Tom Cypher’s Phatom Engine

Tom Cypher’s Phantom Engine: A Mysterious Legend of the Northern Pacific Railroad

If you are a fan of ghost stories and trains, you might have heard of Tom Cypher’s Phantom Engine, a mysterious locomotive that is said to haunt the Eagle Gorge in the Cascades, Washington. The legend goes back to 1892, when a train engineer named Tom Cypher was killed in a horrific accident at the gorge, along with his fireman and brakeman. According to some accounts, Cypher was trying to avoid a collision with another train that was running wild on the same track, but he failed to stop his engine in time and plunged into the abyss.

Ever since then, some people claim to have seen Cypher’s engine, No. 33, running along the track at night, with its headlight shining and its whistle blowing. Some say it is a ghostly apparition, while others believe it is a real engine that somehow escaped from the wreck and continued to roam the rails. Some even say that they have seen Cypher himself on the pilot of the engine, waving his lantern or gesturing to warn other trains of danger.

The legend of Tom Cypher’s Phantom Engine has been featured in several books and articles, as well as a 2018 episode of the TV show Mysteries at the Museum. It has also inspired some fictional works, such as a short story by Stephen King called “The Reaper’s Image”, which features a haunted mirror that shows the image of Cypher’s engine. The legend has also been a source of fascination for many train enthusiasts and paranormal investigators, who have tried to find evidence of the phantom engine or explain its origin.

Some possible explanations for the legend are:

- It is a hallucination caused by fatigue, stress or fear among the train crews who work on the dangerous route.

- It is a reflection or projection of another train’s headlight or lantern on the misty air or foggy windows.

- It is a hoax or prank perpetrated by someone who wants to scare or fool other people.

- It is a manifestation of collective memory or folklore that keeps alive the memory of a tragic event.

- It is a paranormal phenomenon that defies rational explanation.

Whatever the truth behind Tom Cypher’s Phantom Engine may be, it remains one of the most intriguing and enduring legends of the Northern Pacific Railroad and American ghost stories.