True Ghost story

The Ghost Train

This is the time of years where people search for, or tell of Haunting stories.

Some of it are fun and exciting while others are simply baffling.

I want to share a true haunting story that I can't explain-I can only repeat it from a first person point of view. Why first person? Because this is my real life story.

Back in the year 1999, the season was Summer, I remember that because it was warm enough to sleep with the upstairs bedrooms open during the night to enjoy some of the summer breezes. While my husband and young boys slept, I was also sleeping because this thing I'm about to tell you, took place in the middle of the night.

I want to tell you a little bit about the area where we lived at that time. Before we moved to South Elgin, the entire area was farmland sitting apparently, on prime property. You know the drill when that happens. Land developers decide to cut down all of the corn, and faming lands to build subdivisions all over with a few businesses to round everything out. My husband and I purchased our new home from one of those new constructed homes subdivisions and life was wonderful. We knew all of our neighbor because we all moved to the area at the same time, and we grew as a family neighborhood. By the time, we'd lived there four years, we were used to every sound, every neighbor's routines, their children, and most of the kids were six years old and under, and just our surroundings until one night.

Approximately 2:00 a.m., everyone in the house was sound sleep, including me until a couple of dogs began to bark. Mothers with young children in the house are notoriously, easily awaken at night. No big deal at first, until a few more joined in. That caught my attention, because remember that part where I said I'd gotten used to my neighbors, which included their pets. Most of the pets in my neighborhood were indoor pets once the owners went inside for the night. We usually never heard one dog barking, nevertheless several past 10:00 p.m. As I listened, more and more dogs began to howl, as if there were groups of people blowing dog whistles at the same time. Seriously, I didn't even think there were that many dogs in our neighborhood or even the surrounding ones. And really, why would they all be outside at 2:00 a.m.? Needles to say that, now, I'm really paying attention thinking to myself that this is just weird.

Off in the distance, I hear the freight train coming. The train tracks are about 10 miles from our home and sometimes on a still and quiet night, you can hear it in the distance passing by.

This particular night, I could hear the train rolling by, except this time, it sounded to be a mile away. I know that everyone is asleep so as I lay there listening to hundreds of dogs barking and/or howling, I'm now listening to this freight train pass by.

It's gets weirder. This "Freight train, that's passing by in the distance sounds like there are a bunch of people having a party on it. I could hear laughing, and talking and music. The tone was definitely one of a group of people having a really fun time, at 2 a.m. on a commuter train that wasn't a commuter train, but in reality a freight/cargo train, but wasn't really a mile away but several miles away, that wasn't at night but in the middle of the morning. Where could that train possibly be going at that time?

While I laid there unbelieving this with my ears, and it making no sense, the train, with the loud voices, and laughter and music, started to slowly drift away. And after the train passed, the dogs, simmered down until there were no more barks. The night became a still summer night again.

The following morning, I told my neighbor about what I had experienced and she told me she didn't hear it and that her dog was in the house all night.

I know she looked at me with skepticism but she knew me well enough to know that I wouldn't have made that up.

A few months later, Sandy approached me and said, "I heard it. It woke me up." She explained that she had gotten out of bed to see where the dog barking came from and she couldn't understand the voices she heard or the train sound because no one ever rides those.

I couldn't find anything in my search on a Ghost Party train ever riding through town and I never heard it again.

That is my true life, actuall event of what I have since called "The Ghost Party Train".