The Ghostly Maco Lights
Since the fall of 1867, peculiar sightings of an unexplained floating light have been reported by both locals and visitors of Wilmington, North Carolina. Eyewitnesses claim that the “Ghostly lights of Maco” can be seen after dark, floating down the tracks at the old Maco Train Station.
According to stories passed down from generation to generation, the floating light can be attributed to the ghost of deceased train conductor, Joe Baldwin, who met his untimely death on those very train tracks. It's said that one night, on a routine trip to Wilmington, the last car of the train, which Joe was riding in, became dislodged from the rest of the train. Unknowingly, the train kept fast on it's course, leaving the small car trailing slowly behind them.
Suddenly, a fast express train, which had been following, approached the small car out of the darkness. With no other way to warn the approaching train of the slower leading train, the conductor began waving his lantern to and fro, hoping that someone on that train would see him and slow down.
Unfortunately, no one saw the light, and the express train collided with the much smaller car. Though the express train was knocked off the track, no one on it sustained serious injuries. The same could not be said for Joe Baldwin, though, as died instantly as a result of decapitation. His lantern, (which was upright and still burning) was found, along with his headless body, beside the tracks in the swamp. The search for his missing head continued for two weeks, but it was never recovered. Finally Joe was buried, without it, in St. James Cemetery in Wilmington. It's reported that later his grave was moved to another location, but his headstone was never relocated, so his body lies somewhere in an unmarked grave in Wilmington.
Every since that night, along the tracks of Maco Station, a glowing light, which bears remarkable resemblance to a conductors lantern, bobs around through the still night, as if being carried by someone or something. Even railroad engineers have reported seeing the ghostly light as it appears on the train tracks in front of them. Once a US army colonel was commissioned to find the cause of the mysterious light, but just as his soldiers encircled it, the light disappeared, only to reappear behind the circle of soldiers. As the astonished troops watched on, the light continued on it's slow and steady journey down the tracks away from them.
The train tracks were finally removed by the station in 1977, but the lights continued to be seen.
Is it the ghost of old Joe Baldwin, searching for his lost head? Or just headlights from passing cars, as some have claimed? Whatever the explanation, the lights at Maco Station can still be seen, (the last sighting was actually reported in 2009) and probably will continue to shine on.. Well at least until Joe Baldwin finds his head.
Comments
I moved to Leland NC in 1982 and my step father always told us about the Maxon Light. We had him take us one night and after hanging out for an hour around 10 PM on a summer night we saw the light. Everytime we got close to it the light would disapear and reappear behind us. We also heard the squel of train brakes alittle later on that night. The tracks were long gone but something unnatural was with us and playing with us. Was very weird but we never felt afraid.
When I was 15,(1958) a group of us went to see the Maco Lights. The small station house was still there. we walked down the tracks almost to the trestle. We waited about 20 minutes of so then it looked like someone struck a kitchen match way down the track. The match flared up and was quickly extinguished. This happened several times but each time it appeared a little closer. Also the time interval between each match was shorter. Then there was a small red glow over the left train rail and it began to swing back and forth. Each time it passed over the rail the light reflection streaked down the rail. Suddenly a seed of a white light appeared high over the center of both tracks and quickly grew to a huge light. It looked as big an old train light. Immediately the red light started swinging over the rail. The light was probably 500 yards away but those of us in the group could see each other clearly in the light. Then as quickly as it had appeared it suddenly went out leaving us in total darkness. 30 seconds of so later it appeared again just like it had before but much closer this time.
Strange noises of the tracks contracting added to the scary atmosphere. The boys that were with us ran for the car, and it only took one more pass and we girls did the same. At that time we were told that the railroad still used the tracks and that if we were to go out on the trestle we would have to jump into the swamp if a real train came along. This account is a true as I can make it. I was there along with 6-8 other young people from Civil air Patrol. I revisited Maco Station in the late 1960s and the lights were still going strong. I also took my daughter there on our trip home to S.C. from New York. This time the station house was no longer there and there had been a trailer park constructed just across the tracks from where the station house had been but it was now abandoned. There was a big mound of dirt placed where the tracks had been, but you could see the huge white light from the old train on the other side outlining the mound of dirt. It was very dark so we did not try to climb the mound. In 1957 I was told that the only thing that interrupted the lights was an earth quake in the 1800s and that it appeared over and over again each night. They also said that if you stayed through the whole thing that it would come within about 20 feet from you and then do one of two things. It would slide all the way back down the track or when you turned to run it come at you from the direction you were running in. I only know that in 1957 that was the scariest thing I have ever seen since the movie The Thing. I'm 68 years old and tomorrow night I am taking a group to see the light again. My husband said if this is a wasted trip, I will never live it down and it would probably appear on my tomb stone in years to come. I'll let you know!!!! AK
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