On 1 December 1848 the
Michell's Pass was opened by the Governor of the Cape, Sir Harry
Smith. At the time it was hailed as a marvel, but travel by road
was a tedious affair and the decision was made to forge a railway
through these treacherous mountains.
The railway line was opened in 1875 and several successful
journeys
were made to Cape Town before tragedy
struck.
On the 15th July
1876 at 18h45, the 0-6-0 loco
"Blackie" and six coaches had just left Ceres station bound for
Wellington with 122 passengers on board. It was a bitterly cold
winters night, there was snow on the mountains and a fearsome storm
was brewing.
Suddenly the heavens opened and rain sleeted down onto the
tracks. Thunder and lightening filled the night sky. The
wheels spun on the slippery tracks as the locomotive desperately
tried to grip the rails.
An inexperienced driver was at the controls and opened the throttle
in a vain attempt to outrun the storm. As they entered the tunnel,
the steam engine's wheels gripped the dry track and they surged
ahead. Rapidly they gained speed until they were doing 75 mph in
the pitch dark.
Unfortunately the driver did not realise that there was a sharp
bend at the end of the tunnel and with a terrible screeching of
wheels and tortured metal, the locomotive and front four coaches
left the rails and careened into the raging torrent below whilst
the last two coaches tore themselves to pieces inside the
tunnel.
In total over 80 people perished that fateful
night.
The railway line was still
used until 2001. To this day, the haunting strains of Blackie can
still be heard whenever someone enters Michell's Pass
Tunnel.
I recently visited the
tunnel, heard Blackie and contacted the spirits that remain trapped
in this passage. I blessed their souls and asked them to go
to the other side. They cannot rest though. They want their remains
moved to the Old Ceres Cemetery where they should have been placed
back in 1876.
I hope we can help them find peace so that their souls can be laid
to rest. Your task is to track down the remains and free the
trapped souls of those restless
passengers.
My recording of the
haunting sound of The Ghost
Train