Sunday, September 12, 2010

The Abandoned Train Station

There is a chance that while on a railway journey cross-country, you will pass a darkened station; the platform will look as if it has been deserted for years. The train will have to slow down due to the condition of the tracks but it will not stop. There are some conductors who will go much faster than they should just to get past the station, causing the train to feel as if it will shake apart.

If you ask one of the personnel on the train about the station they will tell you not to worry about it and to go back to your seat. If you ask a second time, you and all your things will be unceremoniously dumped at the next station whether it is your destination or not. There, you can wait for as much as a day for another train to come by.

There have been a few curious folks who have made the five mile long walk down the side of the tracks to see this abandoned station for themselves. No one knows what happens when they get here. Some are never seen or heard from again and others jump onto the tracks in the path of the next oncoming train.

The only thing of any interest ever to happen along those tracks was back in the early 1900s when a train headed west derailed near that abandoned station, killing sixty-one people on board and injuring others. The incident was blamed on conductor error and on the fact that the rails were misaligned due to shifting of the ground after a heavy rain storn.

There is no known connection between the derailment over one hundred years ago and the events that surround the area today.

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