The Bad News
An article titled “A Ghost by Daylight” was printed in the November 29, 1893, issue of the Pine Bluff Daily Graphic, an Arkansas newspaper. I’ve found the piece published elsewhere, too, and there’s a transcription of it from a Tennessee paper here. It’s an intriguing report about a ghost — headless and seen in daylight! — manifesting on the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis line, a bit east of Burns, Tennessee. Unfortunately, there’s only one witness named. While that witness, Mr. Terrell, tells us that others confirmed what he had seen, we’re forced to trust him on that.
Furthermore, I haven’t been able to find much at all to explain why a headless ghost would manifest at that particular rural spot. Terrell ends his statement by offering three possibilities:
McNairy cut has been been haunted for years. It was here that, during the late war, the noted bushwhacker, [Alexander D.] McNairy, committed many bloody deeds. Two trains collided here and the engineer, named Johnson, was caught between the engines and his body scalded and cut from his lower limbs, and lifted from the roasting fire, only in time to see him die, by Dr. Anderson. It was here, also, that an unknown negro was murdered a short while ago.
I’ve found information on McNairy’s sabotaging the railroad and killing at least one man — but nothing on his having beheaded anyone. I also haven’t located anything to confirm the engineer’s loss of lower limbs or an unknown man being murdered there.
The Good News
That said, Terrell’s report is tantalizing — if disturbing — in his description of the apparition:
A thrill of horror crept over me as I beheld it move aimless about ā a man without a head. The bleeding neck appeared as if it had been severed with a sword, while the arteries and veins constantly blubbered and spurted bloodstained foam.
Yeesch! I’ve read a lot of these newspaper ghost reports from the 1800s, but I can’t remember one being quite this grisly!
In addition, Terrell’s account is very specific on the location of his encounter: “a sag just beyond the noted McNairy cut, about a mile east of Burns Station….” (Though the map linked here says “McNair Cut,” this 1916 article suggests that “McNairy Cut” is more accurate or what the place had been called previously. It also suggests the “sag” has been filled and the tracks modified a bit.) TN-47 runs parallel to the tracks, and this might facilitate paranormal investigators wishing to safely explore the stretch of tracks alleged to have been haunted.
Even Better News
The tracks near McNairy’s Cut might be only one stop on a ghost hunting expedition to Burns. The place is something of a paranormal/cryptozoology hot spot! Just to the northeast is Montgomery Bell State Park, where some say a werewolf or two prowl. (Maybe at a later time, I’ll look into the circus-train accident from which the creatures are said to have escaped.) Travel further east along US-70, and listen for the White Bluffs Screamer. Is it a banshee? A exasperated Bigfoot? A fox during mating season? Well, it deserves a hearing.
If you’re looking for something less ghostly and more iron horsey, take TN-47 about five miles northwest from Burns to Dickson. There, you’ll find the Clement Railroad Hotel Museum along with its Train Room and Dickson Model Railroad Display. Before you head up there, however, take note that even the name of the town itself reflects a railroad heritage: Burns, Tennessee, was named for Michael Burns, President of the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad.
Whether you visit for the headless ghost, the escaped werewolves, the spooky screamer, or the railroad history, please let us know about your experiences in the comments below.
Discover more āRailroad Hauntings You Can Still Visitā at the page for
After the End of the Line: Railroad Hauntings in Literature and Lore.
BROM BONES BOOKS 