The area where the Old Whitney train tressel and boat landing is located wasn’t always as it looks today.  Not even 100 years ago the area was a thriving farming community built up on the Yadkin River.  In the early 1900s the Alcoa Company bought up the land and flooded it to make dams for its factory it built in the town of Badin (Stanly County, NC).  Today Badin Lake covers the remnants of the long forgotten community.  When the water backed up from the first attempt at damming up the Yadkin River many people who lived nearby died from typhoid fever from the dirty water.  Soon after the lake was built and the Alcoa plant in Badin was up and running the Old Whitney tressel and tracks were built to be used for transporting to and from the plant.

During the process of building the original tressel and tracks many mishaps occurred.  Workers were injured, became ill and some died.  The train derailed as well.  The tressel has been the place of many drownings over the years as well, not only by rail road workers, but of fishermen and teenagers alike.  Several people have drown while jumping off the tressel into the lake.  Boating accidents have happened nearby where several have also lost their lives.

Some of the stories we heard were of strange sounds of clanking iron on the tracks and terrifying screams coming from the tressle.  Brave fishermen going catfish late at night have witnessed unexplainable lights lingering down the tracks.

When we got there the full moon was covered by dark clouds.  The wind was blowing but you could feel the stillness all around.  We were the only ones there, except the four brave deer munching out of the garbage can.  We started down the tracks form the boat landing towards the tressel around 12:15 am.   After walking about 10 minutes we started experiencing the strong sent of tar.   (These tracks are connected to those behind Tucker town Dam, only on the other side of the lake) It was like a replay from the Tucker Town Dam investigation.  The smell came and went as did the thick atmosphere we all felt.  EVP were picked up almost every time we smelled the tar.  About 25 minutes into the walk we came upon a mound of dirt in the middle of the tracks.  It smelled like something rotting nearby as well.  One of the investigators heard a male voice saying “Beware!” right before we walked up on the dirt.  Once we walked a little past the mound the feeling of intense pressure hit several members of the team.  We started to see a black mass moving down the tracks towards us.  Danny took a picture of the darkness ahead of us.  When we saw that about 100 feet in front of us was something unexplainable we moved quick back down the tracks towards the car.  Whatever was there was starting to play with our emotions. On our way back down the tracks all of the investigators heard, “Go! GO!”.  Maybe we were being warned of something?

After looking back over the photos we took we found several very interesting things.  Strange lights and smoke appeared in a couple of photos even though they were taken in total darkness.  The best picture of all was the full body apparition Danny took.  It looks as though a man was forming from a ball of bright light that had a reflection.  A mist connected the figure to the light.  It looks like a man wearing a hat, long coat and his legs are moving as if he is walking down the tracks.

We believe that there are a number of spirits at this location because of its tragic history.  We aren’t sure who the man is, but think that he is one of the workers who died at the tracks.

This is the zoomed & Heat textured

View of the light and ghost!

The first photo is the original that Danny took of the Tracks.  If you zoom in you can see the ball of light and the apparition in the middle of the tracks.

The photo above is of a strange trailing light  over the dirt mound we walked up on after hearing “Beware!”.  All Flashlights were turned off and the picture was taken in total darkness by Dan.

These are strange lights taken in total darkness

right before the full body apparition was captured.

Update of site history! 1/20/2009

We recently received an email from a ”J. C.”, who lives in Stanly County not too far from Old Whitney.  He brought up a great fact about the area.  The land is part of a historic indian civilization that dates back 10,000+ years.  Archaeologist found the site during the turn of the twentieth. century  Although the actual dig site is federally protected and no one is allowed in, the areas around the site are still rich in history and artifacts.  Old Whitney is one of these places.  With so many years of human occupation, no wonder the area of northern Stanly County is so full of paranormal activity.  Thanks J. C. for adding to the facts!

The investigation of the Tucker Town Rail Road tracks and Lane’s Chapel in Montgomery County are also located in the vacintiy of the ancient indian civilization.

Tags: EVP, ghost hunters, ghost stories, ghosts, haunted places in north carolina, haunted stany county, hautned places, old whitney tran tracks, rail road ghosts, southern spooks, Stanly County, uwharrie ghost stories

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