THE STORY
Reported Haunting
Green Man's Tunnel, also known as Piney Fork Tunnel, is the focus of a long-running western Pennsylvania legend involving a strange green apparition said to appear near the old railroad tunnel after dark. The story is commonly connected to Raymond Robinson, the real-life "Green Man" or "Charlie No-Face," although Robinson was neither injured nor killed here and his famous nighttime walks occurred many miles away. Another local legend claims a man murdered his family with a hatchet near the tunnel, though that story remains unverified.
Hidden in South Park Township, the abandoned Piney Fork railroad tunnel has become better known locally as Green Man's Tunnel. Visitors and legend-trippers have reported seeing a mysterious shimmering or greenish apparition around the tunnel at night. The haunting is frequently linked to Raymond Robinson, a western Pennsylvania man whose remarkable true story eventually evolved into the famous "Green Man" legend. Robinson was severely disfigured as a child after coming into contact with a high-voltage electrical line. As an adult, he often took long walks at night to avoid the attention his appearance attracted during the day, and encounters with him along dark rural roads became part of western Pennsylvania folklore. Robinson, however, had no known historical connection to Piney Fork Tunnel. His childhood accident occurred near Beaver Falls, and his later nighttime walks were centered around the Koppel and New Galilee area, many miles from South Park Township. Over time, the Green Man folklore appears to have migrated and become attached to this tunnel, eventually producing stories of Robinson's ghost or a glowing green figure haunting the site. A separate legend associated with the tunnel claims that an unidentified man once murdered his wife and children with a hatchet nearby. Reliable historical evidence for that alleged crime has not been established, and it is best regarded as another element of the tunnel's local folklore. The tunnel has reportedly been used by South Park Township for storage, including road salt, and visitors should respect posted restrictions and avoid entering closed or restricted areas.