For decades, the train tracks in Chapel Hill have been plagued by a mysterious light that beckons witnesses closer to the tracks.
CHAPEL HILL, Tenn. (WKRN) — While many people have heard of the Headless Horseman, did you know Tennessee has its own version of a mysterious figure, located about an hour south of Nashville?
He’s known as the Headless Signalman, and he’s haunted the train tracks in Chapel Hill since at least the 1950s with his spooky Ghost Light.
Legend has it that an L&N train out of Nashville was on its way through Chapel Hill on a rainy night. An unnamed signalman was assigned to warn trains of a treacherous pass on the line over the Duck River.
Days of rain had washed out the fill beneath some of the tracks, creating a potential hazard for passing trains. The signalman was sent out to warn trains of the hazard by shining a signal light above the tracks at that spot.
Unfortunately for the signalman, heavy rain that night meant the train conductor couldn’t see the signalman without being dangerously close. The signalman allegedly waited until the last second to move off the tracks but slipped on the rain-soaked rails, and the train couldn’t stop in time.
The signalman had fallen with his head on the inside of the tracks, and the train, unable to stop in time, roared past where the signalman had fallen.
According to the legend, the train conductor stopped as quickly as possible and got out to find the signalman, but discovered the man’s head had been removed completely from his body on the tracks.
Ever since, locals have reported seeing a mysterious light flashing in the area where the train once rode through town, just west of Chapel Hill.
One of the more famous recollections of the Ghost Light comes from the 1950s. That story says two boys walking with their grandfather went out searching for the light together. After a while of searching, one of the boys stood stock still on the tracks and stared at a light that appeared out of nowhere in the distance. The light started moving and bobbing erratically, as if trying to get their attention, much like the legendary Signalman’s light.
All of a sudden, the light swooped toward the boys rapidly before quickly disappearing. One of the boys reported he felt a powerful force of some kind immobilized him, preventing him from screaming for help, just before the glowing light disappeared.
There is another possible origin story to the Ghost Light that comes from slightly earlier in time. According to local songwriter John Rickman, the Ghost Light belongs to the spirit of a man named Skip Adjent.
Adjent reportedly walked along the train tracks on June 8, 1942, but was hit and killed by a train traveling in the area.
“From that point on, the light was seen here out from that time,” Rickman said.
Rickman is the author of a song about the Ghost Light, “Chapel Hill Ghost Light.” It was recorded in 1977 by Us Two and Him.
The tale reached peak popularity in the 1960s and ‘70s. Rickman said groups of people would come to the tracks to try to get a glimpse of the light for themselves.
“The light was a destination back in the day,” he said. “Some came for adventure, or excitement, or nothing better to do.”
Rickman said some even brought guns to shoot at the light to see if it would go away, which was a problem.
“There was one person killed from Bedford County out on the railroad tracks. He was so enamored by the light that he came out here and got too close to the track and got hit by a train,” he said.
That practice stopped when law enforcement started making arrests.
Rickman even has his own eyewitness tale.
“I’ve seen it where it didn’t scare me so much,” he said. “But, people have reported where they would get in their car and take off.”
It’s not uncommon for lights to be seen on train tracks, but this particular light’s movements set it apart from other sightings.
“It goes across the tracks sometimes—sways back and forth,” Rickman said. “Sometimes it comes up, and sometimes it goes back. And you’re looking for it, and then it falls over behind you some way, it goes behind you.”
Some speculate the light is really a trick of chemistry, because of swamp gas or phosphorous.
The sightings have been less frequent in recent years, but the town’s folklore lives on through “The Chapel Hill Ghost Light.”