Ghost Train II - The Clinchfield Curse Part 2

The Island of Sodor, 2017. One cold and rainy evening, at the sheds, the engines were all talking to two of four new visitors from America, David, a USRA 0-6-0 switcher and Louise, a rare second restored J class 4-8-4. about supernatural stories that had happened on the railway over the years. They were amazing.

"Your railway is full all kinds of unknown and ghostly things that are full of mysteries." said David.

"And not to mention some are just scary than the ones we've encountered back at home in the states." added Louise.

"What's it like over there?" asked Emily. "Non of use have ever been to the railways you run on."

"Please tell us." Gordon said.

"It's not like what you have here," said Louise. "The railways in America are much longer and bigger and we engines can do more work than another of the others. We pull much heavier passenger and freight trains and go longer distances. But at times we have to let diesels help us out for dynamic breaking."

The other engines were impressed.

"Is there anything out of the supernatural, like any legends or ghost stories that have been told on the rails?" asked Edward.

"We've had several but non of them would ever scary you," Louise said. "...well all except, the The Curse of Clinchfield..."

"Don't bring that up, Lousie!" David said suddenly. "She might come here and curse these locos and it's railway!"

"Who will? Who's Clinchfield and what curse?" asked the other engines.

"Oh now you gone and done it!" David said to Louise, glaring at her. "We promised to never mention it to the others or you know what might happen."

The engines looked with curiosity and interest and wanted to know very badly and the two american locos had no other choice but to.

"The engine that comes from this story is legendary and very haunting." said David.

"You mean like the untold story of Timothy that we told you about?" said Thomas.  

"You could say that," said David. "But this one has been talked about for almost 60 years and everyone in America knows about it. Many steam engines and diesels had their own strange and dark tales... but this engine is the mother of all ghost stories on the railroad... Clinchfield 311."

"Clinchfield 311?" Gordon said.

"That doesn't ring any bells to me for it's unfamiliar name." added Rosie.

"None of you have ever heard of her until now," said David. "She was an old 4-8-2 Mountain steam engine, serving the Campton Southwestern Railroad company. She had been with the company for about five months. But her history was a very troublesome."

"Troublesome?" Thomas said, confusingly. "She was a engine who had a bad attitude or something."

"No," David replied. "She had a bad luck streak. It almost led to her scrapping but she was sent to work on the Clinchfield... however it only got worse after arriving in Colorado. 311 was what railroad men called a hoodooed or jinxed locomotive, meaning that she was a rolling disaster waiting to happen weather she liked it or not. During her career with the Clinchfield, she had unintentionally injured and killed 20 railroad men in all because of this jinx. Because of all this 311 was yanked of the Clinch roster in late 1956 and was placed in an unused storage track in the Elkhorn City shop complex where she awaited her fate, 3 years after the Clinchfield Railroad retired it's last steam locomotive in 1954. But that was not be for she was saved by the manager of the CSW for he was in search of for a large freight locomotive to handle the lumber contract at the time. After lengthly negotiations, the Elkhorn yardmaster finally give the manager the 311 for free. After that, she restored to working order and moved out west under her own power and remarkably there where no incidents during the 1,369.3 mile cross country run. For the first time in a long time, 311 had a bright future, now being owned by a railroad that cared about her."


"Well thank goodness she didn't get sent away for scrapping," Gordon said with tone of relieve. "That's how I lost all of my LNER brothers, all except one survived and I know how sad that felt."

"So was 311's bad luck streak over?" asked Emily?

"It seemed to had been," Louise said almost in negative tone. "For the first few weeks of operation everything went smoothly, but the curse soon made it's presence know once again and that's when almost everyone in the CSW grew into mistrusting 311. She couldn't understand it herself no matter what. Something was out of her control and no one could ever tell the real reason. Deep down inside, 311 was very lonely. Her only real friends where her Engineer, Fireman and the Manager. They did what they could to help her but to the others, including the company's President and the board of directors, she was as a liability that needed to be put down."

Both Louise and David fell silent, feeling very reluctant to tell the rest of the story. Just then Luke, a 2-10-4, came up from behind the shed, overhearing everything.

"You're talking about story of 311?" he said.

"Yes we are," said Gordon. "However David and Louise have gone silent for some reason... do you know about the story?"

"Indeed I do," replied Luke. "I remember it very well and it's very haunting. Though it's intriguing for to me to see that you engines of Sodor are so interested in hearing about it."

"It's something that we're all into," Thomas said. "Ghost stories are to give us a scare for a reason you know."

"But there are some that seem like they happened for real," Edward said. "What we really like to know is where in fact does the story of the 311 really take place?"

"Yeah, what happen to the locomotive?" asked Emily.

Luke took a deep breath and picked up where David and Louise left off.

"The story, ironic as it may seem, takes place on Halloween night, October 31st, 1957, this is how it went, according to those who told us," he said. "Clinchfield 311 departed the logging camp with logging train in the mountain and started the down descent. Not long after she left, the weather changed for the worse... it was one of the worst storms in US history, with flash floods being reported everywhere along the line. The Miller-River bridge was the last bridge between the mountain line, and safety of the yard. However, the flash flood had loosened large rocks and trees from the banks, causing them to plumpet into the raging rapids below and thus, pulling them downstream towards the Miller-River Bridge. Since the bridge was made of wood at the time, the force of the water and debris slowly took out its supports. The speed through the Miller-River Canyon was 15 mph at the time, but 311 was running late so the driver had the throttle open, doing 30 mph down the grade. They came out the tunnel just before the bridge. When they were starting to cross it, it's supports finally gave and it collapsed taking the train along with it's crew down into the river below... the following day a rescue was carried out and they found total devastation, the location of the wreck hasn't been located and perhaps never will... 311's remains have not been seen either... it was like she had vanished into thin air. After a new bridge was built, a series of bizarre events soon occurred and thus the legend of the ghost engine was born. It has interested and scared many train fans young and old alike... It is said that on Black Wolf Mountain, there lives a spirit, cursing to ride the rails for all eternity, reappearing only once every year on Halloween night, forever doomed to repeat it's fate. While it is said to be only a ghost story, the engines of the Black Wolf Central will tell you otherwise. Ever since the night of October 31st 1957 over and over again once every year, the spirit of 311, otherwise known now as The Demon 311, is either heard coming from the mountain or can be seen sitting there, shining her ghostly red headlight at you and whooshing ghostly red steam from her cylinders or thundering by where the accident occurred, trying to cross the bridge... but never reaches the other side."

Luke finished the rest of the story and saw the other engines looking silent and filled with awe and fear.

"Just like the others back in the states, they all become quiet." Louise said.

"That's why we found it too frightening to tell you," added David. "Good thing Luke was here to do it."

"Have any of you seen the spirit of 311?" Gordon asked. "I'm very curious to know just incase any of us were to..."

"We have seen her... but we had lucky escapes," Louise said. "What she does is terrifying."

"CSX Transportation, CSX for short, runs the route today and the Ghost of 311 hunts the tracks," Luke said. "If there was an engine with the same number on it, she would think that it's disgracing her number and would run right into that engine and then it along with 311 would never be seen or heard from again."

Edward, Gordon, Thomas, Emily and Rosie were silent.

"311 has been trapped on that mountain for 59 years," David said. "This week will mark her 60th anniversary. Many of us engines back in the States have seen her whenever we go up that mountain... but not the way she was once.... she looks terrifying and evil, with the personality of a demon. Luke, Louise and I have heard her bell ringing and her whistle shrieking... and we heard her voice... but we were lucky not to encounter her face to face... otherwise we would not be here today..."

Rosie somehow managed to find her voice.

"Just how... how... evil is this ghost engine?" she asked Thomas, nervously.

"Knowing what I went through with Timothy, I think this one is more worse and more demonic," Thomas said to her. "I certainty don't want to even think of coming face to face with 311."

"Me either." replied Emily.

"Likewise," added Edward. "But I deeply hope that some day this lost engine will find peace and move on."

"That has never happened, I'm afraid," David said, his voice sounding a little faint. "Very few have ever attempted to help Clinchfield 311... but no one has succeeded and ended up being killed by her."

"WHAT!" exclaimed Thomas.

"Sh Sh Sh she does does what?!" stuttered Gordon.

"Is that part of the curse up the mountains of where she's resting?!" Rosie asked in fright.

Luke, David and Louise only eyed at them worryingly in reply. The shed had gone cold and quiet... the only sound that could be heard was the rain and thunder. The engines couldn't say anything... but they could sense they were not alone anymore.