The ghost train of Ceylon.
Phantoms on line at scene of smash.
Incredible stories are told of weird happenings on the scene of the recent railway disaster at Kalutara, about 25 miles from Colombo, when 28 persons were killed, writes the British United Press correspondent.
The guard of a goods train reported that he heard the whistle of a railway train passing near Kalutara, and that when he peeped out of his van a shower of sand and stones hit the van, which was then almost exactly on the scene of the disaster.
A policeman related that while on patrol duty with two other constables he passed the spot where the train had been wrecked and heard cries of distress on the line about 100 yards from the high road. Flashing their lanterns the constables saw the forms of five or six persons seated on the rails. Rushing towards the figures, they found they had disappeared completely, and not a single mark of a footprint anywhere.
Two of the party continued their round, but two minutes later they again heard cries. They ran back and found the other constable struggling with an unseen opponent. As the constables flashed their lanterns on the spot, their comrade said that a ghost had attempted to throttle him, and only their arrival had set him free. The incident was duly entered in the inspector’s book at the Kalutara Police Station.
Another story related is that a week after the disaster stones were thrown by unseen assailants at a porter who was walking along the line with a message from the Kalutara station to the next station along the line, Katukurunda. He ran and reached Katukurunda exhausted. For days, he said, he felt the spell of something supernatural haunting him, and he was unable to carry out his normal duties.
Many other strange happenings are reported from the place, and the scene of the wreck has become known as Ceylon’s “ghost spot.”
Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, 23rd October 1928.