Ghost Stories from the Archives: A Haunted Railway

Some sensation has been aroused among the residents of a locality intersected by the main line of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway at Sittingbourne by the strange story that a level crossing that spot is haunted by ghosts.

The tale goes that at the witching hour of midnight a person has appeared on the line, where the apparition is said to take its ghostly walk, heedless of passing trains.

Of recent years the level crossing which used to exist at the spot has proved a veritable deathtrap to several persons, and in consequence of the numerous fatalities a foot-bridge has replaced the crossing.

It is actually alleged that the spirit of one of the victims now haunts the crossing, and numbers of people who reside in the immediate vicinity may be seen out of doors at night time, waiting for the apparition.

The rumours arise, no doubt, from the fact that a few days since, as a goods train was passing the spot, at about 2 a.m., the driver thought he saw someone on the line, and he believed that he had run over the person.

The train was brought to a standstill and a search made, but no one was to be found. The driver is credited with the belief that the apparition foretells impending danger.

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