I have a few TARDIS pages here and there at BromBonesBooks.com. The acronym stands for Trusted Archival Research Documents in Sequence, and these are chronologies exploring various topics. My latest involves a railroad haunting known as the Lincoln Funeral Ghost Train, named for an elaborate 1865 train trip carrying the body of Abraham Lincoln from Washington DC, where he was assassinated, to Springfield, Illinois, where he was laid to rest. The route was far from direct, crossing seven states. And it was far from quick, taking twelve days. This was so as many people as possible—well, as many northerners as possible—could pay their last respects to the beloved President.
In the early 1870s, a ghostly reenactment of the railroad journey was reported in newspapers across the United States and the United Kingdom. Now, though, skeletons rode onboard, a multitude of ethereal Union soldiers floated behind the train, and watches and clocks stopped as the phantom cars passes. Additional sightings or, at least, creative variations on the original tale slowly popped up in publications afterward.
I’ve been hesitant to research this case because of its breadth—does the ghost train manifest anywhere along the route of some 1,650 miles? I can give specifics about the route the original, physical train traveled—but is it wise to suggest the ghost train continues to appear along any of these tracks (assuming the phenomena and the rails themselves remain)? On the plus side, this is an old-fashioned anniversary ghost, meaning it materializes on the same month and day as the journey it echoes. While it’s tough to pinpoint where to investigate the haunting, at least we have a pretty good idea of when to do so.
Despite the complications, it strikes me that my Railroad Hauntings You Can Still Visit project would be lacking without a look at this famous case. For that reason, I’ve started a TARDIS page, a timetable charting its history. It’s still in the early stages, but you can see what I have so far here.
—Tim
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