On January 23, i left to visit one of my favorite haunted sites of all: the Chapel Hill railroad. The legend goes like this:
...long ago an aging signal man along the tracks was killed during a dark and rainy night. He had carried a bright lantern which could be seen for miles up the tracks. As he walked the tracks, he accidently tripped. His head hit the rail, and he was knocked uncouncious. He lay on the track for a few minutes, until along came a train. Unable to stop in time, the train ran over the man, decapitating him.When they found his body, they say, it was still mostly intact. Except for one part, that is: his head. It was never found. To this day, according to legend, he still walks the tracks, carrying his lantern, as he searches for his lost head. The validity of this tale is unknown. However, hundreds have witnessed the light. This was my third trip to the town of Chapel Hill (the previous two being about three years ago while I was living in Lebanon). During both these visits, I was able to catch a glimpse of the phantom light. Again this time, the light failed to disapoint.We rolled into Chapel Hill around 8:15 CST. It was not dark enough then, so we killed a little time by visiting the Nathan Bedford Forrest memorial and exploring town (which didn't take long). Around 8:50, we returned to the railroad crossing. After waiting a few minutes, we saw the light. It appeared low, close to the track, and then high above it. It seemed to cross the track, then reappeared and seemed to move towards us. What it is, I do not know. Other than orbs and "bad vibes," this is the only real experience I've had with an "actual ghost." After about 15 minutes or so, we moved on. About two hours later, we returned again, and caught a few sightinngs of it, but it was not nearly as spectacular as before.I used my digital camera to videotape the area, but unfortunately I was unable to get the light on film. It was too far down the track and would require a more powerful camera than I have. I did take these pictures, which do not show the light, but do give a gooid feel of the area it "inhabits."