 Mutual presents the Mysterious Traveler. This is the Mysterious Traveler. Invite you to join me on another journey into the realm of the strange and the terrifying. I hope you will enjoy the trip, that it will thrill you a little and chill you a little. So settle back, get a good grip on your nerves and be comfortable. If you can, for in a few moments, you're going to meet a coast. The strangest phantom that you ever heard of. But first, I want you to be my guest on a little train ride. We're running at 60 miles an hour on open track in the dead of night. Now we thunder through a sleeping village. Then beyond it, we plunge into the waiting mouth of a tunnel. We race through the tunnel and into the open again. Over a trestle and on into the night. A little world of our own rushing forward resistlessly. A symbol of power and speed and life. Yes, trains do have a life of their own. As you'll see in the unusual ghost story that I call... The Locomotive Ghost. My story starts some years ago in a hilly region of western Pennsylvania. It's almost midnight and two men laden down with several handbags are moving cautiously over the rough ground beneath a railroad trestle. They come to a spot beneath one end of it and there in the darkness they stop and turn on a flashlight. All right, we can sit down and rest now. Are you sure this is the right spot? Of course I'm sure. This is the loading spurt. It branches off at a mine entrance. Main line's over there about a hundred yards away. How long do you think we'll have to wait? Five or ten minutes. These mine trains don't run in a minute the way they do out in the main line. Suppose the money isn't on the mine train. They might have changed their plans. It'll be on it. Those miners are waiting for their pay and the treasure's bringing it himself. Plus bonus money and cash for operating expenses. Big haul, my friend. Two hundred thousand dollars. Two hundred thousand dollars? That's a lot of dough, but... But what? You getting cold feet? No, no, of course not, but... Well, they'll be killed, won't they? The crew on the train? Forget it. I thought you were turning soft on me now after I spilled the whole plant to you. No, Joe, I'm not turning soft. Joe. What is it? I thought I heard a noise there. Over there. It's just your imagination. Oh, you're right. Somebody's coming. Keep the light steady. I got my gun handy. Who could it be? It's probably just a bum. He'll often sleep under his trestle. All right, you step over here. It's only me, boys. Just the old boomer. Who? The old boomer, that's all. Looking for a place to bunk. Howdy, boys. It's okay, Tom. I heard of this guy. So you're old boomer, huh? And when they call a king out of bums... Not the king, son. Just the travelin' this one up more. Fifty years I've been ridin' the rods, and I guess I've covered a million miles of track. Mind if I sit down here? Got kind of achin' my bones. Sit down if you want to. Uh, thanks, son. Say, you fellas ain't bums. You're dressed too good. Never mind about us. Curiosity ain't healthy. Oh, boomer never fights with anybody. Live and let lives his motto. Listen, here comes number 25. It's a mighty fine train, 25. Got a 16-wheel Makato engine. Can pull 20 cars at 80 on a level track. He's, uh, 50 seconds late tonight. Do you know every train on the tracks? Pretty near, son, pretty near. I ain't rode them all. I rode them all, I mean, from the Lackawon to the Santa Fe. There ain't much about trains, I don't know. Say, you fellas wouldn't have a little nip-handy to take the chill out of an old man's bones. No, we ain't got a little nip-handy. Sure, son. No harm in askin'. There's a 25 passing Minesville now. Ain't that the whistle far off in the night with your sweet Minesville sound, though? Yeah, it is kind of Minesville. Sounds you're far off and ghostly, don't it? Well, sometimes there's a ghost you hear, not a real train at all. What are you talkin' about? I'm just sayin' that sometimes when you hear train whistlein', far off and Minesville in the night, ain't a real train at all. It's a ghost train. Ghost train? It's a lot of hooey. You just think so because you're young and don't know better. Boomer can tell you there's ghost trains and plenty of them. There are the ghosts, the trains that died in Rex. Anything as live as a train is bound to have a ghost live on after. All right, Canada chatter. You're hittin' my ears. Now, let him talk. Joe, it helps pass the time. All right, but if you ask me, he's spoutin' a lot of bush work. Go on, Boomer. What were you sayin' about trains havin' ghosts? Well, I've seen him many a time. They're runnin' the tracks with all the lights out, goin' faster than the wing. Not a sound comin' from him. I've seen the heavenly express too, couple times. What's the heavenly express? It's a special train, son. It's on the earth to heaven run. Travels a million miles a minute when it gets up speed. Takes the souls of railroad men from this world to the next. It always passes by when Rex gotta happen. That's enough talk. I'm sick of listenin' to you. All right, son. You don't believe me, but I know what I know. Glory be to you. I hear it comin'. I hear it comin' now. Hear what comin'? The heavenly express. It's comin' down this track. Listen. I don't hear anything. There's nothin' to hear. Passin' right by overhead. Now it's slower. It's gonna stop. It's never stopped before. That means Rex's gonna be here. Joe, he knows. That's it. That's what you hear for. You're gonna wreck that mine train. Hear that, old man? That's a mine train turnin' into this spur. You're right. We're gonna wreck it. No, you can't. You mustn't get... But before we do, we gotta take care of you. And this is how we're gonna do it. You shot him. I guess the heavenly express stopped for me too. I sure hope so. But you fellas, it'll punish you. It'll follow you. Sure as I'm believein' here. Don't follow us. What are you talkin' about? It's judgment special. It punishes fellas with correct trains on purpose. It runs any place as tracks. It follows them until it gets them. One way or another. Because murderin' a train is like murderin' a man. You gotta pay for it. And if you'll pay for it, you think I'm crazy. But you'll see. You'll see. Yeah, let's shut him up. Crazy or coot. I wish you hadn't killed him, Joe. Up here, sap. Couldn't let him live to tell what he knew, could he? No, no, of course not. Listen, I hear the mine train comin'. We just got time to get ready now. Put the suitcase with the dynamite against the trestle here. That's it. Come on, help me unroll a wire. Yeah, sure. Join anything you say. That's it. Keep comin'. Gotta get plenty far away. Get a train now. Headlight, too. Look how bright it is. Okay, this is far enough. Take me just a second to hitch up the detonator. There it is. Now we're all ready. It's on the trestle now. Almost halfway across. It's a matter. It sounds shaky. Listen, Tommy, you're in this now, and it's too late to back out, you hear? Yeah, I know. It's almost across. All right, then, I'll close the detonator. Now, there she goes. Two hours later, the two men, Joe Malone and Tom Henderson, were driving eastward through the night, far from the scene of the train wreck. Between them on the seat was a large handbag, and Joe Malone at the wheel patted it lovingly. 200,000 bucks. Ha! You realize that, Tom? We got 200,000 bucks right in here between us. Yeah. Yeah, I know. It's a matter. You don't sound very happy about it. Sure I am. It's just... Just what? Well, I can't help remembering the crash when the mine train went to the ravine. The way the whistle kept screaming, just like the locomotive was something alive that was being killed. Oh, for Pete's sake, the whistle valve got stuck when the engine crashed. That's all. Sure, I know. That only... Well, I just can't help remembering it. Joe, the crew were all killed, weren't they? I suppose they were. What do you care? You're as nervous as an old woman. You should never rung you in on this job. All right, really I am, Joe. Listen, what are you going to do with your 100,000? I'm heading for the big town. I'm going to have one swell time. I'm going to buy new clothes, stay at the best hotel in town, and really cut loose. Meet me in New York. I'll show you real time. Where are you going to stay? This is Miller's boarding house. It's over on the west side. You can find it in the phone book. I'm just staying there until I can buy some real classy duds. And I'm moving to Park Avenue. Always had a yen to live in Park Avenue. Now I'm going to see what it's like. Eh, sounds all right, maybe a... Joe, look out the train. What did you do that for? Why'd you grab the brake? Your stall is right here in the middle of a railroad crossing. I had to, Joe. The train and the track there in front of us, we almost ran into it. What are you talking about? There wasn't any train on that track. But there was running without lights and not making a sound. You're crazy. I tell you, there wasn't anything in sight. Not even a hand car. But I saw it, Joe. You ever heard of a train running without lights? That proves you're crazy. Well, maybe it was an empty. But if I hadn't stopped the car, we'd have smashed into the side of it. Ah, good mind it sucked you one. Now we're stalling the railroad track and the car won't start. I'll get out and push. Joe, look. A headlight. Real train this time. Coming around to Bend. It's up 200 yards off. Joe, it's going to hit us. We've got to jump. Yeah, but this door won't open. It's stuck. Come on out this side. Come on, I got the bag. My coach caught in the car door. I'm stuck. Help me. I can't, Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe, help! Help me! Help! Mr. Mr, you all right? Friendly. Must have been killed. Yes, he sure was. So when do you get away and look at your car? There's pieces of it spread a quarter mile up the track. Whatever made you stop right there on the crossing? Car stall. Who are you? I'm the crossing watchman. Watchman? Why weren't you on duty? Why didn't you signal there was a train coming? Because I didn't know it, Mr. That was the wrecking train taken doctors down to Mindville. It was unscheduled. Oh, I see. What about the other train? The one that went past going east just before the wrecking train hit us. Other train? Yeah. No other train due through here till 6 a.m. this morning. I saw it. I tell you, traveling without lights. No train ever travels without lights. It's again the law. Say, are you drunk? No, no, I'm not. Where you going? Listen, I got a report to make on this. You got to fill out a form. I get it. I'm not interested. Get away from here. I'm going to New York. Late the next afternoon, Tom Henderson reached New York. Not knowing where else to go, he hunted in the phone book for Mrs. Miller's boarding house that Joe Malone had mentioned and went there. Mrs. Miller gave him a room on the top floor and very carefully locked in the closet the precious handbag that held $200,000. All of it is since Joe's unfortunate death. After that, Tom went out to see New York's nightclubs. But he got back after midnight, feeling considerably more cheerful as he was about to unlock his door Mrs. Miller appeared in the hall. Oh, Mr. Henderson. Oh, yeah, Mrs. Miller. I was waiting for you, Mr. Henderson. It turns so cool that I lit the gas heater in your room. Well, thanks a lot. I just wanted to warn you that... What was that? What was what, Mr. Henderson? That whistle just now. What was it? A boat out in the river? That was a freight train, Mr. Henderson. Freight train? Here in the heart of New York? Well, yes. They come down the west side elevated tracks to the freight yard downtown. They run past just a few yards down the street. I didn't know that. I wouldn't have come here if I had. I'm sure they won't bother you, Mr. Henderson. Really, they won't. Good night. Oh, bad luck. She's sure they won't bother me. It's too late to find some place where I'd leave here right now. I'll close the window. I'll keep the sound out. Anyway, suppose I can hear a train or two. Well, I'm gonna hear in them, do me. I'm gonna go to sleep, forget it. Yeah, forget it. I've got 200,000 bucks in my whole life ahead of me. I should let an old coot like that boomer worry me. Joe's getting killed by a train was just an accident. Could happen to anybody. Me? I'm alive. Tomorrow, I'm gonna start enjoying it plenty. Get aboard, son. We're leaving in one millionth of a second, and we've got to be on time. Boomer, it's you. That's right, son. We've got to wake up and get aboard. We're pulling out. I mean, a railroad station someplace, but... everything's so misty, I can't see much. No time for talking, son. Gotta get aboard. I'm the only passenger, except for you and me, there isn't another soul in sight. And you're wearing a conductor's uniform. They promoted me. Now, come on, get aboard. I better want to. I don't like trains. I don't want to go anyplace. Hand have it. This is a special trip just for you. And you've got to be aboard. Come on, now, up those steps. That's it. Now we're off right on time to the millionth of a second. Where are we going? What train is this? It's the judgment special, son. And we're bound from this world to the next. No. No. There, or anyplace, there's tracks to judge up right outside your window and took your boy. I don't want to die. I don't want to. If you're having any choice, son, you're on the job. You're on the job, son. You're on the job, son. You're on the job, son. You're on the job, son. You're on the job, son. If you're having any choice, son, you're on the judgment special and we're hitting a million miles a minute now. Look out the window. There's the Earth way down below us. See it? Yeah. Well, I don't want to leave it. I don't want to go. Look at the stars flash by. We're going a million miles a minute and it'll take us all eternity to get there. Here, I'll put the wind up so you can see better. There you are, son. There's the Earth we left. That tiny little god of light way up in the sky. I won't go with you. I won't. Hey, what are you doing? Get down. Can't jump out that window. We're going a million miles a minute. I won't jump. I'm not going with you. Come back. Come back. Wake up, Mr. Henderson. Wake up. Wake up. What is it? What is it? Mr. Henderson, thank heaven you're still alive. I thought you were dead for sure. What happened? You closed your window. I meant to warn you that with the gas heater on, you must leave it open while you're almost suffocated in your sleep. I almost suffocate? Yes. If I hadn't heard you trying to get your breath and hurried in and opened your window, you'd have been dead now for sure. The rest of the night, Tom Henderson spent sitting on a bench in the nearest park shivering at the nearness of his escape. The next day, he bought himself an expensive wardrobe. Then he checked into the biggest hotel on Park Avenue. There, just before he retired, he took his sleeping tablet. Yeah. I'd fix it. I'll dream for me tonight. Ah, some layout. So this is what you can enjoy when you have money. And I'm going to enjoy it. I've been letting my nerves get the better of me. Not anymore. Feel better already. So, how goes the light? I'll sleep like a millionaire. Yes, just like a millionaire. And so Tom fell asleep. But unfortunately, he did dream. And he knew he was dreaming that he couldn't wake up. It was a very curious dream, indeed. He dreamed that he got up and dressed, rode down in the elevator, that he walked out into Park Avenue, and there, down the street, he found a tiny door which he entered. It led down a flight of steep iron stairs to a dark tunnel far beneath the ground. There in the tunnel, a man was waiting for him. The man turned and he saw it was his former pal, Joe Malone. Hello, Tom. Joe. Joe, it's you. Yeah. I've been waiting for you, Tom. But, but you're dead. I saw you killed. Maybe I'm dead. Maybe I'm not. You're dead. I know it. It's just a dream. I gotta wake up. Can't wake up. Don't you understand? You're never gonna wake up. I will. I will. Oh, Tom, come along with me. I'm here to guide you. Where? Where are you taking me? Down this tunnel. See how it stretches out? On and on. How it keeps going down and down. No. What do you think it goes to? I don't know. I don't want to know. Come on, Tom. I can't wait all night. No, I won't go. I'm gonna wake up. You can't, Tom. The night I was killed, you saw the judgment special. Now you can never get away from it. It's not true. This is, it's a dream. I'm safe in my own bed in the hotel. Then you refuse to come with me? Yes, I do. I refuse. Listen, Tom. Listen to what? I don't hear anything. It's closer now. You hear that? That's the judgment special, Tom. Coming through this tunnel. Train. It's a train coming. Where are you going to go? You're in a tunnel, Tom. And no way out. It's just a dream. It can't hurt me. It's coming closer, Tom. It's coming closer. No, it's only a dream. I gotta wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up, Mr. Oh, Kevin's I'm awake. I'd say not any too soon, either. What? Carrying a lantern. Oh, my. Mr. I'm a track walker. Track walker? What do you mean? I mean that I inspect the track here under Park Avenue. What? How did I get here? Well, Mr. a minute ago, I found you walking in your sleep. Your eyes tight closed down this tunnel right under Park Avenue. Park Avenue? If I hadn't met you, you never would open your eyes again. Because number 10 is due along here in three minutes. Then... Then it wasn't a dream. I... I really am in a railroad tunnel. Yes, I am. I'll say, Yar. I got here I don't know unless you came down one of the inspection doors from the street. But, brother, if this walking in your sleep is something you do often, take my advice and see a doctor. But Tom didn't go to a doctor, for he knew what a doctor would say. But it was his nerves, his guilty conscience. Now Tom felt he had to get away. Far away to a place where there were no trains to haunt him. And Donny bought a ticket on the first plane leaving for Canada. That afternoon he found himself in a tiny town deep in the heart of Canada. There he hired a French Canadian guide to take him by canoe, far into the woods, away from any trace of civilization. Late that night they arrived at the cabin where the guide lived with his wife. Tom unpacked his suitcase and joined the guide and his wife on the porch. For the first time since the wrecking of the mine train, Tom felt at peace. Oh, this is something like it. It is peaceful, is it not, Monsieur? Ah, Monsieur's nerves are better already. Yes, this is what I need. How far is it to the nearest railroad? It is 80 miles, Monsieur. 80 miles? Oh, boomers that have traveled anywhere there were tracks. 80 miles ought to be enough. Pardon? I do not understand. Oh, never mind. I've got to get some sleep now. Good night, Monsieur. Good night, Monsieur. What was that? What was what, Monsieur? That whistle then. It sounded like a train whistle. Impossible. It must have been an owl. Yeah, sure. Sorry I bothered you. Good night. Tom entered his room and went to bed. But he could not sleep. He tossed and turned and at last got up and dressed. Oh, the moon was bright. I'll take a little walk. I've got to calm myself down. There's nothing to worry about now, not a thing. Out here in the wilds, I'm safe. Perfectly safe. Tom left the cabin and entered the woods. They pressed thick around him. But an open passageway through the trees attracted Tom. He started down it, the moonlight illuminating his way. He paused and made a startling discovery. While I'm walking on old railroad ties. And there are tracks here, all rusted and loose. But the guide said there wasn't a railroad close to the 80 miles. He lied to me. He tricked me. A train. There's a train coming. It's coming toward me. There's a headlight. I've got to run. Run! Run! Marie! Marie! What is it, Pierre? The nervous one. He's not in the cabin. He has wandered off into the woods. That is strange. We must go after him. Hurry before he does himself an injury. It's still behind me. Still following me. I can't. I can't run anymore. I can't. I can't go any further. I've got to stop. I've got to stop. Judgment special, son. It runs any place there's tracks. And it follows it till it gets you. Because murdering a train is like murdering a man. You've got to pay for it. You think I'm crazy, but you'll see. Here it comes, son. No! No! He cannot be far now, Marie. See his footprints? Ah, he was running for half a mile. He would do himself harm running so hard on his darkness. It is the nervous one. We have found him. He's lying face down. Wait. I will turn him over. Pierre, he lies so still. Has he done himself an injury? No, Marie. There is not a mark on him. Yet his face, it is twisted with fear. Pierre, is he... Is he dead? Yes, Marie. He is dead. His heart. He killed himself by running, no doubt. But what was it he ran away from? There is nothing dangerous in these woods. The mysterious traveler again. Poor Tom. The tracks he found himself on led to an abandoned logging camp. They hadn't been used in 20 years. And no train could possibly have run on them. Except a ghost train. But of course, none of us believes in ghosts. So we just have to accept the coroner's verdict, which was heart failure induced by overexertion. Just the same. If you ever see a train running without lights and going faster than the wind, don't be too sure it's only your imagination. And next time you hear a distant mournful whistle in the night, you... Oh, all this talk about trains is making you nervous and you have to get off here. I'm sorry. But I'm sure we'll meet again. Shall we say... next week, at the same time? You've just heard the mysterious traveler, a series of dramas of the strange and terrifying. In today's cast were Maurice Tarplin, James McAllen, Joe Julian, Breiner Rayburn, and Cameron Andrews. Original music was played by Charles Paul. Mysterious Traveler is written, produced, and directed by Bob Arthur and David Cogan. Listen next week to a tale titled... The Mandy Insects Hated. A Strange and Shibri Tale of the Mysterious Traveler. The Mysterious Traveler has come to you from our New York Studios. Car Caruso speaking, this is the Mutual Broadcasting System.