There were a large number of strange and messed-up things that happened on railroad tracks long ago. For instance, in 1912, a farmer decided he needed to take a nap, so he got himself comfortable on the railroad tracks. He fell asleep and was run over by a train. His friends had to identify his body. [Source]
But that story is only the start. The newspaper reports get even worse from here.
1. He Kept His Word
Again, in 1912, a man threatened to lay his head on the railroad track. He kept to his word, and his headless body was found later. [Source]
2. All Tied Up
Have you ever watched one of those old cartoons where a person is tied up and thrown on the railroad track? That would happen.
In 1919, in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, a man was found lying across the railroad tracks. There was a deep gash in the back of his head, and his hands were tied behind his back. Highwaymen tied his legs together.
Fortunately, the man was discovered before a train could run over him. [Source]
3. Ground to Bits
Throwing dead bodies onto railroad tracks to cover up a murder was also quite common in the past. Take, for instance, an incident that happened in the summer of 1904.
As one newspaper report told it:
“Early this morning, the body of Thomas Sullivan… was found on the railroad track here, literally ground to pieces.”
The death was immediately under suspicion when police discovered a pool of blood inside a nearby switch house, and traces of blood trailed from the building to the tracks.
Fragments of the man’s body were found along 50 yards of the track, and his torso was discovered in front of another building. The back of the man’s head was crushed in, one severed leg was discovered, and the rest of the lower parts were ground into bits. [Source]
4. Wanted to Marry the Victim’s Wife
In 1906, Frank was the landlord of Hoff and Hoff’s wife. The two guys seemed to get along just fine, but Frank secretly wanted to make Hoff’s wife his own.
For months, Frank plotted Hoff’s death until one night Frank took Hoff to a saloon and got him loaded up with gin. Frank then walked Hoff to the railroad tracks, raised the mallet he had been carrying with him for this very purpose, and smashed in Hoff’s head.
Hoff was killed instantly, and to cover up his crime, Frank laid the body on the tracks.
Unfortunately for Frank, he did a poor job because when the train passed over Frank, it only cut off his legs. The engineer saw the dead body before passing over it and was able to see the head wound. [Source]
5. Unknown Woman
Since I covered some of the men found on the tracks, I should point out that women were sometimes found in pieces on the tracks. However, it was not as common as finding the bodies of men.
Again, in 1906, a woman’s body was found strewn along the rails for 200 hundred yards in North Carolina.
According to one newspaper report:
“The body was so badly mutilated that any recognition was impossible, and only from the clothing was any clue as to the identity of the woman who had met death in such a horrible manner obtained.”
The woman’s identity could not be established, and the cause of her untimely demise could not be established: murder or accident. [Source]
