|
Altoona Railroad Museum Documents
|
Ghost hauntings are popular Pennsylvania attractions. They are also an annual event at The Altoona Railroad Museum.
Testimonies of ghost hauntings are so numerous it's hard to single out which are most interesting!
The Railroaders Museum is a popular attraction for not only historic railroad enthusiasts but also anybody interested in the paranormal.
Strange things have been happening at this museum!
The testimonies of many of the Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museums employees and visitors leave no doubt there have been many ghost sightings in the museum.
Many of these ghost haunting testimonies are documented by The Ghost Research Foundation. Central Pennsylvania's Paranormal Investigators led by Scott Crownover and Patty Wilsom
The building that houses the museum is over 120 years old. It was once the infirmary and police headquarters for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Many believe this is why the Altoona Railroad Museum ghost hauntings are so common.
Reports of ghost sightings and hauntings in the building and around the site has been reported from not only the many visitors to the museum but also:
- construction crews
- office staff
- gift shop employees
- ticket sales and monitor cameras
- maintance crews various directors of the museum
It don't have to be Halloween to get spooked at the museum. Ghost hauntings and spooky events take place on a daily basis. The ghost hauntings are so frequent that most employees have done their research and know the ghosts by name!
An employee at the gift shop told me she and several visitors have seen a spirit-like image, known by the name of Frank, climbing over the train engine (located in the main lobby) than vanish over the side.
Frank is a very popular ghost at the museum and enjoys his daily hauntings. Nobody really gets too excited anymore. Frank seems to enjoy the attention he's getting at the Altoona Railroad Museum and the annual ghost tours. He was probably always a bit of a showoff and prankster.
The train engine that sits in the lobby inside of the Altoona Railroad Museum, is located at the entrance. This is one of Frank's favorite places to hang out. It sits directly outside the ticket office and gift shop. Visitors couldn't help but notice it upon entering and leaving the museum.
YOU CAN FIND A LINK AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE TO VISIT THE ALTOONA RAILROADERS MEMORIAL MUSEUM WEBSITE
Share Your Pennsylvania Ghostly Tale or Read What other Vistors Wrote
Frank is The Most Popular Ghost
At the Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum
Frank is the most popular ghost talked about at the Altoona Railroad Museum but he's certainly not the only one.
Frank has been recognized in this picture taken back in the 1920s of the boiler crew. Frank is the short, dark haired man in the center of the photo.
In the 1990s the Altoona Railroad Museum's former finance director got on the elevator on the 4th floor. This floor is normally closed to the public. To access the 4th floor you have to have a special key to insert in the elevator.
As the director entered the elevator he noticed a ghostly man standing in the rear of the elevator, facing the back wall. The doors closed and this ghostly man turned from the waist and looked over his shoulder at the director. Suddenly the ghost shimmered and faded up into the ceiling of the elevator and vanished.
A few weeks later, once the finance director got his bearings of seeing the elevator ghost. He took a good look at the picture displayed on the first floor of the museum, he recognized the ghostly man he saw in the elevator. He was the same dark haired man in the center of the photo, namely Frank. The director absolutely refused to get on the elevator again.
The 12th Street bridge is located a few blocks from the museum, testimonies of people that have no connection with the Altoona Railroad Museum testified to crossing over the bridge and hearing footsteps behind them, when they looked nobody was in sight. That is, not until there is a train passing under the bridge. Many have testified seeing a ghostly figure jumping over the side of the bridge onto the top of a train.
Several witnesses that caught a glimpse of this ghostly spirit recognized him from the photo on the wall in the main lobby of the museum. Again, they point to Frank.
Excutive Director Scott Cessna
Experienced Many Central PA Ghost Encounters!
Excutive director of the museum, Scott Cessna, made an appearence at the ghost hunt I attended at the museum. He spoke of the Altoona Railroad Museum and ghost hauntings along with encounters he has personally experienced over the years.
Mr. Cessna pointed out. Many testimonies, sightings, and encounters are recorded and documented by the Ghost Research Foundation.
The paranormal investigators all testified of hearing and recording Big Band music being played in the museum, in Kelly's Bar.
I have to admit I felt strange when they mentioned the music because I heard it in the bar area the day I was visiting. I thought, "What a nice touch from that era." I quickly found out that the museum never plays music anywhere in the museum.
Scott Cessna said. "This big band music was from an era when these railroaders listened to the radio while working on the Pennsylvania Railroad. They listened to bands like Jimmy Dorsey and Guy Lombardi."
I took many digital pictures of Kelly's bar the day we were there. The picture below was the one that really cracked me up. I caught a ghostly energy orb in Kelly's Bar, above the beer bottles.
It looked to me like this old ghost was sucking on the beer fumes.
A Bit More Evidence of
Ghost Hauntings from a Sceptic
A regular visitor and known skeptic of the Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum paid the museum a visit one afternoon. He later reported sitting down on a bench near the lab area on the 3rd floor and glanced in the opposite direction. He noticed a man walking towards him in a very strange, out of style hat. He turned his head for a split second and glanced back and the man was gone.
When he questioned the women at the ticket area about this strange character, they informed him he was the only person in the museum. Needless to say, he is no longer a skeptic of ghost hauntings at the museum.
The Paranormal Investigators have picked up sounds on a tape recorder in the children's play area. It was the sounds of children giggling long after the museum was closed.
There are surveillance cameras on each floor of the museum. One woman that was watching the surveillance monitor and noticed a man lingering around on the 2nd floor. He was standing in front of the newsstand. She noticed he was acting strange and not looking at anything in particular. She thought he seemed suspicious, he stood there a long time before she called security.
Security arrived a few minutes later in the elevator, she glanced to see the guard getting off the elevator and when she glanced back the man vanished into thin air. The guard looked everywhere on the floor but couldn't find the man anywhere.
Below is a picture of the Newsstand. It's a replica of the original Newsstand that stood many years at the foot of the 12th street bridge. There is an animation of a newsboy that stands inside and talks about Altoona and its history.
Many railroaders stopped at the Newsstand everyday to buy a newspaper and maybe a pack of gum, candy bar, or a pack of cigarettes.
I included the Newsstand on the page simply because it's my favorite area at the Altoona Railroad Museum.
The museum isn't the only place in the Allegheny Mountains that's dealing with ghosts. Read about one of the Allegheny Mountains most haunted historical site, U.S. Hotel , located in historic Hollidaysburg, PA.
Have you heard the legend of the Allegheny Mountains White Lady of Wopsy? Not only is it interesting to read about, you can also view the different paintings by our local famous artist Joe Servello.
Visit the Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum Website
Return from Ghost Hauntings at the Altoona Railroad Museum To Haunted PA Attractions
Return To Pennsylvania Mountains of Attractions Home
