Around my area there’s an old urban legend of a condemned tunnel that used to be a part of the railroad that ran throughout my town. It was really active until the 80’s when the train derailed in a freak accident, and killed everyone aboard. The tunnel the train ran through was devastated, only made worse by the crews who cleared the rubble in an attempt to save all of the passengers on the train. Once all the bodies were recovered, and the city confirmed there were no survivors aboard, the city decided to condemn the tunnel rather than spend the money to fix it, and the rails inside. The area was closed off, but several teenagers in the area would go there to prove how brave they were to one another, but always left in fear before going in too deep.
When I was 16 I too was one of those teenagers who went in. My friend, Wayne, and I went into the tunnel to impress the girls in our class, and forever regretted it. Finding an entrance to the tunnel wasn’t hard, as the chain link fence that was placed around the tunnel had been battered, and was barely standing anymore due to the amount of people who had entered before us. As soon as we entered, the first thing we saw were pieces of the wreck that had been left after the accident. While the train had derailed, there were some cars that were still standing. The main thing people would do is explore the cars, and see how long it would take someone to back out in fear and leave.
As we went in to explore the tunnel, Wayne and I turned on our flashlights, and walked deeper inside. Most of the tunnel had been demolished by the damage done by the train. Rubble from the ceiling had fallen down, and most of the area was only accessible from walking through the cars. From what we had heard, there were three cars that had crashed into the tunnel. It seemed as though everyone ran out after the first car, but Wayne and I were determined to make it through all three. Ready to make our way into the tunnel before us, Wayne and I moved forward, and approached the first car
The first car had been tipped over on its side in the accident, but was still able to be entered from the door missing in the back on it. Walking in, we could immediately see why most people ran as soon as they walked in. While all of the bodies had been recovered after the accident, some of the pieces of them weren’t. The walls, and floor of the train car were covered in blood, and half rotten organs, one of the seats had been knocked over on the floor, and someone’s decayed leg was crushed underneath. The air was filled with the smell of rotting flesh, and death. It took everything to not puke from the sight alone, let alone the oppressive stench that dominated the room.
As we walked further, Wayne stepped on the severed hand of someone who had died here decades ago, disturbing the maggots, and ants that called the mutilated hand home. This was what drove Wayne over the edge, and caused him to vomit on the side of the rows of seats that ran parallel to us. I couldn’t blame him, the sight, and smell of the vomit on top of what was in there caused me to vomit as well. As we made it to the end of the car, I was so glad to continue onwards. Thinking whatever may lie ahead of us would be much better than what lied behind us.
We then walked into the second car, and I was relieved at first to see this one was completely empty. Then I realized why no one had ever made it past the second car. Immediately, the inside of the car was swallowed by a wave of shadow that smothered all rays of light that dared to enter the interior. Surrounded by darkness with no way to see in front of, or behind you was terrifying enough, before the noises started. Completely engulfed in the maw of darkness, the sounds of the day all of these passengers met their end started to play all around us, as if it was being projected into our minds. The spirits of the victims of the accident, most screaming, others choking to death on their own blood, and the sounds of impact, and bodies being torn asunder were being forced to relive this for all eternity. All of them, forever stuck in a liminal space between whatwas, and what shouldn’t be.
Wayne and I somehow found the exit to the car, and ran through the first one, over the mangled organs that had been left to rot, and the jagged pieces of glass, and metal that had been twisted by the crash. Once finally out of the car, and at the entrance of the tunnel, we both fell to the ground and wept. We never made it to the third car, and from what I’ve heard no one ever has. I don’t know what may have been in that third car, but if it was even half as bad as what was in the second one, I’d rather die than find out for myself. The horrors we saw there may have lasted only moments for us, but they’ll stick with us for the rest of our days. However, the rest of our days is nothing compared to the rest of eternity that the spirits have to endure reliving it.
Credit: C.M Campbell
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