Those honoured here are noted for their contributions to the development of Nova Scotia’s railway systems, or for their work on railroads elsewhere. Inductees are listed in alphabetical order.

JAY UNDERWOOD (Curator)


GhostTracks.jpg (43515 bytes)GHOST TRACKS
by Jay Underwood

Nova Scotia’s Celtic heritage makes the province fertile ground for stories of ghosts and ghouls, but Ghost Tracks is the first to focus upon the often-bizarre events that occurred to fuel the fears and suspicions of railway employees. These hard-bitten veterans of foul weather, hard work and cold-hearted politicians were not above believing in such things! Discover why railway men fear the number nine! … why a white horse is considered an ill omen … and why often the supernatural was the only way to explain why accidents happened in a profession where safety was a priority.

You'll learn more about the supposed curse that haunts the bridges over Halifax Harbour ... the roundhouse ghost ... the monster that shook the occupants of a boxcar on a remote siding ... the lonely mother (the Grey Lady of Inverness) who sought the body of her dead son on the shores of Cape Breton Island ... visits from the devil in New Glasgow ... the spectre of death on “long black trains.” What was the link between the phantom seen on a lonely road and the Intercolonial locomotive that took the lives of thirteen people? ... The White Horse of Merigomish Wreck: did a nightmare really come true? ... The Upper Tantallon Ghost: does a tipsy station agent haunt an abandoned line? ... Cape Breton’s Phantom Trains: was it death or disease, or both, that followed these trains? ... The Whiteside Terror: did a poltergeist shake a railway crew, or did liquor play a role?

Few of these stories have been told before, and never in such detail as Underwood probes the individuals involved, the events as they unfolded, and the popular superstitions of the era, to explain why such stories existed.

The 128-page book features over two dozen photographs, two maps, a full bilbiography, and an index.

publisher's site:
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Adams George Archibald
Loran Ellis Baker
Robert Laird Borden
C. H. Cahan
Thomas Cantley
Edward Barron Chandler
Vincent P. Coleman
Peter Crerar
Nathaniel Curry
George Davidson
Hiram Donkin
Cyrus Eaton
Sandford Fleming
James Richardson Forman
Charles Percy Fullerton
Frederick Newton Gisborne
George Munroe Grant
Timothy Hackworth
David Blythe Hanna
John Harvey
Edmund W. Henderson
Simon Hugh Holmes
Joseph Howe
Gardiner Greene Hubbard
Henry G.C. Ketchum
James Laurie
John Gaspard LeMarchant
Avard Longley
James MacDonald
William Mackenzie
Donald Mann
Jonathan McCully
Archibald McLelan
John S. McLennan
Thomas Gotobed McMullen
Alexander Mitchell
James William Porter
David Pottinger
Nelson Admiral Rhodes
Alexander Robb
Thomas Robertson
William Robinson
Collingwood Schreiber
Clarence Silliker
Bessie Smith
Jabez Bunting Snowball
John F. Stairs
Emile Stehelin
Charles Tupper

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For links to Nova Scotia's railway attractions and museums, please visit the Nova Scotia Railway Heritage Society's web site.

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UPDATED: April 2007