Ideas Please

I am starting work on a new layout with a Halloween/spooky theme, and need some ideas beyond the usual haunted house and graveyard. I also plan to include the usual railroad lore regarding ghost trains, phantom brakemen, and railway children,(my other hobby is paranormal investigation, in case you hadn't already guessed). Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
 

TrainNut

Ditat Deus
How about including a mirror at the end of a straight...maybe a fake tunnel entrance with a switch right before it... so that it appears there is an oncoming ghost train and a pending collision only to be averted at the last moment?
 

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
"Railroad children" - what is that about?

Besides the "standard" ghost train - how about a funeral train based on the prototype. There is quite a bit of information on Sir John A MacDonald's (Canadian Prime Minister) and Lincoln's (US President) funeral trains.

Other ideas:

- gondolas full of pumpkins
- graveyard scene
- haunted house (The Addams Family had a Lionel trains connection... ;))
- fall scenery (obviously)
- if this is to be a more prototypical layout, rather than fantastical, how about other fall classic activities - apple orchard and cider making, harvesting crops/fall tilling, putting storm windows on houses, landscape plants wrapped for winter, ice on ponds/dusting of snow

Thanks all I can come up with for now. Sounds like a great project!

Andrew
 
A bunch of good ideas there! Anyhow, as to "Railway Children", the phenomena usually occurs at level crossings, and the story usually involves a school bus or similar vehicle full of children which stalls on the tracks, and is hit by an oncoming train. Thereafter, if you stop your car on the tracks and leave it in neutral, the ghosts of the children are said to push it off of the tracks to avoid a repeat of the accident that claimed their lives. I've checked out a few of these cases and they are usually just an urban legend, but in one case that I was personally involved in investigating, my car WAS pushed off of the tracks(and the ground was perfectly level at the crossing, I checked), not only that, but there were small handprints left in the talcum powder that I had covered the bumper and trunk lid with. Also, my EMF meter went right off the top of the scale.

Kevin.
 

N Gauger

1:20.3 Train Addict
How about a seaunce or fortune teller (Crystal ball) as an interior detail of a house somewhere on your layout :)
 

N Gauger

1:20.3 Train Addict
You could also do an animated scene of a car being pushed off the tracks by the railroad children... You could use a black light to simulate the handprints appearing too - - Glow in the dark paint on a black car....
 

cidchase

Active Member
Hang a hubcap from the ceiling, and remove 2 LPB's...
(OK, I'm not really a believer...)
What do you call the night before Hallowe'en??:D :D
 
I had an open mind going into parnormal investigation, but I'm a full believer in the existence of ghosts now. When you've seen them first hand, and been thrown twenty feet across a room towards the only other person in the house you are investigating,
it tends to make a believer out of you.

Kevin.
 
How about a Trrrrans-ylvaaaanian scene with Vlad 's castleon the backscene, spooky forest and BATS! Neesd black light and lots of Dhhhaarrkk-ness!
Shortliner(Jack)away up here in the Highlands
 
A great idea that will fit in nicely on one corner of my layout! I can have the Count's castle overlooking the town and its fearful residents!
 

viperman

Active Member
I too am a huge believer. Won't get into that (my stories) now though.

Woodland Scenics makes a neat little scene at a funeral where the casket is opening up. Search ebay and find an old hearse, then weather that a lot and put it in the back of a cemetery to look like its rotting away, maybe with a casket inside. I think I've also seen a gondola or box car on ebay that has caskets with it
 

davidstrains

Active Member
How about a couple of decrepit industries such as and old lumber yard and a wooden coffin maker or a concrete plant and a concrete casket factory? :eek: Of course a morgue and possibly a "Dr. Frankenstiens Lab" could be a source for all sorts of loads for gondolas.peasoup

Have fun!!!
 
Thanks for the idea. I've already got the Woodland scenics graveyard scene, but the idea with the hearse is great! I also got the gondola car with the caskets, like the one on ebay.

Kevin
 

brakie

Active Member
Kevin,Why not a ghostly carriage or horse and buggy? Just paint them a dark or light gray color.Be sure to put them in a shadowy area..That will enhance the effect.

How long have you been a paranormal investigator?


As a armature paranormal investigator I have learn not to put to much trust in EMF meters since they can give false readings due to other electrical magnetic fields and I don't put that much faith in cold spots either..:(
 
Hey Larry, I've been doing this for about ten years now. As for EMF meters, they are just one of the tools that I use, and I always make sure to rule out other causes for any high readings that I get. As for cold spots, the same thing holds true, I never believe that they are supernatural in origin until all other possible causes have been ruled out. I have seen too much to be fooled into rookie mistakes. Thanks for the advice though, hopefully others reading this will learn what not to do.

Kevin.
 

brakie

Active Member
Kevin,Not to get off topic but,I been at it 8 1/2 years...Like you I seen some unexplained things.Heck..I even had a coffee cup thrown at me.Another investigator was shove down a flight of stairs..90% of the time we find a natural explanation to include squirrels in the attic.That other 10% we just shake our heads and call it unexplain..We are hesitant to use the word "Haunted"...As you know one has to be a skeptic in order to be a good investigator and must stay calm and never get caught up in the moment at hand..Of course knowing when to walk away is always a good thing.:D
 
Right on the money Larry, about 90% of the time there is a rational explanation, and it's very important not to get caught up in the moment. I see myself as both a believer and skeptic. A believer in the existence of ghosts overall, but a skeptic to each individual case that I get presented to me. I think that to treat each new case as rationally explained until the facts of the case tell you otherwise is the only way to go. Back on topic though...what was it again? Oh yes, I thought of something else that I could put on my layout. A tunnel with one entrance, but two exits...one visible and the other hidden, so that it looks like the train disappears. Got to go now, I'm off on another investigation tonight, this one involving what appears to be a somewhat violent entity.

Kevin.
 
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