Railroad crossing near Visalia rumored to be haunted

Haunted railroad crossing at Santa Fe Ave. & Ave. 271 in Visalia

Image courtesy of Google Street View

There are stories of a haunted railroad crossing in Tulare County, south of the city of Visalia. The railroad crossing is located where Avenue 271 turns into Santa Fe Avenue via two 90 degree turns. The tracks here don't receive much traffic anymore as the line seems to be abandoned now. Yet for whatever reason there seems to be several hauntings at this crossing.

It's said if you park your car on the tracks you can hear the sounds of a train passing by as well as the ghostly images of people walking towards your car. And when you try to start your car back up it seems to take longer for the engine to turn over, almost as if the battery is being drained by something else.

One some nights around 3:00 am a phantom train can be seen. The origin of this haunt is unclear but one can imagine that given the time of the sighting, a train may have derailed sometime early in the morning. It's also said a white figure can be seen walking the along the road next to the crossing late at night. Whether this figure is related to the ghost train is unknown.

It's unknown if any of these haunts are actually true. I did come across several witness accounts regarding the above stories, but whether they are fabricated or not is hard to say. But I wouldn't be surprised if there haven't been a few accidents at this crossing. The fact that there are two 90 degree turns within 250 feet of each other could lend credence to this. But it's hard to say. Haunted railroad crossings are some of my favorite stories and that there is yet another one in the Central Valley area I felt I had to share it.

Ghost of prostitute said to haunt Fresno railroad crossing

Is this railroad crossing on Peach Ave haunted by the

ghost of a murdered prostitute?

There are rumors that a railroad crossing on Peach Ave, south of Butler is haunted by the ghost of a murdered prostitute. Supposedly several years ago a dismembered body was discovered in a garbage bag that was discarded on the south west side of the tracks in some bushes. A few months later people began to see a woman standing next to the crossing watching the cars drive by.

There have been reports of the crossing guard arms coming down, yet there was no train on the tracks (though to be honest I’ve seen this at many crossings, this doesn’t mean they are all haunted) and an eerie sensation has been felt as well.

Could the spirit of the slain woman be haunting the crossing? Perhaps she is standing there, watching the cars going by in hopes of seeing the person(s) that murdered her. Or perhaps it’s nothing more than just an urban legend that has grown over the years thanks to the internet. If a police report can be found that verifies this or more witnesses to the ghost come forward it’s going to be hard to tell where this story really stands.