Article taken from: http://atsfry.com/1900s/Grhc.htm

From the Clearance Card Quarterly Journal of Southwest Railroad History Vol. 36, No. 4 Autunm, 1999 SOUTHWEST RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY The Ghost Road of Hardin County by Jim King (jgking@swbell.net)

The station agent stared at the engineer, confused by what he'd just heard -- the brakeman was missing from the Saratoga Turn. "Give me a minute to call Silsbee", he finally replied. It was nearly midnight and there was no one else around. "I'll go with you. If he's injured, you'll need help." Within minutes they had negotiated the wye at Bragg and were headed back south through the pounding rain toward Saratoga. "We had stopped to clear debris...he signaled with his lantern", the engineer explained. "I thought he was aboard." It was October, 1932; a tropical storm was crossing the Big Thicket of southeast Texas, breaking trees like toothpicks along the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway's 9-mile Saratoga Branch. As the locomotive chugged slowly south, they kept their eyes focused on the brightly lit rails -- they would need to stop quickly if the brakeman was injured near the tracks. Through the rain, a shape began to appear...in the distance...between the tracks...but...what could it be? As the engine crept closer, the headlight revealed a gruesome sight...too horrible for words...one that would forever haunt... the Ghost Road of Hardin County. The lantern of the headless brakeman shines brightly as he continues his lonely quest along the former Santa Fe right-of-way near Saratoga.

Hardin County, Texas lies between Beaumont and Houston, about 50 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico. Its 40,000+ inhabitants live among the dense woods of the Big Thicket, said to be one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world. The Thicket supports a wide variety of animal life and is especially noted for the many species of birds that either live in the area or visit annually. Before the incursion of the lumber and oil industries, the heart of the Thicket was characterized by dense vegetation and large numbers of deer, bear, panthers and wolves, as well as common varieties of small animals, reptiles and amphibians. With flat land and tall trees, there are no vistas in the Big Thicket; the foreboding darkness of the woods is always close by. But there was oil. And the oil industry came to the Big Thicket, attracting the attention of Texas railroads in the early 1900's. The Spindletop gusher near Beaumont in January 1901 became a historical milestone for modern oil exploration, but it was not the first oil discovery in Texas. By mid-1901, the development of crude oil production in Texas had already made oil more economical than coal as fuel for locomotives. The major railroads began a conversion from coal to oil for Texas operations, a process that took two decades to complete. As early as June 1901, the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway (GCSF) had contracts in place for 800,000 barrels of oil with storage tanks located in Galveston, Alvin, Bellville, Somerville, Temple, Cleburne and Brownwood. The widespread distribution of oil in Texas also gave railroads an additional interest; as major landowners, they stood to capture profits and reduced operating costs from oil exploration on company lands. By 1905, Santa Fe was producing 1,000 barrels of oil per day at a cost of under 2 cents per barrel (the market price was 40 cents), yet this was only a small part of the 1,400,000 barrels of oil they used per year. And so it was oil that led the GCSF to build the Saratoga Branch, a nine mile spur running south from the main east-west line between Somerville and Silsbee. By the summer of 1903, the oil field near the town of Saratoga was proving to be bigger than expected, and the GCSF could no longer ignore the opportunity to capitalize on the boom. The GCSF's parent company was the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF). Letters (reproduced at below) from ATSF President E. P. Ripley, to Victor Morawetz, ATSF's Chairman of the Board, detail the Santa Fe's justification for building the Saratoga Branch. In November 1903, construction of the branch began from the Santa Fe main line at a site named Bragg and proceeded south for 9 miles to Saratoga, which was reached in January 1904. Chicago, August 24, 1903 Mr. Victor Morawetz Chairman, Executive Committee, ATSF Ry, New York City Dear Sir: You will remember that we failed to buy certain oil property at Saratoga by reason of certain prior claims of the Southern Pacific Company to the same land. The Saratoga field has now been "proven" to a much greater extent than it was at that time. There are several "gushers" of large production in different parts of the the field and a large number of wells are being put in. But the history of Beaumont is being repeated. There is as yet no transportation and the owners of wells cannot market their oil because there is neither storage in which to keep it nor transportation by which to send it out. Saratoga is distant from our road about eight miles, construction being easy, and we could build there for not exceeding $100,000. Everything is now stagnant at Saratoga for the reasons I have given and also because there is plenty of oil at Sour Lake to which point the Southern Pacific has built a branch, so that oil is being freely shipped. We are putting in holes on land we have optioned at Alvin and San Augustine. We hope for oil but may not get it. We have contracts for a year's supply, of which we have already on hand about one-half. I think we must build to Saratoga. We know there is oil there and even if we do not get our own supply there, it is quite certain that there will be commercial oil to ship. Also it is reasonably certain that the place will have three or four thousand people within a year. There is also along the line 500,000,000 feet of timber, all belonging to one interest, and out to which a mill will be built near Saratoga. Please bring this subject up for discussion at the Executive Committee next week. Yours truly, E. P. Ripley, President, ATSF Ry Chicago, October 6, 1903 Mr. Victor Morawetz Chairman, Executive Committee, ATSF Ry, New York City Dear Sir, We have selected land at Saratoga for oil purposes at a total cost of $141,000 to which may be added, later on, a small tract containing two flowing wells, at a cost of $25,000. Real estate operations conducted in our interest but without liability on our part are likely to pay us about $80,000 in profits which will be applied in reduction of this cost. It will cost us about $100,000 to build into Saratoga, so that our total investment there may be as much as $175,000, but this ought to give us a large supply of fuel oil. Our present consumption, per annum, in Texas is about 1,000,000 barrels and is worth about 75 cents per barrel; the ownership of the land selected and our ability to reach it with our own tracks should save us half of this cost or $375,000 a year and possibly much more. It is possible that other fields may be discovered and that the price of oil may again decline, but we cannot afford to speculate on that. We are still developing at San Augustine and Alvin, with prospects fair at the former place and dubious at the latter; also we are about to begin at Ardmore, which looks promising. No action by the committee is necessary as to the Saratoga matter, the subject having already been passed upon, and this letter being simply in the nature of a report. Yours truly, E. P. Ripley, President, ATSF Ry From the very beginning, there were stories that the Saratoga Branch was haunted. Some stories involved the "Mexican Cemetery", a rumored burial ground near Bragg where Mexican laborers were reportedly murdered by a construction foreman looking to pocket their accumulated wages. Others told stories about the ghost of a Jayhawker shot in the Thicket during the Civil War by Confederate soldiers who set fires to flush out those who opposed the South. Even earlier, storytellers told of mystical treasures hidden in the Thicket by Spanish soldiers. Yet another story tells of a hunter lost in the woods for many years, haunting the Thicket but seemingly unable to escape it. The common theme of all of these stories was "The Light", a mysterious emission seen by everyone but understood by no one. Despite its apparent haunting, the Saratoga Branch operated for nearly thirty years before the GCSF sought to abandon it in the late summer of 1933. The expense of continued operations on the branch could no longer be justified as the Depression set in. A local hearing on the abandonment was held by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) at the Edson Hotel in Beaumont, and the minutes reveal much of the operational detail of the Saratoga Branch. The GCSF Gulf Division Superintendent, Mr. Cowley, explained that the GCSF "enjoyed a good business out of Saratoga after the construction of the line for several years", but that it "dwindled away due to the construction of pipelines for the handling of the oil and to the diminution of the lumber traffic. There were several mills on the line, one principal one operated by the McShane Lumber Company, which cut out in 1915". Subsequently, "traffic into and out of Saratoga...[was] merchandise, flour and feed and gasoline, and outbound logs or stave blocks or staves, but each year the traffic of the branch...decreased."

Bragg, Texas Junction Record Mr. Cowley described the condition of the line: "The branch...is laid with 60 pound rail, has nine open decks and two T-rail bridges, all in good condition...We operate 1900-class engines, some of which have a total weight of 243,500 pounds, and others 233,000 pounds total weight of the engine. There is only one curve on the line and that is at the turn out at Bragg. The grade is good, the maximum being 0.44 of 1%...The operation on the branch line at the present time consists of mixed service in both directions daily except Sunday. The service in the interest of economy is performed by a local freight that operates between Silsbee and Cleveland. On arrival at Bragg on each trip we cut the train out and operate the mixed service, Bragg to Saratoga and return. That is the most economical way we have been able to develop for the train operation. We have reduced our station force until we have one agent that handles the stations of Bragg and Saratoga...The principal industry at Saratoga..is the shipment of stave blocks and logs with an occasional car of gasoline. We have one of the oil companies with a bulk station on our line at Saratoga that receives a car of gasoline about every 45 or 60 days." The proposed abandonment was vigorously opposed by local businessmen and their representative, Congressman Martin Dies of the 20th District of Texas. But despite petitions and repeated letters from Congressman Dies, the ICC approved the abandonment in December, 1933.

The Edson Hotel confirmed the ICC's reservation for hotel rooms and meeting space. On 15 September 1933, the Edson hosted ICC Examiner Thomas F. Sullivan's public hearing on the abandonment of the Saratoga Branch. In early 1934, crews began dismantling the Saratoga Branch, removing the rails and the grade, leaving only a dirt path through the thick canopy of trees. And when the last rail was lifted, local citizens began using the right-of-way as a road, easily the quickest route between Bragg and Saratoga. And as more citizens were drawn to the convenience of the "Bragg Road" (as it was called), the stories about the ghostly light increased. Many people began to accept a new explanation -- that a railroad accident had resulted in the decapitation of a brakeman who now roamed the road at night with his lantern, searching for his head. In "The Saratoga Light", published in the book Tales of the Big Thicket, author Francis Abernethy describes the individual stories of many local citizens who had seen the light. Many were chased by it, some pursued it to no avail, and still others tried to study it, but everyone in the area acknowledged its existence. In June 1937, Hardin County purchased the Bragg Road right-of-way from the GCSF for $263.35. Since the road was widely used by local citizens, it made sense for county officials to preserve it as a transportation corridor. But the county had plenty of other dirt roads to maintain, so the road remained unimproved, just as the railroad had left it.

It was not until 1955 that the first proposal for preserving the Bragg Road was made. R. E. Jackson, President of the Big Thicket Association, appeared before the Hardin County Commissioners Court to ask that the Bragg Road be designated and protected as a scenic road or nature trail. In "R. E. Jackson and the Early Big Thicket Conservation Movement, 1929-1957" published recently in the East Texas Historical Journal, author Pete A. Y. Gunter describes Jackson as the principal leader of the early conservation movement to preserve and protect the Big Thicket as a unique biological area, with some of his initial efforts beginning as early as 1929 when he founded the Big Thicket Association. Gunter also points out that Jackson began working as a conductor for the Santa Fe railway in 1904, "a position he retained until his retirement in 1945", and that he was instrumental in establishing the Santa Fe baseball park in Silsbee. Running trains along the Saratoga Branch for its entire existence undoubtedly influenced Jackson's desire to preserve the Big Thicket, and with this background, it is not surprising that he would be the first to propose preserving the Ghost Road. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that Hardin County Commissioners took any positive action regarding Jackson's proposal.

Picture #13 Photo Date: 01/01/1901 Const. Date: Mile Post: Railroad: GC & SF Description: Santa Fe passenger train between Bragg and Saratoga, Texas, - 1905 Subdivision: SARATOGA BRANCH Division: Grand Division: SOUTHERN

The Ghost Road by day, a beautiful trail through the Thicket. Hardin County's failure to act may be related to an issue that would "haunt" efforts to preserve the Ghost Road for the next forty years -- timber cutting. The extensive stands of timber along the road have a market value that is not easily overlooked. In 1966, two Silsbee attorneys obtained an injunction on behalf of two Big Thicket Association members to prevent timber cutting along the road. The cutting was stopped, but the issue was never resolved. In July 1977, COunty Commissioner T. S. Hooks obtained Court approval to advertise Ghost Road timber for sale and a contract was awarded to Coley Lumber Company of Saratoga for $6,059. Once again, an injunction was upheld by a district judge, and the contract was voided. In 1978, Commissioners again advertised for bids for timber cutting along the Ghost Road. The Big Thicket Association helped organize the "Save the Ghost Road Committee" which obtained widespread support from citizens and local newspapers. Perceiving the public's displeasure, the Commissioners revoked the plan and agreed not to sell Ghost Road timber.

The Ghost Road finally curves as it reaches the main line at Bragg, now a true "ghost town". Yet again, the timber issue surfaced, once in 1991 and later in 1995. At that time, the Court agreed with the Precinct Commissioner's request to advertise Ghost Road timber for sale. As a result of widespread public opposition, the Commissioners appointed a Committee that hired a consultant to estimate the volume and value of Ghost Road timber. A second committee was formed to seek a permanent solution to the issue of preserving the Ghost Road, chaired by a Commissioner and including two residents who lived along the road plus representatives of the Big Thicket Association and two other local organizations. The committee recommended that the problem be resolved permanently by designating the Ghost Road an official county park or scenic drive. On 28 July 1997, the Hardin County Commissioners Court formally named the road as Ghost Road Scenic Drive County Park.

The Ghost Road has begun to appear in tourist advertising for Hardin County, but much work remains to be done to create a facility that can be enjoyed by tourists and local citizens alike. It is far from being an all-weather road, particularly during the frequent periods of heavy rain. Several organizations are now working to obtain grants that can be used to make improvements to the road and provide historical interpretations. Hopefully, future improvements will lead to a whole new generation of ghost watchers who will have their chance to see The Light. Editor's Note: I was able to write this story with significant help from several people. Austin- based SRHS member William Osborn provided a copy the ICC's Abandonment File covering the Saratoga Branch along with other Santa Fe historical materials. This information proved invaluable for correcting the historical record about exactly when and why the Saratoga Branch was constructed, and how it was operated. Hardin County Commissioner Ken Pelt, a champion of preserving the Ghost Road, assisted by forwarding my request for background information to Ms. Maxine Johnston of the Big Thicket Association (BTA). Much of the flavor of this story is due to the substantial volume of material provided by Ms. Johnston and the BTA. My father, SRHS member Bill King, first made me aware of the Ghost Road as an old railroad line, an awareness he gained from years of travel in and around the Big Thicket. We drove the Ghost Road together last April and I took a few pictures, but I later decided that I needed a cover photo and I knew what I wanted -- the right lighting conditions to stage a photo of the "headless brakeman" carrying his lantern. In the late afternoon of a hot August day, I picked my father up in Houston and we headed for Saratoga, arriving at dusk. The idea was for Dad to hold the "lantern" (a bright flashlight) while I worked the camera from a few dozen yards away. We drove out to the midpoint of the Ghost Road, arriving as twilight set in. But before he could get out of the car -- there it was -- The Light! I jumped out and furiously snapped photos. It appeared several times, intermittently, never for very long, always at some distance. Unfortunately, lingering twilight (and my lack of camera savvy) caused all of my photos to be overexposed -- all of them except one -- the cover photo -- a real photo of The Light on the Ghost Road, with Dad as my witness. I've been to Marfa; I never saw the famed "Marfa Lights". I went to the Ghost Road of Hardin County; I saw The Light!