Disaster

The Kanawha County Crash of 1985

It was on a very dark nite, like tonight, that something very tragic happened. The incident, which is known as the Kanawha County Crash of 1985, occured when a Chesapeake & Ohio freight train collided head-on with a passenger train. Just happened to be there were some strange happenings going on that day before the crash and after the crash at nite. Reports from all over the Kanawha Valley of lights being seen from Montgomery to Point Pleasant, which a few were reported by pilots flying over the area at the time. Around 9:30 that nite, Amtrak had just left Montgomery enroute to Charleston with the Westbound George Washington. Unbeknownst to the crew on the Amtrak train, the crew of the Chesapeake & Ohio freight train had mysteriously vanished while still operating their train. This in turn caused the freight train to "run" several block signals that are located on the line. No one in the eastern half of the county knew what was about to happen and that it would make history.

At around 9:45 p.m., the crew of the Amtrak train report seeing the headlights of a locomotive coming toward them at a high rate of speed. At exactly 9:47 P.M. the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department recieves a call coming from the town of Coalburg in which the caller reports hearing a large BOOM with several more smaller booms after that. This got the preverbial wheels set in motion, I mean fire departments from Kanawha and Fayette Counties that have converged in a stream of red and white vehicles. It was as if someone had turned a faucet on and put red and white food coloring in the water. There were several lights in the sky at the time due to the medevacs coming in and landing at a nearby car dealership, some even had to land on the West Virginia Turnpike. Picture something like a Greyhound bus that has smacked a semi only on a scale ten times as worse. The scene of this crash was like nothing that this county had ever seen before in it's history. I mean it put some of the big fires that have occurred here look like nothing.

First reports of a haunting came a month after the crash occurred and the clean up over and done with. People were calling us reporting that they were hearing screams coming from the railroad tracks. It was every single nite the deputies were being sent up there to investigate the screaming that was going on. They would go up there, look around to see if they could find who or what was making the noise and they would come back with nothing. Nite after nite, officers would come back to headquarters with nothing or an explanation. I first noticed something strange when I went to the scene and found a Bible that was basically untouched, it was like it was left there for a reason. It just baffled me back then as to what was causing all the screaming. That was until I went further in depth investigating the causes of the crash.

There was one nite that a buddy of mine went up there two years after the crash he was even terrified when he got back home. A few days later, Martin saw his buddy and asked him what he saw up there. He said that he saw the apparition of a passenger train pass by when the screaming started up. I could tell he was startled by it because when he said that, his face turned a ghostly white! I asked him what was the number on the locomotive, and he said 220. Right then, a chill ran down my spine like someone had poured ice water down my spine inside my body. I said, "That was the very same number on the Amtrak unit!" I can't believe it, he exclaimed! What are the chances of the numbers matching???

Now what most people don't know is that the Amtrak train caught fire right after the impact with the freight train. This is turn caused over one hundred people to loose their lives because the fire spread so quickly. It could explain the reasons as to why people are experiencing the screaming, but here's the odd thing about the screams and apparitions, they only occur at the end of each month. It was as if the souls of the dead passengers where coming back to a final and proper resting place. If you were to venture to Coalburg, WV on a dark night, you might just be in for the scare of your life! Also, to add to the creepiness, I forgot to mention that the number of ufo sightings for that nite went up also. It was as if Crell and Gleeb knew what was about to happen. Even state troopers patrolling the Turnpike before and after the crash reported seeing numerous lights in the sky over the area that night. As for the crew of the C&O freight train, their remains still have not been found to THIS VERY DAY! It is said that two people have been spotted walking the tracks near the crash site, but when they get close to the observer, they just vanish into thin air! This could be the C&O crew coming back to look for their train.