Mysterious Traveler 47-07-06 (111) The Locomotive Ghost

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Mysterious Traveler 47-07-06 (111) "The Locomotive Ghost"

Podcast: Harold's Old Time Radio
Host: Harold's Old Time Radio
Episode: Mysterious Traveler – "The Locomotive Ghost"
Date: October 29, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Mysterious Traveler, entitled "The Locomotive Ghost," originally aired in 1947, immerses listeners in a chilling tale of greed, guilt, and supernatural retribution, all set against the evocative backdrop of American railroads. The story revolves around two men who commit a deadly train robbery, only to find themselves haunted by the ghostly manifestation of the trains—and their guilty consciences. The narrative blends crime noir with supernatural horror, culminating in an eerie reflection on justice and the lingering power of guilt.

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Key Discussion Points & Story Breakdown

1. Atmosphere & Setup (00:06–02:07)

• The Mysterious Traveler (Maurice Tarplin) sets the mood, ushering the audience into a realm "of the strange and the terrifying," describing a nighttime, high-speed train journey and promising a chilling ghost story about trains—entities depicted as almost living beings.

  Notable Quote:
  "Trains do have a life of their own, as you’ll see in the unusual ghost story that I call The Locomotive Ghost."
  — Mysterious Traveler (00:45)

2. The Heist Plot & Old Boomer (02:07–07:01)

• Joe Malone and Tom Henderson wait beneath a Pennsylvania rail trestle to rob a train carrying a payroll.

• A hobo, Old Boomer, joins them and chats about trains and ghost stories: "Heavenly Express," a mythical train carrying souls.

• Old Boomer ominously warns them, "murdering a train is like murdering a man. You’ve got to pay for it," presaging their doom.

• When Old Boomer realizes their intent, Joe kills him to silence him.

  Notable Quote:
  "The Judgment Special... follows fellas that wreck trains on purpose until it gets them one way or another."
  — Old Boomer (07:03)

3. The Sabotage and Aftermath (07:01–11:19)

• The robbery proceeds; the train is destroyed with dynamite, killing the crew, and Joe and Tom escape with $200,000.

• Their nerves fray. Tom is shaken by the train’s death and Old Boomer’s warnings.

• On their getaway, Tom slams the brakes at a railroad crossing, swearing he saw a ghostly, unlit train. Joe argues, but the car stalls, and a real train smashes into them. Joe is killed; Tom survives.

  Memorable Moment:
  "I can't help remembering the crash… the whistle kept screaming, just like the locomotive was something alive that was being killed."
  — Tom Henderson (09:10)

4. Guilt and Haunting in New York (12:31–17:16)

• Tom flees to New York, checks into a boarding house with the stolen money, and is disturbed by every train sound.

• That night, he dreams he's taken aboard the "Judgment Special" by Old Boomer—now a conductor—hurtling away from Earth at impossible speed.

  Notable Quotes:
  "All aboard, son! We’re leaving in one millionth of a second, and we gotta be on time."
  — Old Boomer (15:02)
  "It's the Judgment Special…bound from this world to the next."
  — Old Boomer (16:15)

• Mrs. Miller, the landlord, wakes him—he’s nearly suffocated because he closed the window with a gas heater on.

5. A Descent into Madness & The Supernatural Chase (18:39–21:49)

• Tom dreams himself into a tunnel under Park Avenue, guided by the ghost of Joe Malone toward an endless, nightmarish railroad.

• He’s woken by a track walker just before an actual train passes. The walker urges him to seek help, but Tom is convinced of supernatural pursuit.

  Memorable Moment:
  "You saw the Judgment Special. Now you can never get away from it."
  — Joe Malone (20:04)

6. Flight to the Wilderness & Final Confrontation (21:49–26:17)

• Desperate to escape all trains, Tom flees to remote Canada, seeking isolation.

• Even in a supposedly trainless wilderness, he hears a ghostly whistle and stumbles upon abandoned tracks.

• Tom flees in terror, pursued by the sound of the phantom locomotive. The next morning, his Canadian guides find him dead, having run himself to death.

  Notable Quote:
  "The Judgment Special… it runs any place there’s tracks. And it follows you till it gets you."
  — Old Boomer (25:04)

7. Epilogue and Closing (26:55–28:39)

• The Mysterious Traveler returns to close the tale, wryly suggesting that while the coroner lists "heart failure" as the cause, there are some trains best left unseen.

• The episode ends with the invitation to join again next week for another mysterious story.

  Notable Quote:
  "If you ever see a train running without lights and going faster than the wind, don’t be too sure it’s only your imagination."
  — Mysterious Traveler (27:28)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Host Introduction & Premise: 00:06–00:45
• Robbery Plot Begins: 02:07
• Old Boomer’s Ghost Train Legend: 04:29–07:01
• Train Wreck & Escape: 07:51–08:54
• Supernatural Encounter at Crossing: 09:13–11:19
• Tom’s Guilt in New York: 12:31–13:50
• Judgment Special Dream Sequence #1: 15:02–17:16
• Tunnel Sleepwalking Dream: 18:39–21:49
• Canadian Wilderness & Final Haunting: 21:49–26:17
• Epilogue/Closing Wisdom: 26:55–27:37

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Memorable Moments & Quotes

Old Boomer:
"The Judgment Special. It follows fellas that wreck trains on purpose. Because murdering a train is like murdering a man." (07:03)

Tom Henderson:
"I can’t help remembering the crash... The whistle kept screaming, just like the locomotive was something alive that was being killed." (09:10)

Old Boomer (as Conductor):
"It’s the Judgment Special, son. And we’re bound from this world to the next." (16:15)

Mysterious Traveler’s Warning:
"If you ever see a train running without lights and going faster than the wind, don’t be too sure it’s only your imagination." (27:28)

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Tone & Style

The episode uses a combination of noir crime, eerie supernatural lore, and classic radio drama suspense. Characters speak in rugged, sometimes superstitious working-class American patter, while the narration is grave and atmospheric. The dialogue and pacing intensify the underlying theme of inescapable punishment and guilt.

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For New Listeners

Even without hearing the original enactments, this classic radio play delivers a compelling tale of crime and supernatural retribution, seasoned with memorable performances and unsettling ambiance. The journey from greed to guilt to spectral comeuppance plays out with the emotional punch and moral undertones that made Golden Age radio dramas enduringly popular.

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Transcript

[Narrator / Announcer (Carl Caruso)]

Mutual presents the Mysterious Traveler.

[Mysterious Traveler (Maurice Tarplin)]

This is the Mysterious Traveler inviting you to join me on another journey into the realm of the strange and the terrifying. I hope you will enjoy the trip, that it will thrill you a little and chill you a little. So settle back, get a good whip of on your nerves and be comfortable if you can, for in a few moments, you're going to meet a ghost. The strangest phantom that you ever heard of. But first, I want you to be my guest on a little train ride. We're running at 60 miles an hour on open track in the dead of night. Now we thunder through a sleeping village. Then beyond it, we plunge into the waiting mouth of a tunnel. We race through the tunnel and into the open again, over a trestle and on into the night. A little world of our own rushing forward resistlessly. A symbol of power and speed and life. Yes, trains do have a life of their own, as you'll see in the unusual ghost story that I call the Locomotive Ghost. My story starts some years ago in a hilly region of western Pennsylvania. It's almost midnight, and two men laden down with several handbags are moving cautiously over the rough ground beneath a railroad trestle. They come to a spot beneath one end of it, and there in the darkness, they stop and turn on a flashlight.

[Joe Malone]

All right, we can sit down and rest now.

[Tom Henderson]

Are you sure this is the right spot?

[Joe Malone]

Of course I'm sure. This is the loading spur that branches off at a mine entrance. Main line's over there, about a hundred yards away.

[Tom Henderson]

How. How long do you think we'll have to wait?

[Joe Malone]

5 or 10 minutes. These mine trains don't run in a minute the way they do out in the main line.

[Tom Henderson]

Suppose the money isn't on the mine train? They might have changed their plans.

[Joe Malone]

They'll be on it. Those miners are waiting for their pay, and the treasurer's bringing it himself. Plus bonus money and cash for operating expenses. Big haul, my friend. $200,000.

[Tom Henderson]

$200,000? That's a lot of dough.

[Joe Malone]

But. But what? You getting cold feet?

[Tom Henderson]

No, no, of course not.

[Joe Malone]

But.

[Tom Henderson]

Well, they'll be killed, won't they? Crew on the train.

[Joe Malone]

Forget it. I thought you were turning soft on me now. After I spilled the whole plant to you.

[Tom Henderson]

Oh, Joe. I'm not turning soft. Joe.

[Joe Malone]

What is it?

[Tom Henderson]

Thought I heard a noise then. Over there.

[Joe Malone]

It's just your imagination. Oh, you're right.

[Tom Henderson]

Somebody's coming.

[Joe Malone]

Keep the light steady. I got my gun handy.

[Tom Henderson]

How could it be?

[Joe Malone]

It's probably just a bump. They often sleep under this trestle.

[Tom Henderson]

All right, you stop.

[Joe Malone]

Where you.

[Old Boomer]

Only me boys. Just old Boomer.

[Track Walker]

Who?

[Old Boomer]

Old Boomer, that's all. Looking for a place to bunk. Howdy, boys.

[Joe Malone]

It's okay, Tom. I heard of this guy. So you're old Boomer, huh? The one they call the King of the Bums?

[Old Boomer]

Not the king, son. Just the travelingest one of them all. 50 years I've been riding a rods and I guess I've covered a million miles of track. Mind if I sit down here? Got a kind of aching my bones.

[Tom Henderson]

Sit down if you want to.

[Old Boomer]

Thanks, son. Say, you fellas ain't bums. You're dressed too good.

[Joe Malone]

Never mind about us. Curiosity ain't healthy.

[Old Boomer]

Old Boomer never fights with anybody. Live and let live's his motto. Listen, Here comes number 25. It's a mighty fine train. 25. Got a 16 wheel Mikado engine. Can pull 20 cars at 80 on a level track. He's 50 seconds late tonight.

[Tom Henderson]

Do you know every train on the tracks?

[Old Boomer]

Pretty near, son. Pretty near. I ain't rode them all. I rode them all. I mean from the Lackawanna to the Santa Fe. There ain't much about trains I don't know. Say, you fellows wouldn't have a little nip handy to take the chill out of an old man's bones now we.

[Joe Malone]

Ain'T got a little nip handy.

[Old Boomer]

Sure, son. No harm in asking. There's a 25 passing Minesville. Now, ain't that whistle far off in the night a sweet mournful sound, though?

[Tom Henderson]

Yeah, it is.

[Old Boomer]

Kind of mournful sounds far off and ghostly, don't it? Well, sometimes it is a ghost you hear. Not a real train at all.

[Joe Malone]

What are you talking about?

[Old Boomer]

I'm just saying that sometimes when you hear train whistling far off and mournful in the night ain't a real train at all. It's a ghost train.

[Tom Henderson]

Ghost train? It's a lot of hooey.

[Old Boomer]

You just think so because you're young and don't know better. Well, old Boomer can tell you there's ghost trains and plenty of them. They're the ghosts, the trains that died in wrecks. Anything as live as a train, it's bound to have a ghost live on after all.

[Joe Malone]

Right, can the chatter. You're hurting my ears.

[Tom Henderson]

Let him talk, Joe. It helps pass the time.

[Joe Malone]

All right, but if you ask me, he's spotting a lot of bushwater.

[Tom Henderson]

Go on, Boomer. What were you saying about trains having ghosts?

[Old Boomer]

Yeah, I've seen many a time running the tracks with all the Lights out. Gone faster than the wind. Not a sound coming from them. I've seen the Heavenly Express, too. Couple times.

[Tom Henderson]

What's the Heavenly Express?

[Old Boomer]

It's a special train, son. It's on the Earth to Heaven run. Travels a million miles a minute. When it gets up speed. Takes his soldier railroad men from this world to the next. It always passes by when a wreck's gone.

[Joe Malone]

Happens. That's enough talk. I'm sick of listening to you.

[Old Boomer]

All right, son. You don't believe me, but I know what I know. I be. I hate coming. I hear it coming now.

[Tom Henderson]

Hear what coming?

[Old Boomer]

The Heavenly Express. It's coming down this track. Listen.

[Tom Henderson]

I don't hear anything.

[Joe Malone]

There's nothing to hear.

[Old Boomer]

It's passing right by overhead. Now it's slower. It's gonna stop. It's never stopped before. That means wreck's gonna be here, Joe.

[Tom Henderson]

He knows.

[Old Boomer]

That's it. That's what you're here for. You're gonna wreck that mine train.

[Joe Malone]

Hear that, old man? That's a mine train turning into this spur. You're right. We're gonna wreck it.

[Old Boomer]

No, you can't. You mustn't.

[Joe Malone]

But before we do, we gotta take care of you. And this is how we're gonna do it.

[Tom Henderson]

You shot him, I guess.

[Old Boomer]

Heavily. Express stuff for me too. I sure hope so. But you fellas, it'll punish you. It'll follow you sure as I'm laying here.

[Tom Henderson]

Oh, follow us? What are you talking about?

[Old Boomer]

The Judgment Special. It punishes fellas. It wrecks trains on purpose. Runs any place has tracks. And it follows him until it gets them one way or another. Because murdering a train is like murdering a man. You gotta pay for it. And you'll pay for it. Think I'm crazy, But you'll see. You'll see.

[Joe Malone]

Yeah, that shut him up. Crazy old coot.

[Tom Henderson]

I wish you hadn't killed him.

[Joe Malone]

Joe, don't be a SAP. Couldn't let him live to tell what he knew, could I?

[Tom Henderson]

No, no, of course not.

[Joe Malone]

Listen. I hear the mine train coming. We just got time to get ready. Now, put the suitcase with the dynamite against the trestle here. That's it. Now, come on, help me unroll a wire.

[Tom Henderson]

Yeah, yeah, sure, Joe. Anything you say.

[Joe Malone]

That's it. Keep coming. Gotta get plenty far away. Hit a train.

[Old Boomer]

Now.

[Tom Henderson]

Yeah, I hear it. I can see the headlight too. Look how bright it is.

[Joe Malone]

Okay, this is far enough. Take me just a second to hit you up the detonator. There it is. Now we're all ready.

[Tom Henderson]

It's on the trestle now, almost halfway across.

[Joe Malone]

What's the matter? You sound shaky. Listen, Tom, you're in this now, and it's too late to back out, you hear?

[Tom Henderson]

Yeah, I know. It's. It's almost across.

[Joe Malone]

All right, then. I'll close the detonator.

[Tom Henderson]

Now, there she goes.

[Mysterious Traveler (Maurice Tarplin)]

Three hours later, the two men, Joe Malone and Tom Henderson, were driving eastward through the night, far from the city of the train wreck. Between them on the seat was a large handbag, and Joe Malone, at the wheel, patted it lovingly.

[Joe Malone]

200,000 bucks. Ha. You realize that, Tom? We got 200,000 bucks riding here between us.

[Tom Henderson]

Yeah, Yeah, I know it's a matter.

[Joe Malone]

You don't sound very happy about it.

[Tom Henderson]

Sure I am.

[Joe Malone]

It's just. Just what?

[Tom Henderson]

Well, I can't help remembering the crash when the mine train went into the ravine. The way the whistle kept scream. Just like the locomotive was something alive that was being killed.

[Joe Malone]

For Pete's sake. The whistle valve got stuck when the engine crashed, that's all.

[Tom Henderson]

Sure, I know that, only. Well, I just can't help remembering it, Joe. The crew were all killed, weren't they?

[Joe Malone]

Suppose they were. What do you care? You're as nervous as an old woman. She'd never rung you in on this job.

[Track Walker]

I'm all right.

[Tom Henderson]

Really, I am. Joe, listen. What are you gonna do with your 100,000?

[Joe Malone]

I'm heading for the big town. Gonna have one swell time. Gonna buy new clothes, stay at the best hotel in town and really cut loose. Meet me in New York. I'll show you real time.

[Tom Henderson]

Where you gonna stay?

[Joe Malone]

This is Miller's boarding House. It's over on the west side. You can find it in the phone book. I'm just staying there till I can buy some real classy duds. And I'm moving to Park Avenue. Always had a yen to live on Park Avenue. Now I'm gonna see what it's like.

[Tom Henderson]

Eh, sounds all right.

[Joe Malone]

Maybe.

[Tom Henderson]

Joe, look out. That train.

[Joe Malone]

What'd you do that for? Why'd you grab the brake? You stall us right here in the middle of a railroad crossing?

[Tom Henderson]

I had to, Joe. The train and the track there in front of us. We almost ran into it.

[Joe Malone]

What are you talking about? There wasn't any train on that track.

[Tom Henderson]

But there was. Running without lights and not making a sound.

[Joe Malone]

You're crazy. I tell you, there wasn't anything in sight, not even a hand car.

[Tom Henderson]

But I saw it, Joe.

[Joe Malone]

Never heard of a train running without lights. That proves you crazy.

[Tom Henderson]

Well, maybe it was an empty. But if I hadn't stopped, the car would have smashed into the side of it.

[Joe Malone]

I didn't mind it. Suck you one. Now we're stalling a railroad track and the car won't start.

[Tom Henderson]

I'll get out and push. Joe, look. A headlight.

[Joe Malone]

Real train this time. Coming around the bend, slept 200 yards off.

[Tom Henderson]

Joe, it's gonna hit us. We gotta jump. Yeah, but this door won't open. It's stuck. Come on out this side. Come on. I got the bag my coach caught in the car door. I'm stuck.

[Old Boomer]

Help me.

[Tom Henderson]

I can't joke. Jump.

[Old Boomer]

Jump.

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

Help me.

[Joe Malone]

Tom.

[Mysterious Traveler (Maurice Tarplin)]

Help.

[Tom Henderson]

Help me.

[Old Boomer]

Help.

[Tom Henderson]

Mister.

[Joe Malone]

Mister, you all right?

[Tom Henderson]

Yeah. Yeah, I'm all right. But my friend, he must have been killed. Yes, he sure was. So when do you get away?

[Joe Malone]

And look at your car.

[Tom Henderson]

There's pieces of it spread a quarter mile up the track.

[Mysterious Traveler (Maurice Tarplin)]

Whatever made you stop right there on the crossing.

[Tom Henderson]

Carstow. Who are you? I'm the crossing watchman. Watchman? Why weren't you on duty? Why didn't you signal there was a train coming? Because I didn't know it, mister. That was the wrecking train taking doctors down to Mineville. It was unscheduled. Oh, let me see. What about the other train? The one that went past, going east just before the wrecking train hit us. Other train? Yeah. No other train due through here till 6am this morning. I saw it. I tell you, traveling without lights. No train ever travels without lights.

[Mysterious Traveler (Maurice Tarplin)]

It's again the law.

[Tom Henderson]

Say, are you drunk? No. No, I'm not. Where you going? Listen, I got a report to make on this. You got to fill out a form. Forget it. I'm not interested getting away from here. Go to New York.

[Mysterious Traveler (Maurice Tarplin)]

Late the next afternoon, Tom Henderson reached New York. Not knowing where else to go, he hunted in the phone book for Mrs. Miller's boarding house that Joe Malone had mentioned and went there. Mrs. Miller gave him a room on the top floor. And there he carefully locked in the closet the precious handbag that held $200,000. All of it his since Joe's unfortunate death. After that, Tom went out to see New York's nightclubs. He got back after midnight, feeling considerably more cheerful. As he was about to unlock his door, Mrs. Miller appeared in the hall.

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

Oh, Mr. Henderson.

[Tom Henderson]

Oh, yeah, Mrs. Miller.

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

I was waiting for you, Mr. Henderson. It's turned so cool that I lit the gas heater in your room.

[Tom Henderson]

Well, thanks a lot.

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

I just wanted to warn you that.

[Tom Henderson]

What was that?

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

What was what, Mr. Henderson?

[Tom Henderson]

That whistle just now. What was it? A Boat out in the river.

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

That was a freight train, Mr. Henderson.

[Tom Henderson]

Freight train? Here in the heart of New York?

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

Well, yes. They come down the west side elevated tracks to the freight yard downtown. They run past just a few yards down the street.

[Tom Henderson]

I didn't know that. I wouldn't have come here if I had.

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

Oh, I'm sure they won't bother you, Mr. Henderson. Really, they won't. I know. Good night.

[Tom Henderson]

Good night.

[Mysterious Traveler (Maurice Tarplin)]

Oh, bad Alex.

[Tom Henderson]

She's sure they won't bother me. It's too late to find someplace else where. I'd leave here right now. I'll close the window. I'll keep the sound out. Anyway. Suppose I can hear a train or two. But I'm can hearing them do me. I'm gonna go to sleep. Forget it. Yeah, forget it. I've got 200,000 bucks and my whole life ahead of me. Should let an old coot like that Boomer worry me. Joe's getting killed by a train was just an accident. Could happen to anybody. Me, I'm alive tomorrow. Gonna start enjoying it plenty.

[Old Boomer]

Oh, boy.

[Joe Malone]

Still here.

[Tom Henderson]

Trains.

[Old Boomer]

All aboard, son. We're leaving in one millionth of a second and we gotta be on time.

[Tom Henderson]

Boomer, it's you.

[Old Boomer]

That's right, son. You gotta wake up and get aboard. We're pulling out.

[Tom Henderson]

I'm in a railroad station someplace, but everything's so misty, I can't see much.

[Old Boomer]

No time for talking, son. Gotta get aboard.

[Tom Henderson]

But I'm the only passenger. Except for you and me, there isn't another soul in sight. And you're wearing a conductor's uniform.

[Old Boomer]

They promoted me. Now come on, get aboard.

[Tom Henderson]

I don't want to. I don't like trains. I don't want to go anyplace.

[Old Boomer]

Can't help it. This is a special trip just for you. And you got to be aboard. Come on now, up those steps. That's it. Now we're off. Right on time to the millionth of a second.

[Joe Malone]

Where?

[Tom Henderson]

Where we.

[Joe Malone]

Come on.

[Tom Henderson]

What train is this? It's completely empty except for me and you.

[Old Boomer]

That's right, son. It's a thousand car train pulled by 30 engines. And you and me are the only ones aboard.

[Tom Henderson]

Where are we going?

[Joe Malone]

What.

[Tom Henderson]

What train is this anyway?

[Old Boomer]

It's the Judgment Special, son. And we're bound from this world to the next.

[Track Walker]

No.

[Tom Henderson]

No.

[Old Boomer]

Yeah. Or any place. There's tracks to jug up right outside your wind and took your board.

[Tom Henderson]

I don't want to die. I don't want to.

[Old Boomer]

You haven't any choice, son. You're on The Judgment Special. And we're hitting a million miles a minute now.

[Joe Malone]

Huh?

[Old Boomer]

Look out the window. There's the Earth way down below us.

[Track Walker]

See it?

[Old Boomer]

Yeah.

[Tom Henderson]

But I don't want to leave it. I don't want to go look at.

[Old Boomer]

The stars flash by. We're going a million miles a minute, and it'll take us all eternity to get there.

[Joe Malone]

Yep.

[Old Boomer]

Here, I'll put the wind up so you can see better. There you are, son. There's the Earth. We left that tiny little dot of light way up in the sky.

[Tom Henderson]

Oh, I won't go with you.

[Joe Malone]

I won't.

[Old Boomer]

Hey. I won't. What are you doing? Get down.

[Track Walker]

Hey.

[Old Boomer]

You can't jump out that window. We're going a million miles a minute.

[Tom Henderson]

I won't jump. I'm not going with you. Come back.

[Old Boomer]

Come back.

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

Wake up.

[Tom Henderson]

Wake up.

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

Mr. Henderson. Wake up.

[Tom Henderson]

Wake up. What is it?

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

Oh.

[Old Boomer]

What is it?

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

Oh, Mr. Henderson. Thank heaven you're still alive. I thought you were dead for sure.

[Track Walker]

What?

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

What happened when you closed your window? I meant to warn you that with the gas heater on, you must leave it open. Well, you almost suffocated in your sleep.

[Tom Henderson]

I. I almost suffocated?

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

Yes. If I hadn't heard you trying to get your breath and hurried in and opened your window, you'd have been dead now for sure.

[Mysterious Traveler (Maurice Tarplin)]

The rest of the night, Tom Henderson spent sitting on a bench in the nearest park, shivering at the nearness of his escape. The next day, he bought himself an expensive wardrobe. Then he checked into the biggest hotel on Park Avenue. There, just before he retired, he took his sleeping tablet.

[Tom Henderson]

Yeah, that fixed it. No dreams for me tonight. Some layout. So this is what you can enjoy when you have money. And I'm going to enjoy it. I've been letting my nerves get the better of me. Not anymore. Feel better already. So, out goes the light. I sleep like a millionaire. Yes, just like a millionaire.

[Mysterious Traveler (Maurice Tarplin)]

And so Tom fell asleep. But unfortunately, he did dream. And he knew he was dreaming, but he couldn't wake up. It was a very curious dream indeed. He dreamed that he got up and dressed, rode down in the elevator. That he walked out into Park Avenue. And there down the street, he found a tiny door, which he entered. It led down a flight of steep iron stairs to a dark tunnel far beneath the ground. There in the tunnel, a man was waiting for him. The man turned, and he saw it was his former pal, Joe Malone.

[Joe Malone]

Hello, Tom.

[Tom Henderson]

Joe. Joe, it's you.

[Joe Malone]

Yeah. I've been waiting for you, Tom. But.

[Tom Henderson]

But you're Dead. I saw you killed.

[Joe Malone]

Maybe I'm dead, maybe I'm not.

[Tom Henderson]

You're dead. I know it. It's just a dream. I gotta wake up.

[Joe Malone]

Can't wake up. Don't you understand? You're never gonna wake up.

[Tom Henderson]

I will.

[Joe Malone]

I will. Oh, Tom. Now come along with me. I'm here to guide you.

[Tom Henderson]

Where? Where are you taking me?

[Joe Malone]

Down this tunnel. See how it stretches out on and on? Now it keeps going down and down.

[Track Walker]

No.

[Joe Malone]

What do you think it goes to?

[Tom Henderson]

I don't know. I don't want to know.

[Joe Malone]

Come on.

[Tom Henderson]

That.

[Joe Malone]

Tom, I can't wait all night.

[Tom Henderson]

No, I won't go. I'm gonna wake up.

[Joe Malone]

You can't, Tom. The night I was killed, you saw the Judgment Special. Now you can never get away from it.

[Tom Henderson]

It's not true. This is. It's the dream. I'm safe in my own bed in the hotel.

[Joe Malone]

And you refuse to come with me.

[Tom Henderson]

Yes, I do. I refuse.

[Joe Malone]

Listen, Tom.

[Tom Henderson]

Listen to what? I don't hear anything.

[Joe Malone]

Listen. It's closer now. You hear that? That's the Judgment Special, Tom, coming through this tunnel.

[Tom Henderson]

Train. It's a train coming.

[Joe Malone]

Where are you going to go? You're in a tunnel, Tom, and no way out.

[Tom Henderson]

It's just a dream. It can't hurt me.

[Joe Malone]

It's coming closer. Tom, it's coming closer.

[Tom Henderson]

Oh, it's only a dream. I gotta wake up. Wake up.

[Old Boomer]

Wake up.

[Track Walker]

Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Mister.

[Tom Henderson]

Thank heavens I'm awake.

[Track Walker]

I'd say not any too soon, either, but I.

[Tom Henderson]

Who are you? So dark and carrying a lantern.

[Track Walker]

Who am I? Mister, I'm a track walker.

[Tom Henderson]

Track walker? What do you mean?

[Track Walker]

I mean that I inspect the track here under Park Avenue.

[Tom Henderson]

What? How did I get here?

[Track Walker]

Why, mister, a minute ago I found you walking in your sleep, your eyes tight closed down this tunnel right under Park Avenue.

[Tom Henderson]

Park Avenue.

[Track Walker]

If I hadn't met you, you never would open your eyes again because number 10 is due along here in three minutes.

[Old Boomer]

Then.

[Tom Henderson]

And it wasn't a dream. I. I really am in a railroad tunnel. Yes, I am.

[Track Walker]

I'll say you are. How you got here, I don't know, unless you came down one of the inspection doors from the street. But, brother, if this walking in your sleep is something you do often, take my advice and see a doctor.

[Mysterious Traveler (Maurice Tarplin)]

But Tom didn't go to a doctor, for he knew what a doctor would say. But it was his nerves, his guilty conscience. Now Tom felt he had to get away, far away, to a place where there were no trains. To harm him. At dawn, he bought a ticket on the first plane leaving for Canada. That afternoon, he found himself in a tiny town deep in the heart of Canada. There he hired a French Canadian guide to take him by canoe, far into the woods, away from any trace of civilization. Late that night, they arrived at the cabin where the guide lived with his wife. Tom unpacked his suitcase and joined the guide and his wife on the porch. For the first time since the wrecking of the mine train, Tom felt at peace.

[Tom Henderson]

Ah, this is something like it.

[Joe Malone]

It is peaceful, is it not, monsieur? Ah, Monsieur's nerves are better already.

[Tom Henderson]

Yes, this is what I need. How far is it to the nearest railroad?

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

It is 80 miles, monsieur.

[Tom Henderson]

80 miles? Old boomers that have traveled anywhere there were tracks. 80 miles ought to be enough.

[Joe Malone]

Pardon, I do not understand.

[Tom Henderson]

Oh, never mind. I've got to get some sleep now.

[Joe Malone]

Of course. Good night, monsieur.

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

Good night, monsieur.

[Tom Henderson]

What was that?

[Joe Malone]

What was what, monsieur?

[Tom Henderson]

That. That whistle. Then it sounded like a train whistle.

[Joe Malone]

Impossible. It must have been an owl.

[Tom Henderson]

Yeah, yeah, sure. Sorry I bothered you. Good night.

[Mysterious Traveler (Maurice Tarplin)]

Tom entered his room and went to bed. But he could not sleep. He tossed and turned and at last got up and dressed.

[Tom Henderson]

The moon is bright. I'll take a little walk. Gotta calm myself down. There's nothing to worry about now. Not a thing. Out here in the wilds, I'm safe. Perfectly safe.

[Mysterious Traveler (Maurice Tarplin)]

Tom left the cabin and entered the woods. They pressed thick around him, but an open passageway through the trees attracted Tom. He started down it, the moonlight illuminating his way. He paused and made a startling discovery.

[Tom Henderson]

Why, I'm walking on old railroad ties, and there are tracks here, all rusted and loose. But the guide said there wasn't a railroad closer than 80 miles. He lied to me. He tricked me. A train. There's a train coming. It's coming toward me. There's a headlight. I gotta run.

[Old Boomer]

Run.

[Joe Malone]

Marie. Marie.

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

Qu' est que six? Pierre.

[Joe Malone]

The nervous one. He is not in the cabin. He has wandered off into the woods.

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

That is strange.

[Joe Malone]

We must go after him. Hurry, before he does himself an injury.

[Tom Henderson]

It's still behind me. Still following me. I. I can'. I can't run anymore. I can't. I can't go any further. I gotta stop. I gotta stop.

[Old Boomer]

The Judgment special, son. It runs any place there's tracks. And it follows you till it gets you. Because murdering a train is like murdering a man. You got to pay for it. You think I'm crazy, but you'll see. Here it comes, son. No. No.

[Joe Malone]

He cannot be Far Namari. See his footprints? He was running for half a mile.

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

He would do himself harm running so hard on his darkness.

[Old Boomer]

Look, Pierre.

[Tom Henderson]

Voila.

[Joe Malone]

Yes, it is the nervous one. We have found him. He's lying face down.

[Tom Henderson]

Wait.

[Joe Malone]

I will turn him over.

[Old Boomer]

Pierre.

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

He lies so still. Has he done himself an injury?

[Joe Malone]

No, Marie. There is not a mark on him yet. His face, it is twisted with fear.

[Old Boomer]

Pierre.

[Mrs. Miller / French Canadian Guide / Marie / Pierre]

Is he.

[Tom Henderson]

Is he dead?

[Joe Malone]

Yes, Marie, he is dead. His heart. He killed himself by running, no doubt. But what was it he ran away from? There is nothing dangerous in these woods.

[Mysterious Traveler (Maurice Tarplin)]

This is the Mysterious Traveler again. Poor Tom. The tracks he found himself on led to an abandoned logging camp. They hadn't been used in 20 years, and no train could possibly have run on them. Except a ghost train. But of course, none of us believes in ghosts. So we just have to accept the coroner's verdict. Which was? Heart failure induced by overexertion. Just the same, if you ever see a train running without lights and going faster than the wind, don't be too sure it's only your imagination. And next time you hear a distant, mournful whistle in the night, you.

[Narrator / Announcer (Carl Caruso)]

Oh.

[Mysterious Traveler (Maurice Tarplin)]

All this talk about trains is making you nervous, and you have to get off here. I'm sorry, but I'm sure we'll meet again, shall we say, next week at the same time?

[Narrator / Announcer (Carl Caruso)]

You have just heard the Mysterious Traveler, a series of dramas of the strange and terrifying. In today's cast were Maurice Tarplin, James McCallion, Joe Julian, Bryna Rayburn and Cameron Andrews. Original music was played by Charles Paul. Mysterious Traveler is written, produced and directed by Bob Arthur and David Kogan. Listen next week to a tale titled.

[Mysterious Traveler (Maurice Tarplin)]

The man the Insects Hated.

[Narrator / Announcer (Carl Caruso)]

Another strange and shivery tale of the mysterious traveler. The Mysterious Traveler has come to you from our New York studios. Carl Caruso speaking. This is the Mutual Broadcasting System.