For those who’re Hispanic, then you’ll be able to empathize with the childhood trauma I nonetheless have from being scared into submission by the threats hurled by my grandmother about El Cucuy — principally, that she would come and whisk me away if I didn’t hearken to her. Then, once I was slightly older, tales of La Llorona made me cease choosing on my brother and clear my room till it was so spotless that you simply’d assume monks lived there. In my teenage years, I graduated to inciting slightly worry into my very own life by cajoling my mates in inappropriate slumber social gathering video games like Gentle as a Feather, Bloody Mary, or asking the Ouija board for the names of our future husbands.
Now that I’m a mom, I don’t make use of the identical worry ways, however you’ll be able to wager I’ll nonetheless brag to my sons about San Antonio’s personal spooky tales throughout our marathon viewings of Ghost Hunters. For those who’re from San Antonio, there’s an excellent likelihood you grew up listening to the story in regards to the haunted railroad tracks on 2012 Shane Street, simply south of San Antonio. For those who Google “Haunted Practice Monitor” or “Ghost Tracks,” you’ll discover that this distinctive phenomena has its personal web site, together with some respectable Google critiques.
The tragic occasion is alleged to have occurred within the late Forties, when a faculty bus touring down Shane Street on a darkish and wet day stalled over the railroad monitor. A prepare was heading towards the varsity bus at full velocity, and in response to legend, its engineer tried to cease by slamming on the brakes, in addition to blowing the whistle to alert the bus to its presence. But it surely was too late. The bus driver, unable to restart the bus, desperately tried to get the kids off the bus on the final second, when the prepare hit at full velocity, killing him and all ten youngsters.
In keeping with legend, when you settle your automobile over the tracks and put it in impartial, the ghosts of the kids who perished within the accident will push your automobile off the tracks to security. Guests to the positioning report that their vehicles do actually roll off the monitor and again to security. Some folks go so far as dusting talcum powder on the trunks of their vehicles, and have reported seeing tiny hand prints within the mud. Opinions are full of individuals who report that the ghosts are actual, and that a large number of spooky issues occur if you go on or close to the tracks.
Curious in regards to the story, I attempted it out for myself a couple of years again, within the night (in fact) as a result of I’m a sucker for an excellent scare. With the automobile stereo blaring scary tales from a podcast, I made the 30-minute trek to the opposite facet of city till I reached the tracks on Shane Street. It was nightfall, a bit windy, and there was nobody else round. Did I mud my again bumper and trunk with talcum powder? In fact not! I didn’t have any. As a substitute — don’t snicker! — I used pancake combine. I can safely say that I’ve by no means felt so scared and silly on the identical time.
I rolled my automobile over the railroad tracks at a snail’s tempo. I ended proper when my automobile was in the midst of the tracks and did because the story says to do: I positioned my automobile in impartial, then waited. And waited. It was a bit ominous as a result of there was no one else round. I had learn that this place will get fairly busy, particularly within the month of October. However there I sat, and nothing was taking place. Immediately, from nowhere, I started to listen to tiny faucets all around the sides of my automobile. I lowered the amount on the automobile stereo and listened once more.
Gentle sounds tap-danced alongside the perimeters of my automobile. My coronary heart started to race as I checked to verify my doorways had been locked. I peered into my rear view mirror and noticed nothing. Gripping my steering wheel, I then appeared out in entrance of me via the huge glass and seen that the wind had been blowing mild mud and particles round. With a sigh of reduction and one other bout of feeling absurd, I made a decision to attend one other 5 minutes.
And what occurred?
Nothing. Nothing occurred.
And so what?! I used to be held captive, if just for quarter-hour, by the lively creativeness of a 40-something-year-old who has liked horror films and Steven King books since she was a child. It was thrilling—thrilling, even! I’d do it once more if I may. Sadly, the notorious prepare tracks have since misplaced a few of their luster, as development on Shane Street modified the panorama of the tracks in 2018.
On the lengthy drive house, I received to eager about how this story got here to go. In any case, there isn’t any file of a faculty bus ever entering into an accident on these railroad tracks on Shane Street, nor on another tracks or roads right here in San Antonio. Native residents and officers have debunked this story time and time once more, and but guests from all around the world come to the tracks to be “rescued” by the little ghosts. So the place did this story come from?
On December 2, 1938, an image appeared on the entrance web page of the now defunct San Antonio Gentle, together with the headline, 26 Kids Killed When Quick Freight Practice Crushes College Bus. The image depicted a mangled freight prepare with the remnants of a faculty bus scattered about. The caption learn:
“The automobile carrying 40 occupants was struck by the dashing locomotive 10 miles south of Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah, crumpling it like tin foil.”
May this story, featured in our native newspaper over eight years in the past, have been the catalyst for the wildly standard spooky story we proceed to listen to to at the present time? Effectively, possibly.
Possibly it’s not about whether or not the story of the railroad tracks is true or not. Possibly it’s that as people, on some degree, we need to join with the combat or flight intuition that we’re born with. Possibly the sensations of a racing coronary heart coupled with not realizing what occurs subsequent, the worry and pleasure, the joys and adrenaline rush, assist us really feel extra alive.
No matter your causes are for liking an excellent, old style spooky story, the Ghost Tracks of Shane Street don’t disappoint! You’ll study extra about this story, and the various haunted historical past of San Antonio, on one of many family-friendly ghost excursions accessible within the Alamo Metropolis. So embrace the spooky season, and study extra about your metropolis within the course of.
This publish was authentic written in 2019, and has been up to date in 2024.
