Going Down to San Antonio's Ghost TracksGoing Down to San Antonio’s Ghost Tracks

One of San Antonio’s persistent legends is that of the Ghost Tracks. The story goes that many years ago a busload of school children stalled out on a lonely stretch of railroad tracks. Naturally, a train came along and cut the bus in two, killing the driver and the children in front immediately. The children at the rear of the bus were dragged along for a slower, more gruesome fate. The streets in the neighborhood nearby were subsequently named in memory of these tragic waifs.

Now, if you head out to this desolate area of San Antonio (at the intersection of Shane and Villamain, south of Mission Espada) and put your car in neutral while it is sitting on the tracks, the ghosts of the dead children will come to push your car to safety. To confirm this, you can apply a coating of powder to your trunk and bumper to reveal the fingerprints of the ghostly crossing guards.

Dustin Coleman and the crew from 210SA went out to explore San Antonio’s Ghost Tracks. Here’s what they found:

What about the veracity of these claims?

Ghost Girl on the Tracks (Courtesy Andy & Debi Chesney via About.com)

Wikipedia notes that the Ghost Tracks are simply a ‘magnetic hill’ and that the tale is an urban legend. Roadside America lets you know that it is spooky feeling but not all that believable. Snopes.com does their standard job of debunking this tale, but About.com says that although you may be able to explain some of the phenomena present there is still plenty of mystery and they have the ghostly photographs to prove it!

If you head out to investigate yourself, be respectful of the neighborhood and be careful on the tracks…they are still in use and you do not want to spend the rest of eternity pushing cars out of the danger you should have avoided.