baffled. What had gone on?

 

[Floyd]

Here's a weird one. Haven't reported this before as I didn't know what to make of it.

A few years ago Techy and I spent a weekend happily cycling around as usual.
On the Sunday there was a motorcyclist killed on the road right next to a cycle path we used. We didn't see it but had to argue with the police to get through the roadblock further down.

We though Oh no, not more death! because on the Saturday we'd seen what seemed to be the result of a 'fall from height' on a railway platform.

After pedalling around the Lake District or somewhere we'd arrived back at our local station to find a steam engine hissing away.

We of course went over for a closer look but found some men in overalls standing around and what looked like a person covered in thick white cloth, like a duvet with no cover, lying on the platform. Everyone was sombre.

We overheard someone asking what had gone on and being told that there'd been an accident and someone was dead, having fallen backwards while climbing down from the cab. The ambulance was on way. We heard the siren.

It seemed best to get out of the way so we set off home. Didn't see an ambulance even though we should have passed it on way off the station.

Bit of a downer, and and we were soon off to bed and up early next day for more riding so didn't discuss it much.

However: a few days later I was chatting with a H&S worker on another station and mentioned the recent sad fall from height.
He hadn't heard about one and as he had his paperwork handy we both looked for it and found no mention.

So Techy and I are baffled. What had gone on?

Anything in here?;

https://www.orr.gov.uk/monitoring-r...wers/our-enforcement-action-date/prosecutions

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Here's a weird one. Haven't reported this before as I didn't know what to make of it.

A few years ago Techy and I spent a weekend happily cycling around as usual.
On the Sunday there was a motorcyclist killed on the road right next to a cycle path we used. We didn't see it but had to argue with the police to get through the roadblock further down.

We though Oh no, not more death! because on the Saturday we'd seen what seemed to be the result of a 'fall from height' on a railway platform.

After pedalling around the Lake District or somewhere we'd arrived back at our local station to find a steam engine hissing away.

We of course went over for a closer look but found some men in overalls standing around and what looked like a person covered in thick white cloth, like a duvet with no cover, lying on the platform. Everyone was sombre.

We overheard someone asking what had gone on and being told that there'd been an accident and someone was dead, having fallen backwards while climbing down from the cab. The ambulance was on way. We heard the siren.

It seemed best to get out of the way so we set off home. Didn't see an ambulance even though we should have passed it on way off the station.

Bit of a downer, and and we were soon off to bed and up early next day for more riding so didn't discuss it much.

However: a few days later I was chatting with a H&S worker on another station and mentioned the recent sad fall from height.
He hadn't heard about one and as he had his paperwork handy we both looked for it and found no mention.

So Techy and I are baffled. What had gone on?

A steam engine? A time-slip or a memory from before 1968...?!

No...? So either a preserved heritage railway or a steam excursion then

Was it this place:

https://www.lakesiderailway.co.uk

If it was a heritage railway then there are dedicated forums that chat about literally everything and anything steam railway related so I could do a search. If it was a steam excursion on a 'normal' railway then that would be included , too.

 

[escargot]

A steam engine? A time-slip or a memory from before 1968...?!

No...? So either a preserved heritage railway or a steam excursion then

Was it this place:

https://www.lakesiderailway.co.uk

If it was a heritage railway then there are dedicated forums that chat about literally everything and anything steam railway related so I could do a search. If it was a steam excursion on a 'normal' railway then that would be included , too.

I am a railway worker from a railway family in a railway town.

The station is public. The platform is often used for excursions and for necessary stops as for engines to take on water.
So seeing one there was not unusual but still a treat.

But none of it adds up.

 

[Steven]

Railway stations make for such perfect metaphors for life (and its transience) that it almost seems a deliberate tease. Their 'busy' nature becomes the perfect cover for any ghosts.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

I am a railway worker from a railway family in a railway town.

The station is public. The platform is often used for excursions and for necessary stops as for engines to take on water.
So seeing one there was not unusual but still a treat.

But none of it adds up.

The forum is called "National Preservation" and if an accident happened it will be mentioned on there.

One thing I do know from having been on a steam excursion is that the footplate gets crowded as they are crewed by freight train drivers (DB Schenker) who are pretty much the last locomotive drivers left (everything being multiple-units now). There will also be a Network Rail Inspector as steam trains often have slow down for modern bridges on some lines (eg Axminster bypass bridge on the Salisbury to Exeter line) as the clearance is lower than steam days and the engine can 'bounce' on its springs when at speed. Then there will be one or two freight crew being trained and so a footplate designed for two can get quite cramped (My trip was Salisbury to Exeter behind 'Clan Line' on the Cathedrals Express)

 

[MorningAngel]

We went on a steam train for my birthday many years ago. It was a lovely experience and so many people came out to see our train. At one point we stopped and we wondered why, poor thing was thirsty. I was lead to believe they were slow. They are NOT slow!

 

[gordonrutter]

We went on a steam train for my birthday many years ago. It was a lovely experience and so many people came out to see our train. At one point we stopped and we wondered why, poor thing was thirsty. I was lead to believe they were slow. They are NOT slow!

126 mph was the record set by The Mallard back in 1938.

 

[MorningAngel]

126 mph was the record set by The Mallard back in 1938.

It was this beauty we went on. I remember the Intercity 125s, so 125mph wasn’t that impressive when granny had already managed it decades ago?

 

[MorningAngel]

I was looking up the speed of HS1 (which seemed to happen a lot quieter than HS2) and apparently that has a top speed of 185mph but with a stopping distance of two miles! It doesn’t generally go that fast though. When I’ve been on it lately it’s been normal speed at certain stops you only get fast if you’ve paid the extra, you have to get off before the fire up the super hamsters. Apparently HS2 threatens 225mph, God knows the stopping distance on that.

 

[Tempest63]

I am a railway worker from a railway family in a railway town.

The station is public. The platform is often used for excursions and for necessary stops as for engines to take on water.
So seeing one there was not unusual but still a treat.

But none of it adds up.

We had a spell recently when steam trains ran through our station several times over a few weeks, it hadn’t occurred that frequently before, just the odd train every few years.
My son is a train driver and knew when the trains were passing through. When it coincided that he wasn’t at work, he took his own three sons up to the station to watch them pass through.
It could be what escargot saw was a planned steam train event that ended with a tragic fall. I would assume those driving the trains only do so on an infrequent basis and not having a day to day interaction could lead to a level of unfamiliarity that would contribute to a potential slip and fall.

Edit: That could be the safety manager in me overthinking things and trying to analyse something I know sweet FA about.

 

[kesavaross]

We had a spell recently when steam trains ran through our station several times over a few weeks, it hadn’t occurred that frequently before, just the odd train every few years.
My son is a train driver and knew when the trains were passing through. When it coincided that he wasn’t at work, he took his own three sons up to the station to watch them pass through.
It could be what escargot saw was a planned steam train event that ended with a tragic fall. I would assume those driving the trains only do so on an infrequent basis and not having a day to day interaction could lead to a level of unfamiliarity that would contribute to a potential slip and fall.

Edit: That could be the safety manager in me overthinking things and trying to analyse something I know sweet FA about.

Anyone who works on or near the track has to have a track safety certificate which involves training regardless of the type of traction used. Evening getting or or off the foot plate has training associated with it. A person cannot just decide to get on or off the footplate. To go on to the footplate requires a cab pass. This is all covered is the Rule Book which is regulated by Acts of Parliament and overseen and enforced by the (His Majesties) Railways Inspectorate.

I do know that with steam trains in a platform that under certain strict conditions that a visitor can get on the footplate from the platform. That is simply a step onto it and I can't see how a fatal injury can occur from that.

Also the number of persons on the footplate or in a driving cab is also regulated. For the trains I drove it was no more than 6 people including the driver. An instructor would have a cab pass to allow up to 4 people under training, provided the driver agreed, and they were not allowed to distract the driver in any way.

All the rules and regulations governing the driving of trains to make the system safe have come about by past accidents, crashes and fatalities and it is strictly enforced.

The training and qualification to drive any train, including a steam train, requires certification also and that certification does expire if that type of traction is not driven for a certain time period (which I have no knowledge of in terms of time duration). It also requires a strict 2 yearly examination of both the Rule Book and also actually driving the train. Fail it and the person is no longer allowed to drive and that's it until further training is undertaken and the person then passes. Then there's route knowledge. My point is that it is just not a case of turn up and do this or that as a volunteer, visitor, etc. There are strict rules to follow.

During my years working on the railways I never once heard of a person injured, or killed by an accident getting on of off the footplate. That is not to say it can't happen because unforeseeable accidents do and have happened. I simply find it highly unlikely. When climbing up to the cab or footplate especially from track level the instinct is to hang on tightly to the grab rail because it is higher up than it looks from platform level.

 

[Fabio Picasso]

The Railway Ghost, Westfield, Indiana, 1873
Does anyone have any reference to this case or maybe it's just a story?

Source: The Railway Ghost, The Cambridge City Tribune (Cambridge City, Indiana) Vol.XXIII, Nº14, July 21, 1887, p.1​