DEMON HUNTER

During the gold rush of the late 19th Century, the mountain mining towns of Cripple Creek and Victor transported precious ores to Colorado Springs by train. The Midline Railway would curve throughout the mountains, the path including 9 different tunnels. By 1900, the Short Line train would start to take tourists on the scenic route along the rails. As Vice President, Theodore Roosevelt took in the vast and incredible sights, declaring as ‘the trip that bankrupts the English language’ (Summer, 2011) The rail was eventually sold, and turned into a dirt toll road in 1923, called the Corley Mountain Highway. Cars and horse drawn wagons would make the trip instead of trains. By 1939, the roadway became free to travel and was renamed Gold Camp Road. Only part of the road remains for travel today. On August 21, 1988, the third tunnel collapsed due to loose rocks and rotting timbers and was never reopened. The tunnels were sealed off with gates to keep people out. The forest service closed 8.5 miles of road; estimating would be too costly to fix the tunnel (Ellis, 2004). The road remains dirt once you get past Point Sublime, an almost 90 degree turn that has sent automobiles to a vehicle graveyard down below. About a dozen shells from vehicles are still at the bottom of the hill, as it would have cost too much to get resources to haul them out. A guard rail was put up in the beginning of this century to prevent any further accidents.

Colorado Springs’ own Homicide Hunter, Joe Kenda (2017), described the road:

“it has long been a hangout for teen parties and ghost hunters prowling abandoned rail tunnels along its path… if ever an old dirt road deserved to be haunted, Gold Camp Road was it”

Murder victims and suicides are discovered at least once a year along the road and trails of the mountainous valley. Fatalities occur when hikers take that accidental step or tumble down the ridge. Reckless individuals drive that poorly maintained dirt road too fast, which could (and has) cause a roll over on the sharp turns. Gold Camp Road has claimed many victims, ghosts of different ages and backgrounds. The most popular story is that of the school bus crash in the tunnel:

Many years ago, a school bus full of kids traveled up into the mountains on an old, dusty stagecoach road towards the ghost town of Victor, Colorado. As they drove through the third tunnel, tragedy suddenly hit. The entire tunnel collapsed, killing everyone on board. Stories spread of the spirits roaming these roads restlessly, not wanting anyone else to be hurt in the tunnels. If you are to stop your car in the middle of the tunnel, turn off the engine, put in neutral and wait, you can feel your car starting to move forward. Others say you need to blare your horn to call the spirits. Once you get out of your car, you will see the handprints of the children on the back of your car, as if they tried to push you out.

While investigating up in the area in 2013, my former team had caught an EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon, voices caught on recording but not heard to human ear) at Tunnel number 2 of “that’s charming” when a team member was rattling on about something the spirit must not have found interesting. I’ve witnessed a pacing shadow man at Tunnel number 1, and rocks seemed to have been thrown at us, almost on command, when there was no known living creature about. What about Tunnel number 3? I haven’t been able to catch anything I would call paranormal there. Only drunk party kids trying to break behind the gate, that clearly states “DANGER KEEP OUT,” to find a glimpse of phantoms. Flashlights reflect on the shiny rubbish in the tunnel and people insist the legend must be true, “part of the bus!” I was told. I should LOUDLY emphasize that trespassing is illegal. The racing of cars at the first two tunnels causes concerns for safety, having to yell “CAR!” every few minutes, along with the inevitable dust from the road contaminating any picture. The kids driving through would yell at us to watch for the “ghosts!” instead of watching for their own safety. More than once the police were called up to the empty parking lot at the trailhead for Tunnel number 3 due to bonfires (during fire season, no less) and substance use. It’s not a place we aim to investigate anymore due the safety concerns.

So where did the story of the school bus come from? I grew up with this story in Colorado Springs, a short drive from the historic Gold Camp Road. It seemed everyone knew about this story, children haunted Gold Camp Road. I think I was twenty years old the first time I attempted to go up there. I went with three of my girlfriends wanting to see “some ghosts.” Two of my friends chickened out. In the end, we didn’t make it up to the tunnels, and I would believe the school bus story until I joined a paranormal team in 2013. I became the historian and researcher for the team and in my research, learned that the story wasn’t true. I didn’t believe it. No way, this had to be true. Everyone talked about it. This couldn’t be just an urban legend like Loch Ness Monster or Big Foot (fun fact, we have that legend also in the nearby mountains). Stubbornly, I looked more into this blatant lie. I was about to have my mind blown.

Picture Credit: YouTuber Cassandra Ann explores the Gold Camp Road Tunnels

Ibecame aware that a similar incident had occurred in San Antonio, Texas when there was a bus-train accident in the 1930s. The locals started to park on the railroad tracks outside of the city, trying to get pushed across the tracks by the dead children. They claimed they would start to see handprints on their windows. This incident initiated their own urban legend, but the crash didn’t happen here either (SBG, 2020). The real event occurred almost 1,300 miles away. In 1938, a school bus of twentythree high school students and their driver were tragically killed by a train, when trying to cross the tracks during a terrible fog in Salt Lake City, Utah. Fifteen students survived with physical and emotional trauma (Salt Lake Tribune, 2013). San Antonio residents might have read the headline in their newspaper, possibly misunderstood it to have occurred in their city, thus relating it to local railroad tracks. But nothing happened in Texas. Like nothing happened in Tunnel number 3 on Gold Camp Road.

Are you seeing a pattern here? Zak Bagans and the Ghost Adventures crew investigated the San Antonio case while investigating a nearby hotel in Seguin, Texas (Season 9, episode 13). They attempted to verify the legend of “school bus full of little children were all instantly killed when a speeding train sliced through the middle of it.” Wanting to test the reports of the child handprints, the crew put baby powder on the car. Then, the driver put the car into neutral and waited. The car moved and handprints appeared. However, the team was able to determine that the San Antonio Road had a slight incline that gave the cars movement. They also noted that oils from hands caused handprints on the cars. Debunked. It is unclear how the cars might move on Gold Camp, although the road is uneven due to flooding and poor grading. There is also minimal evidence to support any direct stories of cars moving- or being pushed - in the tunnels. However, we can look at the handprints. Guess what Gold Camp Road has? Dust from the roads. Lots of dust. You have oils in your hands, and likely touch the back of your car from time to time. Not children. Not ghosts. Bummer.

This still does not explain how the story of the bus crash made its way to Tunnel number 3. With San Antonio, the legend took off once the Utah case hit the newspaper. However, the tunnel collapsed fifty years after the initial accident. Colorado residents know the legend, but no one knows how it started. The internet has many links of the legend of the tunnels, but there is no origin story anywhere to be found. Mere speculation. I inquired on social media, asking people when they first heard about the haunting, and if they had any experiences. I received experiences from the 1990s to as recently as last year. Not one person stated they interacted with a bus-crash victim, everything appeared word of mouth. Stories online appear to be of someone who knew someone who had something happen. Isn’t that how the game of telephone goes, the story will change and evolve? The great mystery of Gold Camp Road.

What is it with urban legends that we love so much? The thrill of the idea that dead children are pushing our car? Cryptids such as Big Foot creeping around our woods? The fear of the unknown spiking our adrenaline, when it’s right around the corner? The stories travel through word of mouth (and now the internet) like dust in the wind, dust from a gravely road weaving through the mountains. Through my research of Gold Camp Road, I was able to learn more about the magnificent history of life and death. The legend of the bus crash will continue as long as people continue to tell the story. Paranormal enthusiasts will swear that they made contact with someone up there. The spirits of Gold Camp Road may or may not ever tell.

Erin x

Erin Taylor lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She is one of the co- founders and lead investigators for Cheyenne Mountain Paranormal Investigators. When she’s not out searching for the paranormal, she enjoys traveling, spending time with her family, attending concerts or the theater. By day, Erin works in a community based mental health agency as a licensed clinician.

References

Ellis, Don. (June 24, 2004) “Trains to cars to hikers: Gold Camp Road charts colorful past.” Westside pioneer. Retrieved from https:// www.westsidepioneer.com/Articles/062404/ OldGoldCamp.html Ghost Adventures. (Season 9, episode 13). “Texas horror hotel.” Travel Channel. Kenda, Joe. (2017). I will find you: Solving killer cases from my life fighting crime. Center Street: Ebook. Salt Lake Tribune. (2013). “Memorial to mark 1938 crash that killed 23 students.” Salt Lake Tribune. November 24, 2013. SBG San Antonio Staff Reports. (2020). “24 killed in horrific bus-train crash that inspired ‘ghost tracks’ legend in San Antonio.” December 1, 2020. Retrieved from www.msn.com Summer, Danny. (2011) “Ghostly Gold Camp Road”. October 5, 2011. Zubeck, Pam. “Local group urges repairing tunnel on Gold Camp Road: Cave-in blocked 10 years ago.” Gazette [Colorado Springs, CO]. 30 Mar 1999: News3. Business Insights: Global.