4 Corners & 7 Seas xx-xx-xx (35) The Unseen Hand

Summary

Podcast Summary: "The Unseen Hand"
Harold's Old Time Radio - Episode: 4 Corners & 7 Seas xx-xx-xx (35)
Release Date: January 9, 2025

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Introduction

In this gripping episode of Harold's Old Time Radio, titled "The Unseen Hand," listeners are transported back to the Golden Age of Radio, immersing themselves in a riveting railroad mystery set in Indiana. This episode masterfully blends suspense, supernatural elements, and human emotion, weaving a tale that explores grief, duty, and redemption.

Story Overview

"The Unseen Hand" centers around Stanley Burns, a man haunted by recurring nightmares following a tragic train wreck that claimed the lives of his wife and children. These dreams manifest as auditory hallucinations—Stanley hears the voice of his beloved wife calling him amidst the roar of an oncoming train, culminating in a vivid reenactment of the crash.

Key Events:

1. Recurring Dreams and Tragedy

   • [01:05] The narrator sets the stage, introducing Stanley Burns lying awake near a railroad track, tormented by dreams of a train crash and the voice of his deceased wife.
   • [02:25] Aunt Martha encourages Stanley to move on, urging him to forget the tragic event and resume his life.

2. The Rise of the Unseen Hand Phenomenon

   • [03:23] The story delves into the broader mystery affecting railroad engineers, where seemingly no cause exists for sudden stop signals, leading to widespread superstition among the crew.
   • [05:00] Huey explains the term "unseen hand," hypothesizing it as a supernatural warning, while Mr. Wagner remains skeptical, dismissing it as a series of unfortunate coincidences.

3. Investigation and Suspicion

   • [08:38] Introduction of Stanley Burns as a suspect observed by a detective on trains, highlighting his disturbed state post-tragedy.
   • [09:24] Stanley is apprehended for repeatedly pulling the stop cord during his dreams, believing it prevents imminent disasters.

4. Revelation and Redemption

   • [10:34] A critical moment unfolds as Huey reveals that the anticipated wreck was averted due to Stanley's actions, saving approximately 300 lives.
   • [11:21] The episode concludes with Stanley finding peace, remarrying, and settling near the railroad, symbolizing his healing and the cessation of his disturbing dreams.

Notable Quotes

• Stanley Burns Reflecting on His Actions
  "[09:50] Stanley Burns: Something made me. I don't know. Something drove me to riding the trains at night. I didn't always stop the train. Just sometimes when I dream. Dream about my wife. I hear a calling. Calling. Then I'd have to jump up and stop the train. If I didn't, I knew a terrible train wreck would occur."

• Aunt Martha's Encouragement
  "[02:32] Aunt Martha: Oh, Stanley, Stanley, you must try to forget them. You must take up your life again. I know it was a terrible, terrible thing losing your wife and babies all at once in a wreck. But Stanley, life must go on."

• Huey's Realization of Stanley's Impact
  *"[10:48] Stanley Burns: You mean I did prevent a wreck?"
  "[10:50] Huey: I reckon you saved about 300 lives."

Character Insights

• Stanley Burns: A deeply grieving man whose subconscious compels him to prevent tragedies on the railroad, revealing the profound impact of personal loss on his psyche and actions.

• Aunt Martha: Represents the voice of reason and encouragement, pushing Stanley towards healing and acceptance of his loss.

• Huey: An experienced engineer who becomes instrumental in uncovering the truth behind the "unseen hand," balancing skepticism with empathy.

• Mr. Wagner: Initially dismissive of the supernatural explanations, his character embodies rationality and adherence to protocol until presented with undeniable evidence.

Themes and Insights

1. Grief and Healing:
   Stanley's journey underscores the tumultuous path of coping with loss, illustrating how unresolved grief can manifest in unexpected behaviors aimed at preventing future tragedies.

2. Superstition vs. Rationality:
   The "unseen hand" phenomenon serves as a metaphor for the tension between supernatural beliefs and practical skepticism, ultimately highlighting the balance between the two when faced with inexplicable events.

3. Duty and Morality:
   The episode delves into the moral obligations of individuals to act for the greater good, even when compelled by forces beyond their understanding.

4. Redemption and Closure:
   Stanley's eventual peace and acceptance signify the possibility of redemption and the restoration of normalcy after enduring profound suffering.

Conclusion

"The Unseen Hand" is a compelling narrative that blends the mystique of old-time radio storytelling with profound human emotions and moral dilemmas. Through Stanley Burns' harrowing experiences, the episode explores themes of loss, duty, and the quest for redemption, offering listeners a moving and thought-provoking journey. By the end, Stanley's transformation from a tormented soul to a man at peace serves as a poignant reminder of the resilience of the human spirit.

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Note: This summary excludes non-content sections such as advertisements and promotional segments, focusing solely on the narrative and its key elements.

Transcript

[Narrator]

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From the chronicles of travelers and adventurers the world over come these authenticated accounts of unusual people and unusual events, bringing you in each presentation a strange but true story from the four corners and the seven seas.

A railroad story from Indiana. The Unseen Hand. It is just before midnight in a house near a railroad track in Indiana. A young man lies dreaming. It is a recurrent dream, strange, harrowing, born of a terrible personal tragedy. He hears a train roaring through the night. Through the rattle of the cars comes the voice of his dear wife.

[Huey]

Stanley.

[Narrator]

Stanley.

[Stanley Burns]

Stanley.

[Narrator]

Then the terrible crash.

[Aunt Martha]

Stanley. Stanley.

[Stanley Burns]

Oh, yes, Aunt Martha.

[Aunt Martha]

Stanley, I thought I heard you calling. Were you dreaming again?

[Stanley Burns]

Yes.

[Aunt Martha]

Same dream. Stanley.

[Stanley Burns]

Yes, Andy. I hear the train, Mary, calling to me. Then the crash. Oh, it's awful.

[Aunt Martha]

Oh, Stanley, Stanley, you must try to forget them. You must take up your life again. I know it was a terrible, terrible thing losing your wife and babies all at once in a wreck. But Stanley, life must go on.

[Stanley Burns]

I'm going away tomorrow.

[Aunt Martha]

Perhaps it's best go someplace where you won't hear the trains. I think they make you remember.

[Stanley Burns]

The midnight express.

[Aunt Martha]

It's a sad sound. A train in the night.

[Stanley Burns]

Very sad. Very sad.

[Narrator]

Thus began one of the strangest stories in railroad history. An industry rich in legend, ballad and folklore. It's still told wherever railroad men gather. And usually it begins with what happened to Huey. Randy, weather beaten old engineer Huey was roaring along in the cabin, his hand on the throttle and singing at the top of his lungs.

[Mr. Wagner]

Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do. I'm half crazy. All for the love.

[Narrator]

Hey. Should I stoke her up, Huey?

[Huey]

Yep.

[Mr. Wagner]

We're running late now.

[Narrator]

Hey, Huey, the stop signal.

[Stanley Burns]

What's wrong?

[Mr. Wagner]

Can't see a thing. Hang on. And I'm gonna stop her.

[Huey]

Hey, Huey, what in tarnish is the matter with you?

[Mr. Wagner]

Ain't nothing the matter with me. When I get a stop signal from the conductor, I stop the train. Mr. Wagner.

[Huey]

Gosh, a mighty. Don't tell me you started hearing things too.

[Mr. Wagner]

What do you mean?

[Huey]

I'll meet you at Varney's saloon when we get in. Tell you all about it. Happen while you're on vacation.

[Mr. Wagner]

All right, Wagner. Blow the whistle, Fred. Wasn't that a funny thing, Wagner? Me getting the stop signal when you didn't pull the cord.

[Huey]

You got the go signal, Huey, Huh?

[Mr. Wagner]

What do you mean, Wagner?

[Huey]

That's been happening all up and down the line the past month. All engineers are talking about the unseen hand. They reckon it's some kind of a warning. You should hear Moriarty.

[Mr. Wagner]

It happened to him.

[Huey]

Yep. He was so scat he got out of the cabin and walked up the line a piece. Looking for ghosts or something. What do you think he found on the track? A big boulder. Big enough to wreck the train.

[Mr. Wagner]

Yeah, I don't believe that. I don't believe in ghosts nor unseen hands. If I get a stop signal again, I'm just gonna ignore it.

[Huey]

It's reckon schedule's all up and down the line. They say the old man's pulling his hair out by the fistfuls. Reckon we'll have a general order from head office before long.

[Mr. Wagner]

Number 77, seven minutes to the bad. Cause of delay, stop cord pulled by unseen hand. Number 92, 12 minutes to the bad. Same reason. Ah, go. Spirit warnings. They're all hearing things. Ms. Thomas, put out a general order.

[Aunt Martha]

Yes, sir.

[Mr. Wagner]

Any engineer hearing stop signals when there are no stop signals will get 30 day suspension. Second offense, he gets fired.

[Aunt Martha]

Yes, Mr. Collier.

[Mr. Wagner]

When you finish that wire the President, tell him I'll meet him at Hogwarts junction on the 27th to look over the possibilities of opening a new line. Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do. I'm half crazy all the time.

[Huey]

Huey's a danger bell.

[Mr. Wagner]

I didn't hear a thing. Hey, but Hughie, you read the general order. I didn't hear a thing. Stoke up the furnace. I ain't stopping for nothing. Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer.

[Huey]

Huey, do you realize we got the old man aboard?

[Mr. Wagner]

No fooling.

[Huey]

Why didn't you stop the train at Hogwarts Junction?

[Mr. Wagner]

That's not a regular stop.

[Huey]

It is if I give you a stop signal.

[Mr. Wagner]

You mean you pulled the cord?

[Huey]

I did. The old man is meeting the President of the road there to discuss opening a new line. You carried him 20 miles down the line.

[Mr. Wagner]

Will you tell me just why you didn't stop that train on signal? I didn't HEAR no signal, Mr. Collier. What? I didn't hear no signal. And according to General Order number 82, any engineer who stops a train when there Is no signal, gets 30 days suspension. Mr. Wagner, will you send a wire to the head office in my name? Cancel General Order 82.

[Huey]

Tickets. Tickets, please.

[Narrator]

Bertram Road detective.

[Huey]

Oh, yeah. I heard the old man was putting the detective on every train. Trying to put an end to this unseen ham business.

[Narrator]

Yeah.

[Huey]

Jeepers, what a night. Say, you got any leads, Mr. Bertram?

[Narrator]

Well, I don't know. There was a young feller in the day coach ahead. Last seat on the left.

[Huey]

Yeah, I saw him.

[Narrator]

Thin. He don't look very well. He got a kind of wild look in his eye. Maybe a coincidence, but our boys have been watching him. He's been on two trains that have been stopped.

[Huey]

Oh.

[Narrator]

Name's Burns. Stanley Burns. His wife and children were killed in the Painesville wreck about three months ago.

[Huey]

I'll keep an eye on him. If he pulls the cart or not, Hughie's bound to stop the train. Too much danger of the track being washed out, what with the flood.

[Narrator]

What was he doing when you came down the aisle?

[Huey]

Sleeping. Only not very well. It was more like he was having a bad dream.

[Narrator]

Stanley. Stanley.

[Mr. Wagner]

Stop the train.

[Huey]

Stop the train. Get him.

[Narrator]

He's pulling the cord.

[Huey]

It's all right, folks. Nothing to worry about. Just a mistake. Now, keep your seats, please.

[Narrator]

Come with me into the stateroom here.

[Huey]

All right, keep him out of sight, Bertram. I'll go up and tell Huey we caught the ghost. Now, keep your seats, please. There's nothing to worry about. Now, keep your seats.

[Narrator]

Sit down. You're the fellow who's been stopping these trains the past two months, huh?

[Stanley Burns]

Yes.

[Narrator]

Why?

[Stanley Burns]

Something made me. I don't know. Something drove me to riding the trains at night. I didn't always stop the train. Just sometimes when I dream. Dream about my wife. I hear a calling. Calling. Then I'd have to jump up and stop the train. If I didn't, I knew a terrible train wreck would occur.

[Narrator]

And you know this is a criminal offense.

[Stanley Burns]

Yes.

[Narrator]

Well, I'll have to put you under arrest. You can see the doctor first.

[Stanley Burns]

Of course I'm relieved. I'm glad it's over.

[Narrator]

What do you mean?

[Stanley Burns]

Always after I stopped the train, I was terrified I'd get caught. I feel now as. As if it were over. As if I'd done what I had to do. I feel it.

[Huey]

Ladies and gentlemen, will you please take your luggage and leave the train for a few minutes? There's no danger at the moment, but will you please leave the train?

[Narrator]

What's the matter?

[Huey]

The bridge is washed out ahead? No, another three feet in the engine would have plunged into a hundred foot gorge. Floodwaters are raging below. Not a man would have come out of line.

[Mr. Wagner]

You mean.

[Stanley Burns]

You mean I did prevent a wreck?

[Huey]

I reckon you saved about 300 lives.

[Mr. Wagner]

Thank God.

[Stanley Burns]

Oh, thank God.

[Narrator]

I don't. Son, after this there's no danger of your being arrested.

[Stanley Burns]

It isn't that. It's just. Well, it. It is over now. I've done what I had to do. Now I'll be all right. All.

[Narrator]

The mystery of the unseen hand was solved. According to railroad men who swapped the yarn in roundhouses and division stations. Stanley Burns was indeed cured of his strange malady. He remarried and settled on an Indiana farm near the railroad line. It's said he often looked up from his plough to wave at passing trains. The engineers always waved back. Hoping perhaps that if their engines ever plunged through the night towards disaster, the stop cord would be pulled by another unseen hand.

We invite you to listen again to a further story, strange but True. From the Four Corners and the Seven Seas.

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[Huey]

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[Narrator]

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[Narrator]

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[Huey]

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[Narrator]

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