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Following McAllister’s, other reports came
in from nearly every neighborhood lining the CSX railroad line. Many had theories as to what created the ghostly
wails; some said it was a jet engine, construction equipment, a
malfunctioning siren or maybe even a pack of coyotes known to live in the
area. But many long time Worthington
residents already knew what it was that Kathy McAllister heard late that
Saturday evening, but few were willing to talk about it, until now.xXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The drama surrounding these complaints reminded
Columbus resident Abner Dibbleday
of a time more than 70 years ago when he was a child living on a farm near
what is now Don Scott Airport. Abner would walk about a half mile to the small village of Linworth. The Village
of Linworth
was the location of a brand new train station for the Chesapeake
and Ohio
(C&O) Railroad. The C&O line,
which later became the CSX line we know today was being extended North out of
Columbus, through Linworth,
Worthington
and up through Toldeo. Abner recalls
enjoying watching the construction of the new station and the laying of the
new railroad tracks.
“Back in the 1930’s there was no talk of
a ghost train like there is now. There
wasn’t even a railroad through here yet.
Just North of the Village
of Linworth
was a large ravine with a big creek at the bottom of it. The creek, known as Potters Creek, isn’t so
big now but back then, it gave the railroad builders quite a headache. Potters Creek was deep and wide, and so was
the ravine. The railroad crews in
charge of building the new track would have to construct an underpass tunnel
for the creek to flow under the tracks, and fill the ravine in order for the
track to pass over. The C&O crews
worked hard and steady for months building the dirt embankment over the
ravine. It was mid-October by the time
the crews were nearly done crossing the ravine. The days were getting cooler and the
darkness of night set in early. On
these days that darkness came quickly, the railroad crews would leave the
construction site only after lighting their brass lantern, which they left on
a post at the side of the railroad track.
The lantern had red lenses and was left as a warning for all trains
traveling on this section of railroad.
Since the tracks over Potters Creek were not yet complete, the red
glow of the lantern was the only signal available that let train engineers
know that danger existed ahead on the tracks.
That the tracks were unfinished North of Linworth
was a fact known to all who worked on the C&O system. Is it even conceivable that a wayward train
could pass so far North to the incomplete ravine crossing and careen into the
deep, cold waters of Potters Creek?
On a cool Saturday evening, October 15
1931, the Wellsly Flyer, a fast and sleek steam
locomotive carrying 125 passengers, pulled away from Union Station in Columbus, OH on its
regularly scheduled run to Pittsburgh,
PA. The “Flyer” was able to make its East and
West bound runs to and from Pittsburgh
in about 12 hours. However, on this
October night, the Flyer and its 125 passengers would never make it to Pittsburgh. That night, prior to the departure of the Wellsly Flyer, a railroad yard worker at Union Station
tripped and fell in the darkness.
Unbeknownst to the yard worker, or the engineer and crew on the Flyer,
the stumble caused the “throw” of a track switching lever. This “throw” changed the direction of the
Flyer and cause the East bound Flyer to travel North out of Columbus, through Linworth
and to the then un-completed crossing at Potters Creek.
Back in 1931, the story of the “Lost
Train” had many in America
speculating on how such a huge train with so many people; men, women and
children, could have been lost without a trace on that cold October
night. When the Flyer failed to reach Pittsburgh at its
scheduled arrival time, authorities began what was to become the largest land
based search in American history.
Trains were sent out from both Columbus
and Pittsburgh
to retrace the path the Flyer was to have taken. Automobiles all along the train route
searched for the huge locomotive.
Airplanes scoured the landscape.
Not one item was found from the missing train, not one passenger
reported home to their destination. The
massive train had disappeared and nobody knew where to look next.
But there were some people who knew what
happened to the Flyer. On that
terrible Saturday night in October, Abner Dibbleday awoke to an awful noise. In the distance, towards what seemed to be
the Village of Linworth,
the horrific noises of tearing metal, hissing steam and an unearthly
cacophony of what sounded like screams was heard for a moment… and then died
away quickly. The next morning Abner ran to the Village to investigate what he had heard
the night before. On the outskirts of Linworth, Abner was met by
several uniformed railroad police. The
officers informed Abner that a steam powered
excavator, one used to help fill the ravine with dirt had been damaged last
night while the workers completed the crossing. Abner was
puzzled, but spoke up quickly. He
informed the officer that railroad crews never worked at night, and what he
had heard last night was a noise that sounded like a whole train was crashing
into Potters Creek. The officer
responded with agitation, “The only problem last night occurred with a steam
excavator!” He then gave Abner instructions to
leave the Village, and the area, immediately.
Abner knew what he had heard but followed the instructions of the officers anyways. As he began to leave the village, he looked
back over his shoulder at the railroad police. Beyond the officers and for what seemed to
be a mile down the road that leads to Linworth, was an endless caravan of trucks. Never had he seen so many trucks. Dump trucks! There must have been 100 dump trucks, fully
loaded with dirt and rock, waiting to offload into the ravine. Abner thought to
himself, with so much dirt and rock, you could probably cover over the whole
ravine and a steam excavator, or maybe even the ravine and a whole train; the
thought of which made Abner cringe.
 How such a horrific train accident could have occurred and how the
railroad industry was able to lie about it for so long confounds most people
these days. Nobody wants to think
about what it may have been like on the Wellsly
Flyer that night almost 78 years ago.
What did the engineer think as he barreled through the station at Linworth, a station he wasn’t even supposed to be near. Did he see
the red warning light of the lantern as it hung by the side of the track,
warning trains of the imminent danger ahead. Did he have any time to try and stop the train. Or was he
even able to imagine in the few seconds it took his train to cross from the
track to the pitch black emptiness, and plow into the cold waters of Potters
Creek, that it would be 50 years before this story would have its ending.
The
story of the Lost Train has made its way into several magazine articles and a
number of books since the Flyers disappearance. But the Flyer and its passenger cars of
lost souls were eventually forgotten to time and legend. Forgotten, that was, until the 1980’s.
In
the 1930’s the area around Potters Creek, and around
Worthington
in general, was mostly rural farms. In
the early 1980’s, a residential development called Potters Creek was
established on the banks of the old creek.
The homes located on one of the developments two circles, Lakeside Circle,
are the homes most familiar with the geography of the old creek and ravine
through which it runs.
During
the Fall rail work season of 1981, CSX work crews (CSX bought the C&O
railroad in the late 1970’s) began repair work on the Potters Creek
underpass. Fall is a great time for
railroad work crews to prepare the tracks for the upcoming winter. New gravel is laid along the rail bed,
weeds, grass and trees are trimmed and work is completed on bridges and
underpasses. Work progressed on the
Potter Creek underpass steadily until one day when a CSX worker excavated
what looked like an old brass train lantern.
Thinking that there may be more railroad collectibles to find, the
workers began digging in the area with picks and shovels. It wasn’t long before the workers
excitement of finding railroad artifacts turned to intrigue. As the workers dug deeper, they found
evidence that a whole train, the engine, a coal tender and five passenger
cars had been systematically covered up and hidden under the earth used to
fill the Potters Creek ravine. It was
later that evening that their intrigue turned to horror. While excavating around one of the buried
passenger cars, a worker took his gloved hand and wiped away the dirt from
one of the passenger car windows. Peering
out from the passenger car at the worker was the skeletal remains of one of
the Flyers passengers. The skeleton
was dressed in a suit, with a white shirt covering the passenger’s bony
chest. Its skeletal fingers tightly
clutched the seat in front and its skull, with its lifeless eye sockets, had
its jaw wide open as if it was frozen in an eternal scream.
Police,
newspapers and TV were called to the scene and it was only then that the
story of the Lost Train could have its ending written. It was determined that railroad executives,
who were not willing to accept blame for the terrible accident that occurred
at Potters Creek, decided a cover up was the best solution… literally. Sunday morning after the accident, railroad
executives made plans to bury the accident in a tomb of dirt and rock. Not one passenger was pulled from the
train, not one nut or bolt was left to be found. The whole accident scene was buried under
tons and tons of fill … and still is to this day.
 Today, the only trace of the Wellsly Flyer that
can be found are some springs, bolts and iron machine parts found around the
ravine at Potters Creek. Explorers can
still find these remnants by walking the area North of RT 161 at the CSX rail
road crossing. There you will find
where the old creek passes under the CSX railroad line. But don’t be surprized
by what you may find. The Wellsly Flyer was left in its burial plot. And the victims of this horrific railroad
accident were left interned in the train’s passenger cars, exactly where they
died back in 1931. Their bodies, and that of the Wellsly
Flyer, left buried deep in the overpass of Potters Creek for eternity. The site has now been marked with a simple
white concrete sign, marked with a “W” for the Wellsly
Flyer.
For those who live
along the CSX line today the tragedy is hard to forget. They are reminded often of that terrible
day almost eight decades ago. Kathy
McAllister and Abner Dibbleday
know. On cool October nights, when the
moon is hidden by clouds and there is a slight dampness in the air; you will
hear it. The sound will start as a low
moan, like a coal train traveling North burdened with numerous coal
cars. Its whistle will to blow, but
will begin to take on a different sound.
It is a sound that grows to a wail; the ghostly wail of 125 passengers
that never arrived in Pittsburgh,
but who found their final destination to be the cold, dark embrace of the
waters of Potters Creek.
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