Twenty-nine-year-old Christopher Kaiser, along with friends trying to track down the legendary "ghost train" on one of the North Carolina railways, was the victim of a collision with a completely real train. The cause of the disaster was partly the young man's indecision, partly the place where the tragedy took place
But let's start with why Kaiser and a dozen of his friends ended up in this place. On August 27, 1891, a passenger train crashed on a high bridge near Statesville, North Carolina. Seven cars fell down, killing several dozen people.
The reason for this terrible incident remained unsolved, and a year later, people who found themselves on the bridge said that they heard the grinding of wheels, the screams of dying passengers and the terrible rumble of crushed metal. One witness even claimed to have seen a man dressed in the uniform of a machinist, who then disappeared as suddenly as he appeared.
When half a century has passed since the day of the disaster, local residents decided to organize a commemorative action on this occasion. T-shirts and other souvenirs were made with the words "The Horror of Bostian Bridge" and sold like hotcakes. A woman who visited the site of the tragedy told reporters that she heard sounds similar to those that people told about a year after the train crash.
In 1991, the anniversary of the disaster was celebrated on an even larger scale. The hawkers traded in trifles with the emblem of the ghost train and the corresponding inscriptions, and then closer to dark, about one and a half hundred people went to the ill-fated bridge to witness the appearance of the "Flying Dutchman" on wheels. Since then, mass pilgrimages to the site of the tragedy on the day of its anniversary have become a tradition. Therefore, it is not surprising that on August 27 this year, people also gathered at Bostian Bridge.
There were a little more than ten of them, but not one of them noticed a train approaching because of a sharp turn, consisting of two locomotives and one carriage. Since there was no room on the bridge to retreat from the rails and wait for the train to pass, all the ghostbusters had to jump down from a considerable height. None of them died or even suffered, all fell safely into the water and emerged. But Christopher Kaiser for some reason did not jump, remained standing on the bridge and was knocked to death.
The driver, who saw the scattering "pilgrims" too late, made an attempt to brake, but it was unsuccessful, although the train was moving at the usual speed - about 50 kilometers per hour. The blow was so strong that the man was thrown a great distance, and he fell down from the bridge. Apparently, the injuries he received did not leave him a chance to survive, but now it is difficult to say: in any case, help arrived too late.
Most of those who were with him on the bridge and jumped into the water fled as soon as they got ashore, because they feared police pursuit. After all, it is forbidden to be on the bridge without the permission of the authorities. In previous years, on the occasion of commemorative events, the bridge was closed, the movement of trains was blocked for a short period of time, so that those who wish could try to "catch" the ghost train. But this year the crowd came here without the consent of officials, for which the Kaiser paid with his life.