CSX-B&O Moonville tunnel - Trains Magazine
ValleyX
Kevin, seek out the B&OSW group on Yahoo and post your questions on there, I daresay someone will have answers and if you search the group, there are already Moonville postings. I had thought the (alleged) ghost at Moonville had died much earlier than 1912, back in the early days of the Marietta and Cincinnati.
I'll definitely check out that group. Thanks for the tip!
And, yes, the ghost at Moonville (the one with the lantern) was spotted as early as 1894. The accident from 1912 that I mentioned is one of 22 deaths that occurred in or near Moonville that I was able to find that was not related to "natural" causes like heart attack, illness, etc.
1859 - Brakeman falls from train and is killed
18?? - Mine worker killed in explosion
1873 - Brakeman crushed between train cars
1873 - Woman killed by train while walking on tracks
1876 - Brakeman killed
1876 - 13 year old boy killed when jumping from train and losing leg
1880 - Man killed when jumping from train and being flung into a post
1880 - Engineer and fireman killed in headon crash between two freight trains
1884 - Brakeman killed
1886 - Man murdered on tracks after bar fight
1900 - 4 year old boy choked to death on a .22 cartridge
1905 - Woman hit by train on trestle
19?? - Man hit and killed by train
1907 - Man killed after hopping freight train and falling off
1910 - 6 year old girl died after a hot cup of coffee was spilled down her back
1912 - Man killed after walking across tracks after a train passed, not seeing the rear cars of the train that had broken loose from the rest of the train
1920 - Miner returning home killed by train in tunnel
1936 - Man murdered at inn
1938 - Engineer killed when freight train hit a rock slide
1945 - Railroad worker killed on trestle when a load of ties shifted and killed him
1986 - 10 year old girl killed by train on trestle
Keep in mind that the town was started around 1856 when the Marietta and Cincinnati was building west. The last family moved out in 1947 with the buildings being torn down in the 1960s. The town was quite remote, and often people would walk the tracks to get to the next town, which would explain why, except for the 1986 incident, the accidents stopped when the town disappeared.
Kevin
