I lived in the south where tails are rich in folklore. There is one my aunt use to swear by that really interested me. She lived in a small coastal town in South Carolina about 20 miles from Savanna Georgia. She lived in a old southern home that was huge three stories. The house was situated about 100 yards from the railroad tracks. My brother and I use to be able to find old civil-War Bullets in the area when we would visit. We spent hours in the fields hunting them up and collecting them. But she would tell us a story that would always run chills up our backs. This story took place when my mother and my Aunt were about 14 years old. On a Warm summers night around 9 pm they would hear the train whistle it was at that time they knew they could go down to the tracks and see the train. This was during the time of the old Steam Locomotives. She said this night was different because they could not hear the Engine coming but they could hear the whistle. My Aunt said she approached the tracks to look and see if she could see it coming. There was nothing on the tracks. But she did see a Red Light swinging back and forth from left to right. At first she thought it may have been a Train Conductor but she realized she could see the Lights from town all around the light as it swung back and forth. No one was holding the light. They both heard the train whistle again still no train. Both girls where frighten and ran back to the house.

That night as they slept they were waken by the sound of a train then a loud thunder like sound. Every one In the house was waken up by the sound. My Grandfather rushed out the door with a Light and headed towards the tracks. My Mother and my Aunt followed when they got to the tracks there was nothing to be found. She said the three of them just stood on the side of the tracks listening and waiting to see a train or something. As they turned and started back to the house my Grandfather said wait what is that. My Aunt told him they saw the light earlier and thought it may have been a conductor from the 9pm train that never showed up. My Grandfather started walking down the tracks towards the light my Mother and Aunt followed. As they got closer to the light it started to get dimmer once they got to the area of the light it was gone completely. My Aunt told me my Grandfather held up his Lantern to shine the light in the area and saw blood on the side of the tracks. He look over on the side and saw a body of a man that appeared to have fallen from a train or hit by a train. The man was wearing a train conductors uniform.

They went back to the house and called the local police they arrived and my Grandfather took them to the location where he found the body. When they got there they could not find the body laying on the side of the tracks. My Grandfather insisted that their was a body and that the man was dead. The only thing the police could think of was that he may not have been dead and was unconscious when we found him. But the odd thing was that the blood was gone too! It was told to my Grandfather that the 9pm train wrecked about 5 miles out side of Savanna around 8pm as it was crossing a bridge. That is why my Aunt and my Mother never saw the train.

To this day it is said that on a warm July night you can hear a faint train whistle and see a red dim light swinging down the old abandon tracks.