San Antonio: Ghost Railroad Children

This legend is by far one of Texas’ favorite ghost tales. It is so popular some even state they wish it were true. Most people interested in ghosts have heard at least one version of this story. 

What many don’t know is that versions of this story are told in several locations around the United States. San Antonio’s version is a part of a subset of ghost stories known as “Gravity Hill” tales.

It is stated that this story happened in the 1930s. The basic premise is that a school bus with ten children stalled south of San Antonio on a railroad track. Before the bus driver could get the children off the bus a speeding train smashed into it killing all on board. It is stated that these child spirits linger at the spot where they died.

The story goes on to state these ghost children not wanting others to experience their tragic fate make sure that cars cross this railroad track safely. How they do this is by pushing any cars that are stopped near these tracks across to the other side. 

This particular version is unique in that it involves hundreds of people who have parked their cars near this intersection to see if this legend is actually true. *

Some walk away as believers after they test this legend. This is not surprising because whether cars are running or their engines are off if they are put in neutral they do move up and across these tracks often gaining speed as they go. 

People are mystified because their cars not only move on their own but it also appears as if they are going up hill. Some witneses have even put balls on Shane Road-- they also appear to roll up hill. But this is actually just an optical illusion.

It does appear this road goes up hill.

Another aspect to this story is that many witnesses have put baby powder on their bumpers and trunks or they basically just have dusty cars. It is stated that after their cars stop on the other side they often find small finger or handprints within this dust. 

These prints are pointed to as proof these ghost children pushed their cars across the tracks to safely. This part of the legend makes it even more intriguing.

Some facts--this accident happened in the first part of the 20^th century but stories about this haunting did not begin to circulate until the 1970s. It should also be noted that there are no written records of a train/bus accident like this occurring in San Antonio. ** 

People wanting this legend to be true point out the fact that the street names around this road are named after these children but actually the developer of this area named these streets after his grandchildren.

Gravity Hill stories most often involve teens not children I think this is one reason the San Antonio story has become so popular. Here is a link to another gravity hill story I wrote entitled, Crybaby Bridge: Monmouth Illinois. Another one is a legend told in New Jersey about Franklin Lake’s Gravity Road.

* One Texas writer when addressing this topic wily mentioned that all these “tests” especially around Halloween really put these poor child spirits to work.

** There was a tragic Salt Lake City, Utah school bus accident in 1938 involving twenty-six children on a school bus that stalled on a railroad track and was hit by an oncoming freight train--this story did receive extensive coverage in Texas at the time. 

The following is just one of many videos made of people “testing” this road.

Crybaby Bridge: Monmouth, Illinois

There are many “Crybaby Bridge” stories in various states in the U.S. Some stories that surround these bridges are genuine folktales others are more recent urban legends which cynics state are “fakelore.” Regardless they are all entertaining. 

One bridge in Monmouth, Illinois, which has been christened a Crybaby Bridge, has an interesting legend connected to it.

Local residents of Monmouth are familiar with the following story about a steel bridge that sits three miles northwest of their town. 

It was said many years ago, a young unwed mother approached the bridge as a lightning storm raged around her. 

Shame weighed heavily upon her shoulders. Driven by fear because she had recently been abandoned, she found herself standing in the middle of the bridge holding a week-old baby boy to her breast. 

Having no choice, not wanting to be ostracized by the community, she hurled the baby over the bridge’s trestles into the churning cold water of Cedar Creek. 

Ever since this tragic event, locals who pass the bridge state they have heard a “spine-tingling” cry that sounds like a baby struggling to breathe.

Yet another legend connected to this bridge states, an elementary school bus plunged off the side of this bridge during a flood. Unfortunately, it is said the buses occupants all drowned before rescuers arrived. 

Since this accident, many people have stated that if their car breaks down as they cross the bridge or even if they just stop on the bridge that the ghosts of these children have pushed their cars safely across. *

One local young lady and her friend not believing this legend decided one afternoon to drive to the bridge to see if they could debunk it. 

This single-lane bridge is located on a rural dirt road off US 67-N. It is at the bottom of a valley-- there is a steep incline at both ends of the bridge. This road is so narrow that only one car can pass at a time. 

After rounding a sharp curve that leads to the Cedar Creek Bridge these two young investigators stopped their car at the bottom of the hill and got out. They walked across the bridge, noting that it is entirely flat at both ends and in the middle.

They got back in their car and put it into neutral. They were surprised when almost immediately, their car started to slowly inch its way across the bridge. It did not stop until it got to the other side. 

Perplexed these two ladies were convinced that there must be an environmental reason for this, so they headed up the opposite hill from where they drove in. 

They turned their car around and drove back down to test it going the other way. They again stopped their vehicle and put it in neutral at the opposite end of the bridge. 

They were shocked to see their car instead of rolling backward as they expected it moved forward and slowly inched its way across the bridge, not stopping until it reached the other side. 

To this day their experience on this bridge baffles them.

The young people in the town often retell another legend connected to this bridge. They state that a group of teenagers out for a joy ride struck a fisherman who stood on the bridge late one afternoon. 

Evidently, just as this fisherman cast his line over the bridge, he was hit by their car and killed. 

Local legend states his apparition appears around the area that surrounds the creek.

*  This gravity hill story is very similar to the San Antonio, Texas story, which states a school bus full of children, was struck by an oncoming train. These students were killed instantly. Like the bridge story above, it is noted these children help push cars across the railroad tracks. Here is a link to a post I wrote about this ghost story.

The Amish also have an evil crybaby bridge haunting here.