Ghost Train

From the Creepy Cleveland Archives
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Contributed by Steve

I have been to Rouge's Hollow. My god, It was 17 years ago. My aunt and a friend of hers took us all when we were about 16 years old. This is a place they used to go to get spooked when they were our age. I remember the ride down there, It all seemed harmless and really.......... we were not expecting to see anything at all. Us kids were more interested in the road trip more than anything. We went in two car loads so you can imagine the fun we were having on the CB. It was near Halloween so we were telling ghost stories that we got out of a "Haunted Ohio" book but when we told them we made it sound as if we were there first hand! My aunt was telling us about the Rouges Hallow and some of the stories that happened. She was telling us about the "Ghost Train" and how it derailed some time ago. She did not believe the story about the train, she was more interested in taking us to a place where a man lost his head near the rail road tracks some where inside of Rouges Hallow. I guess there is a plaque of some sort along side of the tracks in his memory and to what happened there. She told us that some nights he wanders and you can actually see a man walking around with out his head. Now we were starting to get spooked our selves. When we finally got to the town we must of driven every where TWICE!! We could not find out destination and the we got a flat tire. It must have been between 1:30-2:00 a.m. in the middle of no where with no lights and nobody wanting to get out of the car to change the tire. Well we finally decided that we would ALL get out of the car together and change the tire. It must have looked real funny to see 11 people out changing one flat tire. After the tire change we all decide to hit the road and go home. All of us were upset that we did not get to see a man running around with out a head. When we turned back to go home my aunt was telling us that we were real close to our destination but could not remember the exact names of the streets. She also said that local authorities had taken down some street signs to confuse outsiders on how to get there. We were approaching a rail road crossing when all of a sudden we heard a loud roar to our right, we looked and there it was the "Ghost Train" rolling down the tracks. We were all shouting with excitement and really........we could not believe it. It was an a old steam train (the loudest I've ever heard) it had no front light and was not pulling a single car. The whistle had blown 2 or 3 times and then passed us shaking both cars!! Then it was gone like it vanished right in front of us. It was so unbelievable and not a soul believed us when we had told our stories to others, but it had happened all right in front of us. We said that someday we would all go back with a detailed map so we could find exactly where the hobo had lost his head but we had never found the time. Now when we hear of Rouge's Hollow...........we'll always have the train!!!