Railway Ghosts

by John Attwood Brooks

Book by Brooks, J. A.

Genres: Ghosts, Supernatural

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice easy read for anyone who enjoys tales of the supernatural, and anyone who finds themselves fascinated by the romantically dated concept of steam trains. I'm no train fanatic, but this book is enjoyable for the author's obvious love of The Age of Steam. He also tells some good, sometimes even creepy, ghost stories - with a helpful blend of humor thrown into the mix. He claims that all these stories were derived from real accounts told by those who worked on the rails - but as a firm believer in the supernatural myself, I highly doubt the authenticity of some of these stories. But there are a good few that just might have been true - and even if they're not, they still make for a good read...

[C.L. Spillard · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exorcism in a damp, rat-infested tunnel on a late autumn night. Deadly revenge for a practical joke that went too far. Entire, blood-soaked battles looming out of the Highland fog. It's all here, written in such a style that you could imagine it recounted by a workmate or a friend in a cosy pub or parlour by the fire.

The sixteen short tales are based upon accounts of genuine incidents which the author - who has also written on regional ghosts and supernatural legends from Cornwall to Scotland - has collected from his research into 'legends' of the railways from the age of steam. Though it's an era I'm only just old enough to remember, the careful attention to detail took me right back there.

Interestingly the author remarks, in his introduction, on the dearth of material his research into ghost stories of the railways turned up - and not for want of trying. This he - and I - find puzzling: you would think the combination of 'newfangled' fast transport, dangerous machinery, and even more perilous manual labour in the railway lines' construction, would have inspired many more legends concerning untimely deaths and wronged souls.

The collection ends with a more modern tale, by Sir John Betjeman, set in the London Underground of the nineteen fifties. Though once read out on the Home Service, the story had never before been published.

As I finished reading, it occurred to me that even today, though rail travel with diesels, electrification and mass transit seems to have lost the romance of Steam and become more mundane and prosaic, who is to say there will never be more ghost stories lurking out there? After all the railway can be an eerie, disquieting place in the night - and there are still crews who work those 'ghost shifts' checking over every piece of machinery and foot of line, for our safety.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sixteen tales of the Supernatural set in the golden age of steam railways. On the cover it says "The fashion in architecture duly reflected in station and other railway buildings, held the Gothic style in high regard which gave to the railways an atmosphere of gloomy romance which even survives in this age of diesel and electric power." Coupled with the amount of tragedies that beset the original building of the railway lines and the isolation of some of the branch line stations before Beeching it is a theme that I think lends itself to tales of ghostly haunting. In his research for this book the author spoke to many of the old railwaymen, he claims in the introduction, and uses their recollections of "spooky locations" and feelings of unease as the basis for these fictional tales. My thoughts are that they are a bit of mixed bag, however the stand out tale for me is South Kentish Town (possibly because it was written by John Betjeman) because the prose is so beautiful and mood that is conveyed is genuinely one of trapped terror. Of the J.A. Brookes tales my favorite was (perhaps inevitably for me) the tale of The Platform Dog in which the author refers to the dogs that were frequently used to collect donations at larger stations for the Widow and Orphans of Railwaymen fund. If it was my fate to be haunted I cannot think of a better ghost than that of a dog who "craved human affection and company".

Perfect read I think for a long train when a thought could be spared for all those who have lost their lives and health in making train travel even possible.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a truly engaging read for me one I enjoy ghost stories and two due my sons joy of trains I understood a lot of the meanings in the book too. A lovely read taking you back to the old day of steam

[Suzanne (winterscribbler) Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is why I shouldn't be allowed 2 work in the quiet libraries. This was book was actually quite a surprise in terms of the different stories. A few were traditional as I expected but overall there was a real variety of horror, tragedy and an appropriate dose of humour. Overall a celebration of the railway as a way of life that overlaps beautifully with ghost story tradition. The mural of tickets from passengers killed in the Tey Bridge disaster inside the cover is a wonderfully dark and sad touch- a reminder that none of us can know if we're embarking on our final journey.

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fictional short stories set during the age of steam and on lines that either exsist to this day or had exsisted. Also some stories are set on real events(accidents) etc.