My current home doesn't seem to have any resident ghosties, but I do have a bit of a mystery here that I find kinda interesting.

This is in a very rural area. Our nearest neighbor is probably a 1/2 mile away -- this is really the sticks. However, 100 years or so ago, this was a thriving little sawmill community, with stores and a railroad track running through it. The track actually would have gone through the back of our property.

Now, here is the odd part: My husband, who has lived on this piece of land for 25 years has heard the sound of a train on a few occasions while out in the yard. Normally, we would chalk this up to being the sound of a distant train, but the nearest track is about 30 miles away.

Just the other week, I was in our bedroom and could hear the sound in the wee hours of the morning. It sounded just like a train was passing through.

I guess this could be some sort of trick of the wind, but I've lived near railroad tracks, and this sure sounds like a train to me. This doesn't happen often -- James says he's only heard it just a couple of times in the years he's lived here. I was so surprised when I heard it, I didn't even think to look outside, and I could just kick myself for that! Anyone ever have anything similar?

Wow, cool! It sounds to me like you have a ghost train, or an imprint at the very least. Maybe you should note the days/times that you hear it and see if there's a pattern. Then set up an audio, or better yet, video recorder to see if you capture anything.

How loud is it when you hear it? Distant sounding, or loud and close by?

Carrie, that is just too cool! I agree with Kevin, it definitely sounds like a ghost train or some kind of imprint that was left behind, which I suppose would be the same thing.

Is this the first time that you've heard it? I also agree that if you continue to hear it, to take note of the day and time to see if there is any pattern.

Didn't you say in another post that there are stories of a ghost light at the railroad tracks? Maybe there is some correlation between the two.

Definitely keep that camera ready if you hear it again!

[ April 11, 2005, 07:40 AM: Message edited by: Trinity ]

Kevin, the sound is actually fairly loud. I even considered it being a car from the highway, but I've never heard one sound quite like that, and the sound was definitely coming from the back of the property in the vicinity of where the old tracks are. I've lived just across the street from some tracks before, and remember how trains would vibrate the house. This sound was just as loud, although nothing in the house seemed to be vibrating.

Trin, this was the first time I've heard it. James as well as his father has heard it several times over the years, but it doesn't happen often. This time it took me by surprise. I've got to keep a camera more available for things like this. I had a tape recorder in the other room, if I had just had presence of mind to think about it. My mind was so busy trying to figure out a logical source of the sound that I wasted the opportunity to get a recording or pic.

The previous post you are thinking of is the one about the Bragg Road in Saratoga, Texas. That would probably be about 20 miles away from us. Those tracks no longer exist either, but people have claimed to see a mysterious light. I'll have to check with hubby to see if those tracks could have been connected. There are numerous versions regarding the legends of the Saratoga light -- oddly enough, I've run across one that involves what would have been a distant relative of mine as the ghostly source of the light.

I'm hoping I hear it again sometime and can record it and snap some pics!

Hi Carrie:

I was wondering if train tracks may have ever ran through that area? Sounds like an imprint or perhaps a bleed-through... If you hear it again it sure would be neat to try and capture it with a camcorder or something. That's really interesting.

Hi Carrie,

That is really neat. Given there are old tracks in the area that the sound was coming from and the fact that you are 30 miles from the nearest active tracks it may well have been a ghost train you heard. Seeing there were even tracks at one time in your backyard it's also possible that it's coming from tracks that no longer exist. I'm not sure about an imprint though as from info I've read about them they are usually associated with a very dramatic event and are seen or experienced over and over as the energy that created them remains and even builds. Do you know if there was a traumatic event involving a train in that area at one time? Given James has lived there 25yrs and has only heard it a few times that also leads me to thinking more towards ghost train then imprint.

It's to bad you didn't have a chance to grab that recorder or camera but hopefully you will hear it again and be able to capture the sound/pics. It would also be interesting to know if any of your neighbours who are also in the vicinity of the tracks have ever heard the same sounds. =)

I don't know of any specific things involving the train, but in sawmill communities of that era, there were always accidents. It makes me wonder if someone could have been run over, or could there have been some sort of derailment. I don't know if any of the neighbors have ever heard it or not, but James' father has. My inlaws are our closest neighbors, living about 100 yards away. My father in law is a local historian. He's pretty tight lipped (as are most of the people around here) about the paranormal, but I'm betting that James or I can question him up as to whether there is any documentation of some sort of accident regarding the train that ran through here.

The Big Thicket is a mysterious area. People have claimed to see all sorts of things in the region, and just about everyone has a weird story -- lots of UFO sightings, their own version of Bigfoot, etc... I guess a ghost train would fit right in! Seriously, walking out into some of the woods out here, you do get an eerie feeling, but not in a bad way. Almost like you've stepped into some place that isn't entirely your own. It is an interesting area.