Testing the tracks

If you're from San Antonio, then you've probably heard about the legend of the ghost tracks on the South Side.

If you haven't, here it is in brief: Supposedly, in the 1930s, a school bus full of kids got stuck on some railroad tracks in San Antonio and got hit by a train. Now the ghosts of the children haunt the crossing, and whenever a car stops on the tracks, the little spirits come out of the woods to push the car to safety. It's such a popular story that people around here do experiments where they stop their cars on the tracks and wait for the kids to push them off. And they all pretty much swear that the ghosts come out and start manhandling their cars.

The problem is, there's no real basis to this story. Even people who believe in ghosts and make money off convincing other people that ghosts exist have come to the conclusion that there never was a school bus that was hit by a train at that location. Therefore, there are no benevolent spirits out there, and there's no such thing as "ghost tracks" in San Antonio.

But, that doesn't stop the people who want to believe.

Which brings me to this video, which I happened to come across while poking around on the web today. It's from October 2008, and it shows a group of people absolutely willing to believe in the nonexistent story. It's pretty entertaining, and worth a watch.



Some observations:

Opening - Nice effects. Nice creepy music.

0:58 - Evidence of children's fingerprints in the talcum powder sprinkled on the trunk? I doubt it. Those prints look awfully adult-sized to me, as if the powder had brought out the residual oils left behind by people putting their hands on the trunk lid to, say -- oh, I don't know -- maybe close the trunk from time to time? But I must be wrong. That kind of thing couldn't happen. Must be ghosts.

1:38 - Wow. Look at that trash. That looks like a dumping ground. I'm not sure I would want to be turning my car engine off in that area.

1:59 - Best line from the video: "Make sure you steer, stupes!"

2:11 - A nighttime try. Gaaaahhh! I'd be scared because of the area's appearance as a lonely dumping ground, not as a haunted place. But, no, go ahead and turn off your engine at night around there.

2:15 - Aaaaahhhh! Now you turned out the lights! What does that prove?

2:32 - Crap. He turned out his lights, too. That would be my cue to get the hell out of there.

2:42 - That ghostly voice sounds an awful lot like a sneeze to me.

2:58 - Dead smell. Most likely a dead animal (what a surprise in a rural area). Or something worse, given the dumping-ground nature of the place. But not particularly ghostly.

3:20 - I can explain it. Sweetleaf. Roll down the windows next time.


All in all, a fun little video to watch. Just don't take it as evidence of anything other than District 3 is in need of a visit from the Abatement Unit.