January 6, 2016 • 9 mins
Delve into the ghostly legend of the Maco Light, a famous paranormal phenomenon along North Carolina's railroad tracks. Told by Jim McAmis.
For more strange Southern folktales, including stories not on the podcast, visit https://themoonlitroad.com
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"The Maco Light" was written by Jim McAmis and Craig Dominey
Storyteller: Jim McAmis
Audio Production: Henry Howard
The Moonlit Road Podcast is a production of The Moonlit Road, LLC.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Night has fallen, and the moon is a
glowing golden orb in the black sky.
See how it shines on the dark back
roads of America, and on one road in
particular.
Come with us, and we'll take a walk
(00:23):
down the moonlit road, for the night is
waiting.
And the moon is full.
The Moonlit Road presents, episode 52, The Mako
Light.
Written by Craig Dominey and Jim McCamus, and
told by Jim McCamus.
(00:43):
Oh boy!
In the years immediately following the Civil War,
the railroad was king.
(01:05):
And if the railroad was king, its prince
was the conductor.
Now the engineer, he might have got to
sit up front.
He might have got to blow the whistle
and drive the train.
But he was not going to move that
train one inch, until the conductor told him
to.
Now Joe Baldwin, he had always wanted to
(01:25):
be a conductor.
And finally he realized his life long dream.
He was conductor on the Wilmington to Manchester
line.
Now Joe would appear at work every morning,
smartly turned out in his clean pressed black
pants, starched white shirt, black leather vest, and
(01:47):
expertly tied bow tie.
And on top of his head, was the
conductor's hat.
With the medallion on the front, that just
glistened gold in the sunlight, said conductor.
He always carried his lantern with him, a
ticket punch, and of course his railroad watch.
Because it was with that watch, that Joe
(02:07):
Baldwin made his train run on time.
Now Joe Baldwin took very good care of
his trains.
His train was very important to him.
Several times during a run, he would walk
from one end of that train to the
other.
Checking everything he could think of.
Checking the wheels, checking the box cars to
make sure that they were locked securely.
(02:29):
Making sure that the passengers had everything that
they needed.
Making sure that there was enough oil in
the lamps, so that they wouldn't burn out
at night.
One night, as they were traveling through the
swamps and the woodlands there around Mako, not
too far from Wilmington, Joe had just completed
a round of his train and was back
(02:50):
in the caboose resting.
Oh, he couldn't wait to get to Charleston.
Because he knew that there in Charleston would
be waiting some fried chicken and some sweet
potato pie.
Oh, how he loved them.
And how he loved Charleston.
And the water.
Suddenly he became aware of something.
(03:12):
Something wasn't right.
The train was slowing down.
Wasn't time for a stop.
Joe Baldwin jumped up and ran to the
front of the caboose and threw open the
door and stepped out on the landing and
went to step into the next coach.
But there was no next coach.
Somehow the train had become uncoupled and his
caboose had been left behind and somewhere out
(03:35):
in front, off in the darkness, his beloved
train, the train that he took so much
care of, was gone.
And here he was in this caboose.
And it was slowing down.
And Joe knew he was in trouble.
Because right behind his train was a fast
freight.
He ran to the rear landing and looked
(03:57):
out through the rain and into the fog
and trying desperately to see the train.
Before long he saw, way off in the
distance, just a pinpoint of light.
He knew that had to be the following
freight.
So he started waving his lantern.
The light got bigger.
He could almost hear the locomotive.
(04:19):
And he started waving his lantern wilder and
wilder from side to side and he started
to holler, Hey!
Hey!
Stop!
Hey!
And waved his lantern back and forth, knowing
there was no way the engineer could hear
him, but hoping against hope that he would
hear or see.
The light continued to grow and then he
(04:41):
heard the sound.
The sound of the whoosh of the air
brakes.
Then the sound of the locomotive going into
reverse and the wheels spinning on the track.
He saw the sparks flying off either side
of the track as the train tried desperately
to stop.
It was like some great surreal Fourth of
July display.
(05:02):
And that was the last thing Joe Baldwin
ever saw.
Because the train smashed into the caboose and
splintered it into a million pieces.
Soon, there was no sound in those swampy
woods except for the steam escaping from the
(05:24):
locomotive.
And there was no light except for the
light from Joe Baldwin's lantern that had been
thrown way deep in the swamp.
And it lay there burning in the dark,
deep swamp.
The next morning, people came to search the
wreckage and they found Joe.
(05:46):
He had been killed.
But worse than that, not only had Joe
lost his train, Joe had lost his head.
The crash had been so severe that Joe
Baldwin's head had been severed from his body
and thrown out into the swamp.
Look as they might, and they did look
for days, they never did find his head.
(06:09):
They found his lantern, where he had laid
burning all night, still warm to the touch,
but no head.
So they carried Joe home and they buried
him without his head.
A few weeks later, the stationmaster at Maco
stepped out onto the platform.
(06:29):
It was a dark night, it had been
raining, it was foggy, and he looked off
down the tracks and he saw a little
pinpoint of light.
Checked his watch and realized it was way
too early for the next train.
The light kept moving down the tracks, looked
almost as though it were someone carrying a
lantern.
And then it started to swing back and
(06:50):
forth, slowly at first, and then as it
got closer and closer to the station, it
swung further and swung wilder.
And then it seemed to turn and go
back down the tracks until it disappeared.
Stationmaster didn't know what to make of that,
(07:10):
but he didn't think too much about it
until it kept happening.
Nearly every time there would be a dark
and stormy night, especially a lot of fog
on that part of North Carolina, that light
would come back.
Start off way down the tracks, just a
tiny point, moving up the tracks and start
swinging slowly, and then swing wilder and wilder
(07:33):
until it got close to the station, and
then it was as though it would turn
and go back down the tracks.
Stationmaster wasn't the only one that saw it.
Engineers saw it, and they would stop the
trains.
It became such a problem that finally in
the Mako block, they instituted a special rule
for that railroad that in that particular block,
(07:54):
any signals to any train had to be
done with two lights, and any one-light
signals were to be ignored.
People came from all over to see what
had come to be called the Mako Light.
People came to study the Mako Light.
Now, some folks said that it was bald
lightning or St. Elmo's fire.
(08:15):
Others said, no, it's swamp gas.
But everybody that lived around that part, they
knew what it was.
They knew it was Joe Baldwin coming back
to look for his head.
Now, in 1977, the railroad shut down that
line, tore up the tracks.
When the tracks left, so did the light.
(08:37):
It never reappeared.
And whether Joe Baldwin found his head or
found some other measure of peace, that's the
last anyone ever saw of the Mako Light.
(09:05):
That concludes this tale from The Moonlit Road.
Be sure to visit our website at themoonlitroad
.com to find out more about our stories
and let us know how we're doing.
The Moonlit Road is produced and directed by
Craig Dominey, recorded and soundscaped by Henry Howard
in beautiful Stone Mountain, Georgia.
Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next
(09:27):
time.
(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Night has fallen, and the moon is a
glowing golden orb in the black sky.
See how it shines on the dark back
roads of America, and on one road in
particular.
Come with us, and we'll take a walk
(00:23):
down the moonlit road, for the night is
waiting.
And the moon is full.
The Moonlit Road presents, episode 52, The Mako
Light.
Written by Craig Dominey and Jim McCamus, and
told by Jim McCamus.
(00:43):
Oh boy!
In the years immediately following the Civil War,
the railroad was king.
(01:05):
And if the railroad was king, its prince
was the conductor.
Now the engineer, he might have got to
sit up front.
He might have got to blow the whistle
and drive the train.
But he was not going to move that
train one inch, until the conductor told him
to.
Now Joe Baldwin, he had always wanted to
(01:25):
be a conductor.
And finally he realized his life long dream.
He was conductor on the Wilmington to Manchester
line.
Now Joe would appear at work every morning,
smartly turned out in his clean pressed black
pants, starched white shirt, black leather vest, and
(01:47):
expertly tied bow tie.
And on top of his head, was the
conductor's hat.
With the medallion on the front, that just
glistened gold in the sunlight, said conductor.
He always carried his lantern with him, a
ticket punch, and of course his railroad watch.
Because it was with that watch, that Joe
(02:07):
Baldwin made his train run on time.
Now Joe Baldwin took very good care of
his trains.
His train was very important to him.
Several times during a run, he would walk
from one end of that train to the
other.
Checking everything he could think of.
Checking the wheels, checking the box cars to
make sure that they were locked securely.
(02:29):
Making sure that the passengers had everything that
they needed.
Making sure that there was enough oil in
the lamps, so that they wouldn't burn out
at night.
One night, as they were traveling through the
swamps and the woodlands there around Mako, not
too far from Wilmington, Joe had just completed
a round of his train and was back
(02:50):
in the caboose resting.
Oh, he couldn't wait to get to Charleston.
Because he knew that there in Charleston would
be waiting some fried chicken and some sweet
potato pie.
Oh, how he loved them.
And how he loved Charleston.
And the water.
Suddenly he became aware of something.
(03:12):
Something wasn't right.
The train was slowing down.
Wasn't time for a stop.
Joe Baldwin jumped up and ran to the
front of the caboose and threw open the
door and stepped out on the landing and
went to step into the next coach.
But there was no next coach.
Somehow the train had become uncoupled and his
caboose had been left behind and somewhere out
(03:35):
in front, off in the darkness, his beloved
train, the train that he took so much
care of, was gone.
And here he was in this caboose.
And it was slowing down.
And Joe knew he was in trouble.
Because right behind his train was a fast
freight.
He ran to the rear landing and looked
(03:57):
out through the rain and into the fog
and trying desperately to see the train.
Before long he saw, way off in the
distance, just a pinpoint of light.
He knew that had to be the following
freight.
So he started waving his lantern.
The light got bigger.
He could almost hear the locomotive.
(04:19):
And he started waving his lantern wilder and
wilder from side to side and he started
to holler, Hey!
Hey!
Stop!
Hey!
And waved his lantern back and forth, knowing
there was no way the engineer could hear
him, but hoping against hope that he would
hear or see.
The light continued to grow and then he
(04:41):
heard the sound.
The sound of the whoosh of the air
brakes.
Then the sound of the locomotive going into
reverse and the wheels spinning on the track.
He saw the sparks flying off either side
of the track as the train tried desperately
to stop.
It was like some great surreal Fourth of
July display.
(05:02):
And that was the last thing Joe Baldwin
ever saw.
Because the train smashed into the caboose and
splintered it into a million pieces.
Soon, there was no sound in those swampy
woods except for the steam escaping from the
(05:24):
locomotive.
And there was no light except for the
light from Joe Baldwin's lantern that had been
thrown way deep in the swamp.
And it lay there burning in the dark,
deep swamp.
The next morning, people came to search the
wreckage and they found Joe.
(05:46):
He had been killed.
But worse than that, not only had Joe
lost his train, Joe had lost his head.
The crash had been so severe that Joe
Baldwin's head had been severed from his body
and thrown out into the swamp.
Look as they might, and they did look
for days, they never did find his head.
(06:09):
They found his lantern, where he had laid
burning all night, still warm to the touch,
but no head.
So they carried Joe home and they buried
him without his head.
A few weeks later, the stationmaster at Maco
stepped out onto the platform.
(06:29):
It was a dark night, it had been
raining, it was foggy, and he looked off
down the tracks and he saw a little
pinpoint of light.
Checked his watch and realized it was way
too early for the next train.
The light kept moving down the tracks, looked
almost as though it were someone carrying a
lantern.
And then it started to swing back and
(06:50):
forth, slowly at first, and then as it
got closer and closer to the station, it
swung further and swung wilder.
And then it seemed to turn and go
back down the tracks until it disappeared.
Stationmaster didn't know what to make of that,
(07:10):
but he didn't think too much about it
until it kept happening.
Nearly every time there would be a dark
and stormy night, especially a lot of fog
on that part of North Carolina, that light
would come back.
Start off way down the tracks, just a
tiny point, moving up the tracks and start
swinging slowly, and then swing wilder and wilder
(07:33):
until it got close to the station, and
then it was as though it would turn
and go back down the tracks.
Stationmaster wasn't the only one that saw it.
Engineers saw it, and they would stop the
trains.
It became such a problem that finally in
the Mako block, they instituted a special rule
for that railroad that in that particular block,
(07:54):
any signals to any train had to be
done with two lights, and any one-light
signals were to be ignored.
People came from all over to see what
had come to be called the Mako Light.
People came to study the Mako Light.
Now, some folks said that it was bald
lightning or St. Elmo's fire.
(08:15):
Others said, no, it's swamp gas.
But everybody that lived around that part, they
knew what it was.
They knew it was Joe Baldwin coming back
to look for his head.
Now, in 1977, the railroad shut down that
line, tore up the tracks.
When the tracks left, so did the light.
(08:37):
It never reappeared.
And whether Joe Baldwin found his head or
found some other measure of peace, that's the
last anyone ever saw of the Mako Light.
(09:05):
That concludes this tale from The Moonlit Road.
Be sure to visit our website at themoonlitroad
.com to find out more about our stories
and let us know how we're doing.
The Moonlit Road is produced and directed by
Craig Dominey, recorded and soundscaped by Henry Howard
in beautiful Stone Mountain, Georgia.
Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next
(09:27):
time.
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