Pack your lantern — we’re going global! In Part 2 of Ghost Trains & Haunted Railways, Amy continues her eerie expedition through the world’s most haunted tracks.
From Japan’s cursed Shinagawa subway and Ireland’s wailing Banshee Train to Colorado’s phantom mining locomotive, Melbourne’s ghost tram of St Kilda, and South Africa’s mysterious Blue Train, these stories blend fact, folklore, and the unexplainable.
Each haunting carries echoes of the past — engineers who never left, passengers who never arrived, and whistles that pierce eternity. Hop aboard… if you dare.
Like and Subscribe:
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Spotify
IHeart
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This episode of The Strange History Podcast is brought to you by Spreaker — the podcast platform so powerful, even ghosts can’t stop streaming. Seriously, our analytics show 12% of our audience is from “The Beyond.” “Join us… forever…” With Spreaker, you can record, edit, and publish faster than you can say “is that EVP or just bad Wi-Fi?” Whether you’re a living creator or a deceased conductor still riding the rails, Spreaker makes sure your voice echoes across every major platform — and possibly your listeners’ basements. Spreaker: where your podcast never dies — it just gets better CPM rates. Spreaker — because eternity deserves good monetization.
From Japan’s cursed Shinagawa subway and Ireland’s wailing Banshee Train to Colorado’s phantom mining locomotive, Melbourne’s ghost tram of St Kilda, and South Africa’s mysterious Blue Train, these stories blend fact, folklore, and the unexplainable.
Each haunting carries echoes of the past — engineers who never left, passengers who never arrived, and whistles that pierce eternity. Hop aboard… if you dare.
Like and Subscribe:
Apple
Spotify
IHeart
Audible
This episode of The Strange History Podcast is brought to you by Spreaker — the podcast platform so powerful, even ghosts can’t stop streaming. Seriously, our analytics show 12% of our audience is from “The Beyond.” “Join us… forever…” With Spreaker, you can record, edit, and publish faster than you can say “is that EVP or just bad Wi-Fi?” Whether you’re a living creator or a deceased conductor still riding the rails, Spreaker makes sure your voice echoes across every major platform — and possibly your listeners’ basements. Spreaker: where your podcast never dies — it just gets better CPM rates. Spreaker — because eternity deserves good monetization.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back, my fearless passengers of the Paranormal. It's spooky
October and in our last episode we survived Sweden's Ghost Metro,
Ohio's haunted tunnel, and one very fashion forward specter in Asari. Tonight,
we're taking the Midnight Line around the world. So tighten
your seat belts or you know, your seat belt of
(00:22):
pure faith, because these next haunted railways make Amtrak delays
look merciful.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Japan's Shinagawa Spector Line.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Tokyo's subway system is vast, efficient and haunted. In particular,
the stretch between Shinagawa Station and Tamachi Station is said
to run directly over a mass grave. The story goes
that during construction of the Tokaido Line in the eighteen seventies,
workers unearthed human remains from what turned out to be
(00:52):
an Edo period burial site. They built the tracks anyway,
because apparently respecting the dead was optional in the industrial age.
Since then, commuters have reported seeing shadowy figures pacing the platforms,
hearing sobbing from empty tunnels, and glimpsing ghostly faces reflected
in train windows. In two thousand and three, a Tokyo
(01:14):
train operator quit after witnessing a woman in white step
in front of his train, but no impact was recorded
and security footage showed no one there. Maintenance crews have
also claimed to hear chanting in old maintenance tunnels near Shinagawa.
Local folklore calls it noroy Resha, the cursed train. Japan's
(01:34):
rail system is famous for running on time, even the
ghosts punch in early.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
This spine tingling segment is sponsored by Tokyo Spirit railcards
travel the afterlife with convenience and earn Karma points every ride.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
The Banshee Train of Ireland.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
In Ireland, they say the wail of a banshee foretells death,
but in the nineteenth century people began hearing that same
unearthly cry echoing from a train that never existed. The
legend of the Banshee train began near County Claire in
the eighteen seventies. Locals would wake to the sound of
a roaring engine and a shrieking whistle, though no train passed.
(02:13):
By the next day, someone in the village would die.
In eighteen ninety three, newspapers in Limerick recorded a story
of the phantom train of Ennistimone. Dozens of residents heard
the thunder of wheels, felt the ground shake, but the
line hadn't been used in weeks. Hours later, a farmer
(02:34):
was found dead by the tracks. Even Irish rail historians
acknowledged the legend, noting the connection between the train of
death and the sound of wind in the Limestone Hills,
though locals still swear the sound is too rhythmic, too mechanical,
too real. It's comforting to know that even death has
good public transport in Ireland.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Sponsored by Banshee Rail, Ireland's fastest way to the other side.
We'll have you howling with delight and mild existential dread.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
The Phantom Train of Saint Elmo, Colorado.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
High in the Rockies, the mining ghost town of Saint
Elmo is frozen in time, and apparently so is its
old rail line. In the late eighteen hundreds, the Denver
South Park and Pacific Railroad ran through Chalk Creek Canyon.
One winter in eighteen ninety nine, an avalanche buried the line,
(03:29):
killing the crew of a supply train trapped inside the pass.
When spring thawed, the snow rescuers found the locomotives still upright,
with the crew frozen at their posts. Ever since, campers
and hikers in the valley have reported hearing the low
rumble of a train, the clang of a bell, and
even seeing a glowing light on the old right of
(03:50):
way where no tracks remain. In nineteen seventy four, a
park ranger named Ed Thompson recorded the sounds of a
train horn echoing through the canyon. There were no active
rail lines for fifty miles. He played the tape back
for the Forest Service and they couldn't explain it. Imagine
hiking through the mountains, hearing a full locomotive and realizing
(04:13):
you're the only ticket holder.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
This haunting brought to you by Rocky Mountain rail Snack's
Ghost approved trail mix for the eternally Outdoorsy now featuring
spectral amands.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
The Ghost Tram of Saint Kilda, Australia.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
In Melbourne's Seaside suburb of Saint Kilda, the trams still
clatter along, but one line they say carries a ghost.
According to local legend, in the early nineteen hundreds, a
conductor named Thomas Burke fell from tram one six' four
during heavy rain and was crushed beneath the. Wheels passengers
(04:50):
reported feeling the, jolt but found no. Body his remains
were discovered a mile away the next, morning still gripping
his ticket. Puncher since, then late night riders have described
hearing the faint ding ding of an invisible bell and
glimpsing a man in uniform walking the aisle even when
the tram's. Empty Melbourne's Herald Sun archives mention several eye
(05:14):
witnesses who claimed to see a misty figure boarding trams
At Aklan street during the nineteen. Fifties in the nineteen,
eighties a driver reported seeing a man vanish in front
of the driver's window after waving his hand in. Warning,
today tram drivers still tell each other if you See Tommy,
burke slow, down he's just making his. ROUNDS i love
(05:39):
a ghost who's still dedicated to customer. Service that's the
spirit of public. Transport.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Literally this spectral segment is sponsored By, tramformers the world's
first haunted transit, toys collect all five before they disappear from. Shelves.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Literally The Blue Ghost train Of South.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Africa in The Karu desert near the abandoned town Of,
uniondale a legend persists of a blue lit passenger train
that materializes on foggy. Nights locals call it the blue.
Train according to, folklore it's connected to a nineteen fourteen
accident that killed dozens when a passenger train derailed in a.
(06:22):
Sandstorm witnesses claim to see the phantom train's headlights appear
out of, nowhere then vanish across the, desert followed by
the faint sound of. Crying truckers on THE n Nine
highway have repeatedly reported seeing lights moving parallel to the
road that suddenly vanish into thin. Air in nineteen sixty,
five one driver swore he nearly collided with a train
(06:44):
at a crossing that had been inactive for over thirty.
Years South african railway historians admit there's no logical, explanation no,
mirages no power, lines no. Reflection just when you think
you've seen everything in the, desert the day desert sees.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
You Tonight's Desert, detour brought to you By Ecto, lube
the only rail grease guaranteed to stop even ghostly, squeaks
now available in spectral.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Blue The ghosts of The Canadian.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Pacific The Canadian Pacific railway was a deadly. Undertaking hundreds
of workers, dyed blasting tunnels through The. Rockies in one
particularly treacherous section Near, craiglaki where the last spike was
driven in eighteen eighty, five workers began hearing phantom. Pickaxes
long after construction, Ended trains passing through The Kicking Horse
(07:37):
pass tunnel still report radio, interference sudden temperature, drops and
shadow figures in the. Headlamps Engineer Douglas, kincaid interviewed in
nineteen sixty, eight said he saw a man standing in
the tunnel waving a. Lantern he hit the, brakes thinking
it was a. Worker when he, stopped no one was,
(07:59):
there only the smell of sulfur and a burned out
lantern lying on the. Ballast i'd say he dodged a
bullet or a very, old very judgmental.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Ghost brought to you By Polar spirits vodka distilled with
glacial water and a hint Of canadian, remorse perfect for
thawing after a long night of.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Haunting, so dear, travelers if you ever hear a whistle
in the, night or see a flicker of blue light
where no train should, be don't. Panic just remember you're
part of a, long proud history of people who saw
something unexplainable and decided to write about it On. Reddit
From tokyo subway ghosts To Ireland's Banshee, express one thing's for.
(08:42):
Sure the rails of history are haunted not just by,
tragedy but by. Memory every, whistle every, lantern every clanging.
Echo it's the past refusing to be. Silent this Is,
amy your conductor of The, strange reminds you to, subscribe,
share and keep your lantern, lit because next week we're
(09:05):
exploring haunted, lighthouses the ghosts who never clocked.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Out this episode was fueled by Speaker, express the only
podcast platform where your stories can haunt The internet. Forever
use code Ghost train for one FREE evp upload
Welcome back, my fearless passengers of the Paranormal. It's spooky
October and in our last episode we survived Sweden's Ghost Metro,
Ohio's haunted tunnel, and one very fashion forward specter in Asari. Tonight,
we're taking the Midnight Line around the world. So tighten
your seat belts or you know, your seat belt of
(00:22):
pure faith, because these next haunted railways make Amtrak delays
look merciful.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Japan's Shinagawa Spector Line.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Tokyo's subway system is vast, efficient and haunted. In particular,
the stretch between Shinagawa Station and Tamachi Station is said
to run directly over a mass grave. The story goes
that during construction of the Tokaido Line in the eighteen seventies,
workers unearthed human remains from what turned out to be
(00:52):
an Edo period burial site. They built the tracks anyway,
because apparently respecting the dead was optional in the industrial age.
Since then, commuters have reported seeing shadowy figures pacing the platforms,
hearing sobbing from empty tunnels, and glimpsing ghostly faces reflected
in train windows. In two thousand and three, a Tokyo
(01:14):
train operator quit after witnessing a woman in white step
in front of his train, but no impact was recorded
and security footage showed no one there. Maintenance crews have
also claimed to hear chanting in old maintenance tunnels near Shinagawa.
Local folklore calls it noroy Resha, the cursed train. Japan's
(01:34):
rail system is famous for running on time, even the
ghosts punch in early.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
This spine tingling segment is sponsored by Tokyo Spirit railcards
travel the afterlife with convenience and earn Karma points every ride.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
The Banshee Train of Ireland.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
In Ireland, they say the wail of a banshee foretells death,
but in the nineteenth century people began hearing that same
unearthly cry echoing from a train that never existed. The
legend of the Banshee train began near County Claire in
the eighteen seventies. Locals would wake to the sound of
a roaring engine and a shrieking whistle, though no train passed.
(02:13):
By the next day, someone in the village would die.
In eighteen ninety three, newspapers in Limerick recorded a story
of the phantom train of Ennistimone. Dozens of residents heard
the thunder of wheels, felt the ground shake, but the
line hadn't been used in weeks. Hours later, a farmer
(02:34):
was found dead by the tracks. Even Irish rail historians
acknowledged the legend, noting the connection between the train of
death and the sound of wind in the Limestone Hills,
though locals still swear the sound is too rhythmic, too mechanical,
too real. It's comforting to know that even death has
good public transport in Ireland.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Sponsored by Banshee Rail, Ireland's fastest way to the other side.
We'll have you howling with delight and mild existential dread.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
The Phantom Train of Saint Elmo, Colorado.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
High in the Rockies, the mining ghost town of Saint
Elmo is frozen in time, and apparently so is its
old rail line. In the late eighteen hundreds, the Denver
South Park and Pacific Railroad ran through Chalk Creek Canyon.
One winter in eighteen ninety nine, an avalanche buried the line,
(03:29):
killing the crew of a supply train trapped inside the pass.
When spring thawed, the snow rescuers found the locomotives still upright,
with the crew frozen at their posts. Ever since, campers
and hikers in the valley have reported hearing the low
rumble of a train, the clang of a bell, and
even seeing a glowing light on the old right of
(03:50):
way where no tracks remain. In nineteen seventy four, a
park ranger named Ed Thompson recorded the sounds of a
train horn echoing through the canyon. There were no active
rail lines for fifty miles. He played the tape back
for the Forest Service and they couldn't explain it. Imagine
hiking through the mountains, hearing a full locomotive and realizing
(04:13):
you're the only ticket holder.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
This haunting brought to you by Rocky Mountain rail Snack's
Ghost approved trail mix for the eternally Outdoorsy now featuring
spectral amands.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
The Ghost Tram of Saint Kilda, Australia.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
In Melbourne's Seaside suburb of Saint Kilda, the trams still
clatter along, but one line they say carries a ghost.
According to local legend, in the early nineteen hundreds, a
conductor named Thomas Burke fell from tram one six' four
during heavy rain and was crushed beneath the. Wheels passengers
(04:50):
reported feeling the, jolt but found no. Body his remains
were discovered a mile away the next, morning still gripping
his ticket. Puncher since, then late night riders have described
hearing the faint ding ding of an invisible bell and
glimpsing a man in uniform walking the aisle even when
the tram's. Empty Melbourne's Herald Sun archives mention several eye
(05:14):
witnesses who claimed to see a misty figure boarding trams
At Aklan street during the nineteen. Fifties in the nineteen,
eighties a driver reported seeing a man vanish in front
of the driver's window after waving his hand in. Warning,
today tram drivers still tell each other if you See Tommy,
burke slow, down he's just making his. ROUNDS i love
(05:39):
a ghost who's still dedicated to customer. Service that's the
spirit of public. Transport.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Literally this spectral segment is sponsored By, tramformers the world's
first haunted transit, toys collect all five before they disappear from. Shelves.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Literally The Blue Ghost train Of South.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Africa in The Karu desert near the abandoned town Of,
uniondale a legend persists of a blue lit passenger train
that materializes on foggy. Nights locals call it the blue.
Train according to, folklore it's connected to a nineteen fourteen
accident that killed dozens when a passenger train derailed in a.
(06:22):
Sandstorm witnesses claim to see the phantom train's headlights appear
out of, nowhere then vanish across the, desert followed by
the faint sound of. Crying truckers on THE n Nine
highway have repeatedly reported seeing lights moving parallel to the
road that suddenly vanish into thin. Air in nineteen sixty,
five one driver swore he nearly collided with a train
(06:44):
at a crossing that had been inactive for over thirty.
Years South african railway historians admit there's no logical, explanation no,
mirages no power, lines no. Reflection just when you think
you've seen everything in the, desert the day desert sees.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
You Tonight's Desert, detour brought to you By Ecto, lube
the only rail grease guaranteed to stop even ghostly, squeaks
now available in spectral.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Blue The ghosts of The Canadian.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Pacific The Canadian Pacific railway was a deadly. Undertaking hundreds
of workers, dyed blasting tunnels through The. Rockies in one
particularly treacherous section Near, craiglaki where the last spike was
driven in eighteen eighty, five workers began hearing phantom. Pickaxes
long after construction, Ended trains passing through The Kicking Horse
(07:37):
pass tunnel still report radio, interference sudden temperature, drops and
shadow figures in the. Headlamps Engineer Douglas, kincaid interviewed in
nineteen sixty, eight said he saw a man standing in
the tunnel waving a. Lantern he hit the, brakes thinking
it was a. Worker when he, stopped no one was,
(07:59):
there only the smell of sulfur and a burned out
lantern lying on the. Ballast i'd say he dodged a
bullet or a very, old very judgmental.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Ghost brought to you By Polar spirits vodka distilled with
glacial water and a hint Of canadian, remorse perfect for
thawing after a long night of.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Haunting, so dear, travelers if you ever hear a whistle
in the, night or see a flicker of blue light
where no train should, be don't. Panic just remember you're
part of a, long proud history of people who saw
something unexplainable and decided to write about it On. Reddit
From tokyo subway ghosts To Ireland's Banshee, express one thing's for.
(08:42):
Sure the rails of history are haunted not just by,
tragedy but by. Memory every, whistle every, lantern every clanging.
Echo it's the past refusing to be. Silent this Is,
amy your conductor of The, strange reminds you to, subscribe,
share and keep your lantern, lit because next week we're
(09:05):
exploring haunted, lighthouses the ghosts who never clocked.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Out this episode was fueled by Speaker, express the only
podcast platform where your stories can haunt The internet. Forever
use code Ghost train for one FREE evp upload
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