06/30/2022
Spooky 👻
July 15th, 2022 is FULL/Registration is closed.
Occasionally the roar of wheels to rail and the mournful cry of a train horn fill the air on the old Baltimore and Ohio tracks between Zaleski and Athens, Ohio. Yet, locomotives have not run the nearby rails in over thirty years. The sounds are explained as this:
In the 1800s, the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad ran through southeastern Ohio and past the many small mining communities like Ingham Station, Moonville, and Kings Station. The route passed through Ohio’s wildest terrains and had many dark tunnels cut through hillsides and tall trestles built over waterways. Both eastbound and westbound trains shared a single track with passing areas. Such, parallel to the tracks were telegraph lines so dispatchers could send messages of the times of approaching trains to allow one locomotive to pull to the side at specific points (those passing areas) so the other could go by. Unfortunately, communications were not always successful.
Theodore Lawhead was an engineer for the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad company. One November night in 1880, while Engineer Lawhead was heading through southern Ohio, the dispatch failed to notify the eastbound train of the westbound’s route and time. As a result, the two collided near Moonville Tunnel, and Lawhead and his fireman were killed. After the wreck, many of the conductors feared going along that stretch of the railroad as it was haunted by the dead engineer. They said they would see the flicker of lantern light when they came along a certain section of the tracks near the tunnel in Moonville. As they got closer, a robed figure with red glowing eyes would join the glimmer of lantern light and step out toward the train before vanishing.
The Marietta and Cincinnati would later become a part of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad system but engineers still complained of being flagged by the ghost of Lawhead. After trains stopped running on the tracks in the 1980s, those who followed the abandoned path were sometimes startled to hear a locomotive off in the distance working fast and furious toward them. Only moments later, a great gust of wind would surround them as if a train was grinding past. Then it disappeared as if never there at all.
You might be able to see a ghost or hear a phantom train. You can explore Moonville Tunnel and its stories. It is part of the Moonville Rail Trail, and I will hike it on the full moon evenings of Wednesday, July 13th, 2022, and Friday, July 15th, 2022, at 8:30 p.m. from Moonville town proper to Bear Hollow if you want to come along. The hike is free. It is a little over a mile one way, a total of 2 miles on an easy, flat gravel railroad bed. It takes about 30 minutes to hike one way at a leisurely pace. After, I’ll bring some basic ghost hunting equipment so you can try a little ghost hunting in the tunnel.
It may be hot and runs near standing water, so wear insect-protective clothing and/or bug spray, and comfortable shoes or boots. I cannot stress enough that the land around Moonville is full of marshy areas with tons of mosquitos! Bring water and a flashlight or cell phone for light. There are no restrooms. Please check https://www.facebook.com/ohioghoststories/ on FB before coming for weather/flooding or other updates. And I will have some Moonville books available for purchase for ten bucks a piece but bring cash. There is no ATM or cell phone service.
If you are hungry for a bite to eat before you come, just about five minutes from the tunnel is the Lady Buck Saloon, open until around 9:00 p.m. Lake Hope Lodge, about 15 minutes away, also offers food and is open to around 8:00 p.m. Please check the current times for both.
Moonville Tunnel Parking Lot: Meeting Area
Moonville Rail Trail, New Marshfield, OH 45766
39.308336, -82.324526
https://goo.gl/maps/99foimRvB5t5Cp158
Please RSVP me at [email protected] or message me here on FB if coming. Fill out the Hike Waiver form on https://www.21crows.com and bring it with you to the hike. I will also bring a limited number of waivers with me if you have difficulties printing them!
The Rail Trail Association which cares for the trail has concerns about wheelchair access due to the storms that have occurred recently and have caused some drainage issues on the far side of the tunnel. Fixing the issues is in the works, but will probably not be accomplished before the hike. For those with special mobility questions, please contact me at [email protected]. If I get enough requests for a wheelchair hike, I will see if I can offer another at this tunnel.
