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Rail Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana

Icy to the Touch

Location: Hatfield (Hertfordshire) - Station
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: 1900s
Further Comments: The driver of a steam train passing through Hatfield Station reported a phantom man who stepped from the platform into the engine (even though the vehicle was travelling at 55 mph). The icy, dark-clothed entity forced the driver to stop the train, which ground to a halt at Hitchin station; the driver then noticed that the track ahead was blocked, and that the steam engine would have crashed into the obstruction if it were not for the ghost.

Dwarf

Location: Haughley (Suffolk) - Railway line running past church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A woman travelling by train watched a small man dressed in clothing from two hundred years ago emerge briefly from the floor of the carriage before sinking back.

Man in a Fading Uniform

Location: Hayling Island (Hampshire) - Disused railway station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid 1960s onwards
Further Comments: Believed to have been a guard at the station, this figure has been seen several times since the station closed in the early sixties.

Crunching Footsteps

Location: High Wycombe (Buckinghamshire) - Rail Station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: The sound of someone walking along the stones on which the track lies have been investigated by several staff who expected to find a trespasser - no one is ever found, but the footsteps continue.

Jonah

Location: Huddersfield (Yorkshire) - St George's Square Station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A former porter at the railway station, Jonah was hit by a train and forced to retire early due to the injuries received. His spiteful laugh can sometimes be heard when there is an accident on the site, or a narrowly avoided mishap.

The 19:45 to King's Lynn

Location: Hunstanton (Norfolk) - Disused rail track between Hunstanton and King's Lynn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: This train crashed in August 1863, killing six people. Even though the line was removed from service during the 1960s, people still reported a phantom locomotive travelling along for several years after.


The footbridge at Ingatestone station.

Heavy Footsteps

Location: Ingatestone (Essex) - Footbridge at Ingatestone station
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: These disembodied footsteps were heard by a couple from London; the witnesses listened as the footfalls climbed the stairs of the bridge and down the other side before trailing off further down the platform.


The rail line between Shenfield and Ingatestone.

Flailing Hand

Location: Ingatestone (Essex) - Rail line between Shenfield and Ingatestone
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: March 2006
Further Comments: A commuter travelling from London Liverpool Street to Clacton reported seeing a hand which appeared from behind him as the train travelled between Shenfield and Ingatestone. The hand, appearing to be Asian, threw itself around violently, banging his seat and coming close to hitting the witness's head. The commuter turned to see who the hand belonged to, only to find a white middle aged man asleep in the seat behind him, with hands not resembling those he saw moments before.

Waiting Woman

Location: Isfield (Sussex) - Lavender Line railway station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Summer evenings (reoccurring), last seen 1990s
Further Comments: This railway museum is haunted by a woman in white who is said to wait for a lover who never returns home. This Victorian woman later took her own life by throwing herself under a train.

Travelling South

Location: Jonesborough (County Armagh) - Adavoyle railway station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Post-1921
Further Comments: For several years after a derailment which killed several men and horses, operators of the gate would report seeing train lights heading towards them, although the train never passed.

Hazy Figure

Location: Kellingley (Yorkshire) - Siding close to Sudforth Lane
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 05:20h, Early April, 2009
Further Comments: While checking an empty freight train, the driver spotted a six foot tall human shaped figure, about 25 yards away in a field. The figure was whitish, hazy and blurred. The driver tried to approach, but vegetation and fencing prevented him from doing so.

Disembodied Footsteps

Location: Kelvedon (Essex) - Kelvedon Rail Station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 04:45h (Reoccurring)
Further Comments: Since the station was rebuilt, there have been no more reports of the footsteps, always heard at the same time.

Man in 1930's Clothing

Location: Kenley (Surrey) - Road bridge that crosses the railway line near the station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October 1994, evening
Further Comments: While walking home, a witness spotted this phantom gentleman walking towards the railway station. The entity appeared to be deep in thought, and as it reached the station, suddenly stopped before dissolving away.

Cries of the Wounded

Location: Kentsford (Somerset) - Site of former railway
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid twentieth century
Further Comments: A collision between two steam engines at the site in 1857 resulted in several people dead and seriously injured - locals have reported hearing the accident repeated at night, some even seeing the engine pass by.

Driver

Location: Keynsham (Somerset) - Rail Station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century?
Further Comments: Several porters, at different times, reported seeing a phantom locomotive pass silently through the station along the Bristol line. A few said that they could see the driver of the train looking out, a concerned expression on his face.

Passenger Train

Location: Killeavy (County Armagh) - Railway line, Barney's Bridge area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This phantom train is only seen at a distance and vanishes without trace at Barney's Bridge.


Phantom navvies. Don't go playing on the rails.

Navvies

Location: Kilsby (Northamptonshire) - Railway tunnel ventilation shaft
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: During the construction of the Kilsby tunnel three drunken navvies fell to their deaths down one of the ventilation shafts. Their shades are still thought to lurk in the area.

The Black Train

Location: Kyle of Lochalsh (Highland) - General area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Locals say that the construction of the railway upset the natural balance; now a black train which spits flames uses the track at night, disappearing into nearby hills.

Freight Train

Location: Launceston (Cornwall) - Area near the old railway station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Though the tracks have been removed, several people have reported hearing the phantom sounds of a long goods train passing through the area.

Flag Waver

Location: Liverpool (Merseyside) - Area around former Otterspool rail station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Before closing in 1951, a teenager was saved by a man from being hit by a train, although the rescuer was killed in the process. He is said to wave a red warning flag in the area.

Overwhelming Presence

Location: Liverpool (Merseyside) - Walton Junction Station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s onwards
Further Comments: It is said that ever since the last steam engine left this site, an evil, repressive presence has descended upon the area.

Cuppage

Location: Lurgan (County Armagh) - Railway lines
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Date of last sighting unknown, but reputed to be a nightly event
Further Comments: Drunk after splitting up with his wife, Cuppage decided to try to convince her to return. Knowing that she would be on a certain train, he foolishly stood on the tracks; the train did not stop and Cuppage was decapitated. His headless ghost now walks along the track every night with head tucked under his arm. A slight variant of the tale has Cuppage lose a couple of limbs instead of his head, and now he looks for the missing appendages.

Station Porter

Location: Lyonshall (Hereford & Worcester) - Disused railway station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1940 onwards
Further Comments: Since closing, this station has become a haunt for a sad looking man, who is said to have once been a porter at the building.

White Dog

Location: Macclesfield (Cheshire) - South of railway station
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: November 2011, around 21:45
Further Comments: Departing the station, this train driver reported seeing a white misty dog move quickly across the track from left to right. One side of the railway stands a six metre high wall, while on the other a 3.5 metre high mesh fence - nowhere where the dog could have come from or disappeared to.

Misty Female Figure

Location: Maldon (Essex) - Disused railway station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s onwards
Further Comments: Reports of a figure waiting on Platform Two date back towards the end of the 1950's. The station is no longer there; it became a public house before being left empty and for sale, but the figure is still seen, making a strange groaning sound as it walks. An icy chill is said to denote her presence.

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