Ghost Train
The funeral train with Abraham Lincoln's Ghost!

YOUR REAL GHOST STORIES AND QUESTIONS:

The strangest experience of my life happened when my wife and I were staying in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Tamil Tiger terrorists were active at the time and we were advised by our hotelier not to go out after curfew and avoid the beach in particular. But one night we had a problem getting back and in order to avoid the beach we had to take a route along the railway line.

The old steam trains normally made quite a racket- you could hear them hissing and clanking from miles away. I noticed a bright light behind us. Assuming that a train was coming I quickly pulled my wife away from the rails as a large train brushed by, almost touching us.

Even though it was an old steam train it was totally silent- not quiet, it was totally silent. The steam, the wheels, the carriages made not a single sound. We were so close that we could also see that the train had no driver, no passengers and no guard.

I'm a skeptical man- I was trained in the navy and have worked as a counselor- so I went next morning to ask the stationmaster about the incident. He insisted that no trains passed that way at the times I said. And he added that the track where we had walked had been the site of a number of fatal train disasters!

Did we see a ghost train? My wife thinks that if we had stayed put it would have passed right through us. What do you think?

John & Elsie S

© Copyright Craig Hamilton-Parker

You certainty wouldn't be the first to see a ghost train. One of the most famous has been seen by hundreds of people at Illinois in America. When president Abraham Lincoln, who openly held seances in the White House, died in 1865 his body was transported for burial on a special funeral train. Now every year on the anniversary his ghost train is seen slowly driving down the tracks. It is said to be manned by skeletons with an entourage of blue-coated men walking behind.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S FUNERAL TRAIN

Soon after his assassination the body of President Abraham Lincoln, together with the exhumed remains of his son Willie, were transported by railroad from Washington to Illinois for burial. The train made several stops on route to allow the Nation to honour their president. Many people reported that their clocks stopped when the Lincoln Special passed their town. It is also said that all the clocks in the area stop while the train passes by.

Abraham's funeral train was called The Lincoln Special After the final phase of the train's journey mourners report seeing the ghostly spectre of The Lincoln Special still smoking through through Urbana.The train was manned by a team of skeletons and halfway back in the train could be seen Lincoln's coffin again surrounded by skeletons dressed in Union blue. Citizens of Urbana and Piqua have also had ghostly sightings and have claimed to see a ghostly train and even heard it whistle and seen the train's smoke.

Lincoln's ghost has also been seen, together with his son, Willie, at the White House. For more stories of famous ghosts please visit our Celebrity Ghost section.