The 1950’s town of Beawslaiw is located along the Southern Pacific main line somewhere between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The tracks of the branch line Brisbane and Bushong Railroad run from the SP line into town. Along those tracks is the church of St. Matthew. Alongside the church building is a small cemetery that extends up next to the track ballast. Most of the church’s congregation is Beawslaiw citizens. It is a quaint church with the friendly and approachable Pastor Andy. Besides the pulpit on Sundays, Pastor Andy can be seen around the church property chatting and counseling parishioners. The cemetery is a serene plot of land with flowers and moss-covered headstones. It is common to see contemplating folks sitting on the bench or paying their respects to loved ones buried there. Next to the church building is the private mausoleum that belongs to the Beaws clan… one of the town’s pioneer families.
However, at the bar, in McCuaig’s Maui Lounge, old timers will tell stories of ghosts and hauntings that happen when Halloween night comes to the graveyard. There are legends of engineer Buck Owens who died in a train accident near the church on Halloween. Reports say that his ghost wanders along the tracks searching for his locomotive. Some say there have been sightings of hobo ghosts haunting the box cars and skeletons trying to hitch a ride. There are stories of ghosts of the Beaws family floating out of the mausoleum, grave robbers, scarecrows, pumpkins, wolves and haunted hearses! Apparitions were viewed sitting on the bench among the tombstones. Some townsfolk are adamant about what they’ve witnessed. Others shake their heads and attribute the happenings to a few too many beers. Pastor Andy will not talk about these Halloween happenings.
Folks have handed down stories about the town drunk, Bartholomew Blatt, and how he was once an aspiring photographer. He would railfan and snap photos of town buildings and events. Blatt even worked part-time for the Beawslaiw Bulletin newspaper. It is said that he took his trusty Kodak Pony 135 camera and went to the cemetery one Halloween night to catch some of the strange happenings on film. He was found the next morning, sitting in the train station, in a comatose state. His camera was gone. He never took photos again. Instead…he took to the bottle and spent most of his days at the Maui Lounge drinking away his nightmares and most of his nights in the county jail. There are townsfolk who claim that his camera was found in the Beaws Mausoleum and that some black and white photos from that night were found and are still circulating around!
Nobody knows for sure. But most of the citizens of Beawslaiw stay away from the boneyard near the tracks on Halloween night!
HAVE A HAPPY HALLOWEEN! From the entire staff at the Brisbane & Bushong Railroad
. Quite creative and freaky creepy!
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