The Haunted Light at Clarkton

From: Daniel T. Edwards (medwards@jlink.net)
Story type: Ghost
Location: Clarkton, NC
Source: Form Submission

I personally have seen a haunted ghost light down the railroad tracks near Wilmington, NC. The story behind it goes as yours, a railroad man was killed, but how we are not sure. My father, who was raised there, told me a maintenance of way worker was the poor victim. It is said to happen sometime around the turn of the century. I have visited the railroad museum of Hamlet to get more info about the incident, but unfortunately those records, if still around, are so old the ink cannot be legible.

My father took us children by there many times, but never did we see any ghost lights. We did, my father and I, notice that one rail ahead of us would glow brighter than the other. The railroad line is CSX's Main line to Wilmington and Hamlet, NC. so fast heavy trains still call often. This glow was not so bright it gave off light, just maybe enough glow that we could tell the difference. Enough to get our attention at the least.

In 2000, my cousin and I went by there one night while I went back to visit. My father had died in 1997, so it was just me on this trip down, without my favorite traveling buddy. My cousin asked if I wanted to go see the Buie light, that is what it was called. We do know a man by the name of Buie was the man killed. Numerous old grave stones in the area have that name engraved, so that would make sense. I had always wanted to see it, so I agreed.

It was raining lightly that night. A thin mist covered part of the highway, just perfect for a ghost story if there ever was. We pulled up to the railroad at the crossing, and looked back to towards Clarkton, NC. the town we were coming from. It is about 3 miles from there to Elkton, the little town, or wide spot in the road as my father would call it. I was driving, but my cousin did the looking and I did the looking for other cars coming so we would not get hit. Taking a few glances, I saw nothing, just a endless darkness of railroad and pine trees as far as I could see. I started to pull off the tracks... Wait! back up a minute he said in a excited voice. Doing so I saw it! About a quarter mile or so down the tracks a yellow-orange dot, just larger than a lighted cigar glow seemed to be sitting there above the left rail. My cousin and I both began to talk about it, but just look more than anything else. In a few minutes it slowly flickered, before fading into the night. It was gone, and so were any doubts I had of the ghost light. Pulling around and coming back, we stopped once more. We saw it again for about 15 seconds, and once again it was gone.

I remember watching, and not being scared. My father and mother, would tell me the Buie light would get me if I acted up or misbehaved. But after all these years seeing the light for the first time, any fear that I had quickly faded. It was so sad. The light seemed to be a man's doomed soul perhaps, searching for the truth, or maybe his head I do not know. I am certain however of what I saw, and the melancholy of the whole event.

I have not been back there since, but I am planning on moving back to NC. I am sure my wife and I will visit again. Hopefully on cloudy rainy nights, like that night.... we can see the light, the ghost, or whatever it was, again.