Ghostly Kids Push You Off Train Tracks

[ABOTU]

Ghostly Kids Push You Off Train Tracks

Urban Legend: The protective ghosts of little children killed at a railway crossing push stalled cars off the tracks.

The Story:

This one is actually true. It's been talked about on many TV stations including an Los Angeles, California station by "The Earth Man" Garcia. It has to do with a school bus full of children that had stalled on some train tracks in San Antonio, Texas. A train was coming and was going too fast to stop in time to get the bus off the tracks. The bus was hit and all of the children died. It was a great tragedy. The tracks are located on a curve in the road but the tracks are on a small up-hill grade to both sides.

If you stop your car just on the tracks and put it in neutral, it will slowly start to roll over the little hill and down the other side.

A local Los Angeles, California station sent a crew there to check it out and it was done on tape, with a San Antonio sheriff present. The cars back end was cleaned off of any finger prints before the test was done and after it was done it was dusted for prints. Several small hand prints and finger prints showed up on the bumper, showing that the small hands of the ghost children were pushing the car to get it off the tracks.

There are also claims that this is nothing more than a gravity anomaly allowing a non-moving vehicle to move over a small up-grade. But no one can explain away the hand and finger prints.

I heard this on a show I saw recently with my brother. so I thought I might share it even though there is probably already a topic on this.

[Hoagy]

I saw the show with the crew dusting for prints, and although they 'apparently' got handprints of children, I do believe that its an optical effect, where the road looks like it goes uphill but really is the opposite.

Neato thing to spook your buddies out with tho

[NJC]

this is real i see people do it all the time on tv they put powder on their car's bumper and they see finger prints and they also save gas

Edited August 5, 2005 by NJC

[Dr1273]

We have the same legend here about 35 miles from where I live. I don't know if it's true or not I've never tried it. But talking to many people from so many different places they have this same legend in pretty much every state in the US.

[Great Big Sea]

The train one with the kids fingerprints on the back bumper I didn't believe that one, I saw it on Hard Copy. So you know how truthfull some of their stories where. There are various forms of this ghost hands on bumper stories. I'm sure if someone googled it this they would get a lot of links. (or maybe a few) And about the cars going up wards without the driver doing so that's a true story I saw it about three or four weeks ago on Creepy Canada on the OLN Network.

Edit: It might be on Creepy Canada or Worlds Best: Creepiest Destinations. It had to be Worlds Best yeah I think it was.

[piercing_maniac]

I alos saw something like that on a show... It sounds a bit weird, and why would ghosts have handprints??

[Aquaryus]

Funny- The exact same story also surfaces here in Pennsylvania.. Supposedly, a busload of kids were killed at this bad "T" intersection where the road curves hard and goes up a mountain, and the road that intersects it is on another hard hill. So when you come to the stop sign, and look right, you can't see if something is coming around the corner.. Anyway.. If you stop at the bottom of the hill by the stop sign and put your car in neutral, you're car will be pushed back by the spirits of the children.. I have done it with two cars, one time loaded with 8 people and my car did go backwards up the hill and my steering will was ripped out of my hand and straightened.. The other time in my new car with two other friends.. It was snowing and I wanted to see if the finger prints would be in the snow.. I got a better imprint.. one of an angel in the snow on my hood.. It was amazing...

[Faeden]

I have seen the San Antonio Texas legend on TV and read about it in books.

There is a photo taken at the San Antonio railroad that you can find below. I do not know if its real or not, but you might be interested in seeing it.

Faeden

[rickfury188]

What if the fingerprints are yours??? I mean humans excrete sweat with other wastes through the fingertips, so if you previously touched the bumper and trunk, and then went to the site and put powder on the bumper and trunk, and then you go and drive to see if the ghost kids will push you, and then you get out, and then fingerprints magically show up?? Has anyone ever thought of this?

[Dreamer]

I moved to San Antonio recently. The first week I was here my husband took me to this spot to test it out. Our car did roll across the tracks. Maybe I can go again and take a vid this time for yall. It does look like you are rolling slightly up hill, but I heard that this is just a visual effect caused by the way that the sides of the road are. I suppose if i took a builders balancer out there with me I could tell for sure.

[aquatus1]

As Rickfury mentioned, there is no reason why a ghost would leave fingerprints. If you want an explanation for the fingerprints, just watch an episode of CSI. You can dust practically any car and get fingerprints off it.

[JennRose]

If this is a legend that occurs in lots of places, my guess is that a somewhat common optical illusion has just developed a story. Mythbusters should investigate to see if there is some sort of mirage created by a railroad cutting through a road.

[eveningsky339]

If this is a legend that occurs in lots of places, my guess is that a somewhat common optical illusion has just developed a story. Mythbusters should investigate to see if there is some sort of mirage created by a railroad cutting through a road.

That's a good idea! I should call them up...

As Rickfury mentioned, there is no reason why a ghost would leave fingerprints. If you want an explanation for the fingerprints, just watch an episode of CSI. You can dust practically any car and get fingerprints off it.

I agree. It could be anyone's fingerprints on the back of the cars. And besides, ghosts are spirits right? Why would they leave fingerprints?

I have seen the San Antonio Texas legend on TV and read about it in books.

There is a photo taken at the San Antonio railroad that you can find below. I do not know if its real or not, but you might be interested in seeing it.

That's a photoshopped pic if I've ever seen one, probably just someone trying to 'help' the legend along.

By the way JennRose, I think there is a legend similar to this right here in Chattanooga. Maybe we should look into it?

Edited August 7, 2005 by eveningsky339

[JennRose]

By the way JennRose, I think there is a legend similar to this right here in Chattanooga.  Maybe we should look into it?

776698[/snapback]

Really? I've never heard that. That's neat! I don't know any area legends..haven't lived here that long.

[Ausaria]

In chattanooga? My aunt and I might go see for ourselves, we love that stuff.

[JennRose]

In chattanooga? My aunt and I might go see for ourselves, we love that stuff. 

776815[/snapback]

Cool! We can all have a ghost-hunt, like the Scooby-Doo gang. Michelle lives here, too, and she has a big dog that can be Scooby.

[mystery-man]

I've heard of something similar to this story. I think it was about a train crash and all the kids were killed. The tracks shut down now but you still see the train going along the tracks and then stopping at the same place and time of the crash. Correct me if I'm wrong please.

[PuffyAmiYumi]

That may happen in Silent Hill 3, but not in real life. or, well, not in england. good, my sister is a good traveller. She always gets the train to Cafe Nirvana in wigan.

[manitou]

This is so sweet! Children trying to prevent you from dying on the tracks... It's almost sentimental. Poor kids, why aren't they in heaven, they're just kids for christs sake!

But seriously, it IS interesting, but the very common-ness does imply a certain fictitiuous-ness. Optics can be very deluding.

[Apparition]

Heh, we have the exact same story here in San Antonio Texas. I have actually seen the newspaper clipping of the incident that caused the legend. A schoolbus with something like 26 children were killed on the tracks. Bus stalled or some such, its been a while since ive seen the old newspaper clipping (a teacher of mine when i was in middle school showed us)

A bunch of streets in the area actually have the childrens first and last names to remember them. Some friends and i have done this and did in fact go across it. People always ssay some dumb sh** like your going down hill when you arent. Also it doesnt happen for like 15-20 seconds each time. If you were going to roll down hill it would be almost instant. Ive personally experienced it and love going there.

[OogieBoogie]

God! has every town had a school bus hit by a train?

[ABOTU]

nope not Bexley. That could be 1 because we don't have any buses, or 2 because we have no trains

[rob lester]

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/hndprint.asp#franklin

Here it is apparation , also check out the gravity road link....

Edited August 13, 2005 by rob lester

[Undefined_innocence]

There is a large hill around here where i live that does the same thing. Get to the foot of the hill, stop the car and put it in neutral. It will roll completely up the hill and stay there unstead of rollong down the other side.

[jamesuss]

Heh, we have the exact same story here in San Antonio Texas. I have actually seen the newspaper clipping of the incident that caused the legend. A schoolbus with something like 26 children were killed on the tracks. Bus stalled or some such, its been a while since ive seen the old newspaper clipping (a teacher of mine when i was in middle school showed us)

It never happened. A bus load of children was never hit by a train in San Antonio.

A bunch of streets in the area actually have the childrens first and last names to remember them. Some friends and i have done this and did in fact go across it. People always ssay some dumb sh** like your going down hill when you arent. Also it doesnt happen for like 15-20 seconds each time. If you were going to roll down hill it would be almost instant. Ive personally experienced it and love going there.

786056[/snapback]

Actually, those streets are not named after these children because it never happened. Last I heard the streets are actualy named after either the first families that lived on them or the first children that were born there. That is not at all uncommon in Texas.

As for the "being pushed" thing, that is total BS. It is an illusion that you are uphill. The side of the road is going uphill. The road itself is on a slight downward incline that is far to miniscule for the human eye to see. Combine that with the sides and it most certainly looks like it is uphill. Also, the reason the car takes "15-20 seconds" is because of Newton's first law of motion-an object at rest wishes to stay at rest and an object at motion wishes to stay at motion. Basically the car wants to stay at rest but gravity eventually takes over and the car then rolls downhill.

The fingerprints are also nothing more than simple physics/biology. Your finger prints stay behind for a while when you touch metal. When you cover the bumper in powder the movement of the car coupled with the wind blows the powder away and leaves behind what has stuck to the oils from your own hands.

Really, this myth has been proven false enough times that people should no longer view it as anything more than an interesting trick of the mind.