I'll bite
Half Moon has a rather terrifying story about a ghost engine. It was in the mid 1990s when a new crew hit the road for their first through run at night. The day, was Friday he 30th, and took place in the local restaurant.
Johnny, the engineer, was listening to the tales told by the crews of odd things when Fred walked up. Fred was his Conductor, who got his certification a year earlier. Normally, HO&N didnb’t like running rookies like this, bu at the time, it was necessary.
“And there it was.” An old conductor said. I could see right through it. The menacing crew, the screams echoing from the whistle.
“Oh cme on” chimed in Fred. “You aren’t telling those old ghost stories are you?”
“You don’t believe them?”
“No.”
“But you know the curses 13 carried, right?”
“The boiler crushing th two workment during her erection? The pipefitter bieing impailed? Her dropping her fireman? Or what about her killing her shop crew and the scrap dealer? It’s all phooey Johnny, don’t let him scare you.”
“It’s not phooey. Remember when Half Moon rebuilt that bridge, took the Chapel caboose with them? 13 would not cross that bridge for 7 months on its own power. It had to be shoved across.”
“More coincidence. And besides, Half Moon has never had any catastrophic accidents so far. Contribute that to the originzl builders blessing the line if you will, but we have nothing to make a Ghost Story out of.”
“That doesn’t mean ghosts can’t roam. The Lincoln Train is seen from DC to Springfield.”
SO they say. They also say it runs in two separate sections. Come on Johnny. We got the 90MAC tonight at point, let’s have a look at her.”
And they did. Both crews had an uneventful rest of the day, though they were delayed by a half an hour and didn’t leave until 8:45 that night with five engines and over a hundred cars.
“Clear”
“Clear” They called a signal as they rounded a bend into single track territory. It was one of the few pinch points still on the HO&N, and the railroad had no room to feasibly widen it. All at once, the engine slammed itself into emergency, and when Fred and Johnny peeled themselves off the back wall of the cab, they found the in cab signal showing a solid red:according to the digitals, they blew a red signal at 60mph. Sure enough, along with the radiant brake shoes, the signal behind them was reflecting tomato against a boxcar.
“Dispatcher, this is HO&N 9009. We had a signal change right under us, and trip Automatic Train control. Confirm this is a malfunction on our end and the signal changed for our presence.”
“Negative 9009, that signal changed for an occupancy detector on the single.”
“aren’t we supposed to be the only ones out here?”
“Affirmative 9009. We don’t know what it’s reading. Hold on, a hotbox detector is chirping”
Johnny turned the radio over.
…Axle 12, 1500 degrees. Car temperature reading abient. Axle 13, 1500 degrees. Axle 14, 1500 degrees…”
Just then, a defect detector started. “HO&N Defect detector, MP 342. Locomotive present, not detected. DEFECT. Locomotive support vehicle present, not detected. DEFECT. Stock car registered audibly, not detected. DEFECT…DEFECT…DEFECT…
DEFECT…DEFECT…DEFECT…DEFECT…DEFECT…DEFECT…DEFECT…
DEFECT...DEFECT. Defect detector MP342. DEFECT. Inspect immediately.
As far as the railroad was concerned, 9009 was sitting dead. The engines were fine, the wheels hot, but the signals said they were going no where.
“Dispatcher, confirm flow traffic recognizes 9009.”
“9009, affirmative. All known trains in your district are being held. Are you within visual of the convergence switch?”
“Affirmative Dispatch, and the train is in the clear of that switch.”
“9009, what is the position of that switch?”
“Unsure. It’s DARK. We’ll check.”
Locking up, Fred and Johnny climbed down to inspect he switch ahead of them.
“It’s thrown against us Fred.”
“Odd Johnny. WHatcha think?” Fred asked while turning around to mske sure no one took his train.
‘We need an inspection tr- oh god…”
Fred whirled around. There charging them, was a blood red light. Johhny! JOHNNY! OUT OF THE TRACKS” No response, the engineer ws frozen in panic. Acing quickly, Fred leapt into the light beam and ripped his engineer from death’s grasp. A Mars light threw beams of fire from side to side. Fred pulled his crewman along the towards the safety of 9009. each throw of the light boiled the crew, to immediately freeze them in the midnight air. Fred prayed loud and hard for the workers who built the tracks, hoping the estranged engine cared what the switch behind them said. And sure enough, at hellbat speeds, the sounds were heard of a steam locomotive slamming it’s weight through a curve. It’s whistle screamed of death. No crew as seen though. The fast pacific locomotive had behind it 4 stock cars. Fred described the engines being foggy. He could see details, the boiler fire, and the mountains to the other side. In fire yellow were the numbers13. below the light, and to the side of the cab. The tender and train was comparable, though he distinctly remembered the tender as being dry as a bone. Behind were four stock cars carrying creatures reminisicent of bulls amd sturdy horses, red eyed, with back horns and steel hooves. A Drover’s car, an old coach converted to a kitchen and reclined seats, carryed very tired cowhands. What looked like more coaches than Half Moon owened equipment poured past nex. No way could a Pacific pull the train. Was it eight or eighty cars trailed with souls. Some gambling, as was done in coaches of the age, others sitting positively angelic enjoying the company of the people beside them. As the train shot past him as nnatural speeds, he swore he saw the beasts plow out from the side of the train. With the same swift pace, the drover’s vcar emtied as well, as they jumped from the car to their horses in perfect sync. What Fred couldn’t get was the gorge underneath them, and that the train didn’t care. And no matter how hard he tried to ratuionalize what he saw, he couldn’t.
Johnny awoke from his shock paralysis within a minute of the train being gone from Fred’s sight. But no sooner had they climbed into the engine, then another fearful sound pierced their ears. The mountain itself roared. Operational alarms blaired from the entire train. An auto tune kicked in.
AVALANCHE WARNING. Mile post 280. 281 282 283 284 285 286 288 292 293 297 299 301 AVALANChE WARNING mile post 305 306 307 308 309 310 315 316 317 318
“9009, you are authorzed to leave the train. GET OUT OF THERe NOW!”
“Dispatch, we copy” Though the mil\eposts were counting away from them, no one wanted to be there. Fred and Johnny made the fastest cuts in the history of HO&N. they figured almost two dozen operating rules were broken, but in minutes, they were sure that their train would stay put, cut the 90MAC out, jogged into the single track, and flew back after the mystery ghost train as fast as they could. In htier ears rang an unwelcome sound
AVALANCHE WARNING: Mile post 272, 271, 270 266 265 264 263.
When crews returned the next day, solid rock had claimed the front 2 locomotives, as well as the spot that Fred, Johnny, the Ghost Train, the 90MAC, the faulty? Defect detector, the hotbox detector, and eighty percent of Rock Valley Pass. The left lead engines joined the gorge, the remaining two had the coupler system and the floor upt to the truck bolster ripped out from under the 3 engine. The fourth had pretty well grounded the train. Ahead of them, the pass was filled. Rock Valley and HO&N could find no affordable way to clean out the mess. Thy drug what remained of their train back, and replaced the rail line with a car fairy that reconnected on the other side of the pass. Ebveryone agreed that aside form the psychotic break, neither man did anything really wrong in their flight. They might not have made it safely trying to back the monster train. And on foot, they’d have joined the bottom of the cliff most likely.
While being checked out, Fred and Johnny met four people who claimed to have been camping in the ridge long the now buried line. They claimed that a train appeared out of nowhere, locked up its brakes, and the conductor tld them they needed to clear out now. The mountain rumbled, they jumped in, and the train shot off. They said they felt like it was a rocket launch from a cartoon. The passengers resembled folks of various eras, some vile, some well mannered. They remembered falling asleep next, and waking up deposited on a sation platform with their stuff, that they had not put on train. It was hastily folded, the tent a mess, but it was all there. An old piece of paper, with a shiny new penny for ballast lay atop, signed simply
MWD
MWD meaning, maybe, one of HO&N’s first and best loved conductors.
Fred and Johnny took to the City of Half Moon Port Authority and haven’t left since. Afte hteir nerves settled, they decided that a 45tonner was a comfy alternative.
Inspections determined several things.
- that the avalanche had been caused by blasting for a new highway, faulty land tests, and a general misunderstanding on how unsound the land there really was.
- Had 9009 not been stopped by odd malfunctions, no part of that train would have been recognizable in the mass of rock. The avalanche in the pass itself would have buried 9009 in the heart of the maelstrom from both sides.
- Everyone heard the defects go off, the warning systems, the occupancy detectors, the defectors, all of it. No cause could be determined, and since most of it was rejoined with the earth, no cause will likely be found anytime soon.
Factually, no one has proposed a good explanation for the sighting by Fred and the hikers. Theorists toss out dust and smoke reflecting the headlight, but how were the people carried. Not by 9009, we know? If they had simply slept on the platform, how then could they have described the cliff in such detail befoe the slide, and the same exact train that Fred saw? And for the religious, they say that old 13 had been resigned to Purgatory, to race out those who perished in the area to occupy their proper realms and not be trapped for eternity in the slide, as well as be a warning to the train crews. They say that the religious blessings spread in construction were what allowed the detectors to read 13 in it’s plight, and keep it from acting up. Or maybe, it simply couldn’t stand it’s mortal coils. Others over the years have reported similar malfunctions, but nothing to the degree, and not followed by such a catastrophe.
Fred believes, do you?
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Disclaimer: I'm borrowing 13 herself from another gentleman who set her tale darned close to one of the possible settings for HO&N.