The maco lights

For over a century, mysterious lights were seen bobbing up and down
along the railroad tracks near Maco Station, a few miles west of
Wilmington. When anyone approached the lights, they would disappear. The
 lights were observed many times over many years, and even photographed
on occasion. It's even said that President Grover Cleveland saw the
lights while on a whistle stop tour in 1889. The source of these lights
has never been determined, but according to legend the light is the
ghost of a railroad worker who died on the tracks one night in 1867.

On that tragic night in 1867, a train was rolling along the tracks
and the signalman, Joe Baldwin, was sleeping in the caboose. Joe's
slumber was broken by a violent jerk. A veteran railroad worker, Joe
Baldwin recognized the motion and immediately knew that the caboose had
become detached from the rest of the train.

Joe Baldwin's heart started racing. He knew that his one car was now
stuck on the tracks, and that the main part of the train was rapidly
moving away from him and he had no way of contacting it. Joe also knew
that his wasn't the only train scheduled for those tracks that night. A
passenger train was due along soon, and if the oncoming train struck the
 stalled caboose there would be a horrible accident.

Joe Baldwin had a choice to make. He knew that he had to signal the
oncoming train to stop. He knew that the only way to do this and be sure
 the engineer in the approaching train would see the signal was to stand
 on the platform at the back of the caboose.

Joe Baldwin knew that if the oncoming train hit the stalled caboose
at full speed, everyone on board the passenger train could die. He also
knew that it takes a long time to stop a speeding train. Even if the
engineer saw the light and stopped, there wouldn't be time enough to
slow down and prevent a complete disaster. The chances were good that
the caboose was still about to be hit. And if he was on that caboose
when that happened, Baldwin knew he didn't stand much of a chance of
walking away from that crash. He could either save his own life, or try
desperately to save the lives of those passengers.

Baldwin made the heroic choice. Grabbing his lantern, Joe Baldwin
stood on the back of the caboose as the sound of an oncoming passenger
train rumbled closer. Joe frantically waved his warning light, trying to
 catch the attention of the engineer.

Joe's plan worked. The engineer of the oncoming train saw the light
and pulled hard on his brakes. But the momentum of the tons of speeding
steel kept the train moving, and the locomotive slammed into Joe's
caboose. Joe's bravery saved many lives. But not his own. Joe Baldwin
was decapitated in the crash.

Joe's head was thrown by the force of the accident into the murky
swamps that surrounded the tracks. It was never found. His headless body
 was buried with hero's honors a week later.

For years after that accident, lights were seen moving up and
down the track around Maco. Sometimes only one light, sometimes two.
People said that it was the ghost of Joe Baldwin, still searching for
his missing head.

## A Note About the Story

The Maco light was seen for over 100 years, but has not been seen
since 1977. This was the year that the railroad tracks at Maco station
were pulled up. Many explanations have been offered for the mysterious
slights, including one intriguing geological possibility. Maco stands on
 top of a geological fault line. Some have speculated that the source of
 the lights was static electricity produced by the pressures of this
fault building up along the tracks, and discharging as light when the
tracks reached their capacity. This would explain why the lights haven't
 been seen since the tracks were pulled up in 1984.