THE STORY
Reported Haunting
The Haunted Railroad Bridge in West Hartford is the subject of local legends involving ghostly apparitions and unexplained encounters after dark. Witnesses have reported mysterious lights, shadow figures, disembodied voices, and an overwhelming feeling of being watched near the bridge. The site remains one of Vermont's enduring paranormal legends.
An 1887 railroad disaster occurred here when the Montreal Express fell over the old wooden bridge, killing over 30 people. The ghost of a victim, 13-year-old Joe McCabe, is said to appear here. Some say Joe didn’t actually die in the wreck but suffered tragically when he watched his father die, and that’s why after Joe died his spirit returned here. The old bridge was replaced by a new steel bridge, but that doesn’t stop folks from seeing Joe’s ghost playing in the river, dressed in 19th-century clothes and sometimes stand four feet above the water. Witnesses also smell phantom smoke from the old bridge burning.