Ghost on the Tracks
A Colorado Ghost Story
retold by
S.E. Schlosser
The train rumbled around him as he adjusted the throttle. The night shift was always the toughest, in the engineer's mind. He had rumbled through Timpas a few minutes ago and was on his way to Thatcher. Not a bad stretch of road, and there was no better train in the entire Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad.
He stretched a bit and yawned, trying to stay alert. And then he gasped. The lights had picked up the figure of a beautiful woman with long red-gold hair and wonderful blue eyes standing near the tracks. Too near! He sounded his horn to warn her away. And then he realized that the light was shining right through her. She was a ghost!
She stepped into the center of the track, laughing and beautiful. She disappeared seconds before the train rushed through her. And then she was there, in the engine cab next to him. The scent of roses filled the air. He stared at the ghostly vision, bewitched by her beauty. With an enticing smile, she wrapped ghostly arms about his neck and kissed him. And was gone.
Dazed (and disappointed!), the engineer finished the run to Thatcher in a trance, completely forgetting to stop at the station. The fireman had to pour water on his head to snap him out of it.
The engineer decided not to tell anyone about the ghost, fearing for his job. But he was plagued by curiousity. Finally, he confided the story to a close friend who was a fellow engineer. To his surprise, the friend had heard about the ghost before. The ghost's appearance on the train was by no means uncommon. No one knew who the woman had been in life. But she always appeared on that stretch of track after dark, beckoning to the men on the railroad crew with a bewitching smile. Sometimes, said his friend, sometimes she would come right onto the train!
"Better not tell your wife about it," his friend advised.
The engineer never did.
You can read a longer version of this spooky folktale in Spooky Southwest by S.E. Schlosser.
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Comments
WEIRD
Posted by: Loren | September 27, 2010 04:15 PM
cool
Posted by: avery | October 19, 2010 10:22 AM
Funny
Posted by: Dalton | October 20, 2010 09:27 AM
i wonder how u come up w/ that stuff?
Posted by: taylor | October 21, 2010 11:39 PM
I bet that she died on the railroad or something. That would be one of the worst deaths. I feel sorry for her. I mean she is all alone and stuff. I bet she had one of the best lives before she died. Its so sad that all she can do is walk around, never be real again.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 27, 2010 05:53 PM
hahahah better not tell your wife .......funny
Posted by: jesus lozano | November 28, 2010 02:16 PM
hahahahahahaha "better not tell you'r wife" what the heck was with the ghost kiss?
Posted by: Matilda | January 7, 2011 10:36 AM
Aw....
Posted by: Zay | January 22, 2011 01:35 PM
well maybe her husband was the engener and she had a tragic axedent on the train so she seeks her husbands spirit hoping that the engener is her love... idk but hey i thought of it myself thats a good start
Posted by: Jade | January 28, 2011 11:09 PM
it was too short:[
Posted by: Anonymous | February 4, 2011 02:39 AM
cool
Posted by: Anonymous | July 15, 2011 02:21 PM
nice
Posted by: casey | July 27, 2011 06:13 PM
this was wierd i want to know the orther
Posted by: aidan | July 27, 2011 10:30 PM