The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-10-04
~
A PIlnlltOlil TI.lin

| lVc, or Tor oil that casual observer cO,llt
tell, he might have been s9vcnty He was
thin and einaciatcd, and the few stragglinp
hairs i'll his head were White as snow. ilis
beard was long and tindaRV vicd i'll white
ness with his lair. g. y T. ,t -''''
"Did you ever sec theaA Ahan,om Train p
he asked again, having received no answer
There was silence in th6roon and no on,
answered.. The gentlenan seated next te
the writer whispered "Don't mind him :;
that's his hobby" IS 4" " .'N> ".'
81 have sccu the Phapt8m Train" said
the old man, in a tone su@l as he might
have used had some one denied tile fact;
| 81 have seen the Phantomljrrain more thm
| once" ' r..pN t.5 5IEJ ~. " ID
Impressed by tic earnest manner of the
! old man, and influenced moi doubt By nat:
ural curiosity to hear ghost story In whicl,
train played the leading part, the writef
| requested the old man to recte his ghost.
like experiences. He complied without de-
lay, and began: IuF = Il q ''h,
"l'm ont of service nowiSbut tca wears
ago, and for many years befbrc that, Was
swtchman on the uudson River Railroad:
Pm retired now, but througlfno fault of my
own. These people here will tell you thnt
am crazy on one subject. Don't you be-
believe them. Pm 'as---P' .-' t'3
But about the train2n Interrupted one
of the party. -" = - q :, 'i''
"Ycs, yes about tho train," replied the
old man., switching himsclfs back on the
main track again as easily as though he
had never abandoned it and run upon the
siding of mere personal rominiBccnccs. cit
was i'll April, 1865, that President Lincoln's
body was brought over our road | did not
see the train, and as L was nd great reader
OF newspapers, i saw no description of It.
l want you to remember this. Just one,
year after the funeral train passed over the
road | saw its ghost. MA. -. =
"What2 The ghost Of a train?" -..'."
Yes. 1t must have been Il ghost ! l
was at my post, waiting for thc midnight
express, which was due at aliout r. 80 in
the morning. l want you TO remember
that had read no description of the funcr-
al tram. l had read Of the assassination,
and knew that President Lincoln's body
was sent West, but / was sick a-bcd whtal
the train passed my station and didn't ste
it," wa :
"But the ghOst2" .,.. .l,.- 81. l.
"Wcll, it needed some little explanation
for what Pm about to- tell you is 50 extra
ordinary that you might feel disposed to
set it down Us hallucination What T
am going to tell you actually did see"
"When did you sec it, and what was
it z" -
''It was the night of April q, 1866, as
tar as l can lcMember, that first saw it. 1t
was phantom train. l was mt my switch
station, and had good while to wait be-
fore the next train was due. was about
to retire into my little house when heard
" e"llon, iuiuDlliiy SOuhl thac'I gave me
warning of the approach of tflin. We
expected freight train that nil g,t, which
was to leave half dozen cars OIL the side
track, and the noise heard sccmdl to INC
to come from that train. knowing that
there were no regular trains on thdroad at
that hour, except freights 0hc il ilidnight
train had passed before I heard tlb Phan-
tom Train), l fixed the track acctf fdingly.
The switch was so set that the trah could
run upon it and dctach such cars al it was
designed to leave. That being done it
would have been my duty to attend the
switch on the other end of the skiing, so
that the engine and the remain Ing cars
might strike the main track again. While
was arranging tho first switch the rum
bling in the distance became louder and
| louder, and knew that the tnin Twas not
far away. | had posted myself at tho up
per end Of the siding in order 10 make no
more delay than was absolutely necessary.
just as had completed my arrangements
heard dull, sullcn roar mace up of a
thousand different noises blcndM together.
Looking down the road saw headlight
whose power and intensity I had never
seen cqualcd in my cxpcrcnc, of thirty
years. There was chill 'abtut the air
that | couldn't understand. Asl said be-
fore, had things so fixed that the train
had to run upon the siding What must
have been my establishment, thc,, when
saw rushing along the main track with
reckless speed locomotive drspcd from
one end to the other in Grape, and carrying
at least q dozen little flags, also shrouded
III Grape, on her, side rails. could read
her name as she passed by met was the
Constitution could see tn lee men
Clearly. One man had his hand on the
lever, and was pccring out into thd night, as
If In search of something on the trick; an
other was sllovcling coal into the furnace,
ana making a deal of noise aboutit, and q
third, dressed Ill black, with CRAZE dang
| ling from his arm and cncircling]his stiff
high hat, sat upon a stool doing nothing.
You ask me how I saw 50 much II such a
short time I can't explain itl All
nhoW 10, Illat L Stt" WINaI l Ill tcllnR you.
there was something ghastly about he faces
Of the men, but that might have DIN caus-
ed by the terrific rate at Which thy were
speeding along. AS soon as the Constitu-
tion had passed ran to the lower, end Of
the siding fix the switch, Which feared
somebody had tampcred with. 1t WAS just
as 1had left it" - 7t|"
"Y0u mean that 1t was SO set as b send
train upon the side track2" $50
Z" "Just So If that locomotive hid been
of honest iron and steel 1t never co}ld have
| jumped that switch as ii did"
;, "Did you set the switch agaih9"
| "No, ! hadn't timc, for just as II reached
1t | heard q train coihing, and hy ears
were pierced by the shrlllest whist 3 that
| ever heard. (Mind, that switch Wis set to
send train upon the. side track, Don't
forget that; While ! was RuzAfing my
headlight throw its reflection 'gponblc Il
forgot to say that the switch Was j,bt above
acurve), and 1 saw. ano her black drapcd
locomotive. It was not going ds f$t as'Che
I frat hit ttyaa max nd what Suad fllIod ~ :