A very frigid and fun for all Pig Lady festival today October 8, 2022 With Story's from The great author and story teller Tony Lavorgne speaking in video below and Author of ghostly books Thomas White is with him
Pictures from this years Pig Lady festival in New Galilee Pa Beaver County
A Horrific Circus Train Wreck in 1800s near Altoona rumored as source for many Exotic and Cryptic Animals seen around Pa.
The mountainous area around Central Pa has seen numerous Accidents over the years be it on a road way and a truck running away or railroad tracks and one such horrific accident in Tyrone on a steep curve would end up being the source for many rumored sightings of exotic animals like Black Panthers which should not be here in Pa. .
It was Memorial day in 1893 when the fully loaded 17 car train with custom and oversized railroad cars of the Walter L. Mains Circus would go off the tracks of the Tyrone and Clearfield Railroad. Now known as Norfolk Southern Line on a particular hard right turn curve feared by many an Engineer.
https://www.circusesandsideshows.com/circuses/walterlmaincircus.html
Only the first half of the train and its cars had air brakes the other cars brakeman would have to apply them by hand and with the trains car being overly long and engineers going into the curve higher than the posted speed tragedy was bound to happen .
The engine and first 2 cars made it but the cars carrying the elephants and other items did not
and crashed into the gully and hillside below it was a horrific scene .
In all 6 men would die as well as hundreds of horses and other animals some having to be put down due to being traumatized.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1tgtREE5A8
Strangely some animals like 1 of the 2 lions sat down by a tree and was quickly collared
Within a week of the accident the circus was able to rebuild and was back on the road . a memorial along one of the roads is honored yearly in Tyrone
But the story does not end there and even has a strange twist.
Many of the animals where never captured and made it many miles away naturally following the tracks and people claim to this day that this train wreck is the reason for so many Crytid type animals in Pa
Due to the interbreeding of these exotic animals with native animals. They sight the mythical Jackalope as an example .Even Big Foot.
While authority's claim the animals would of never survived the cold Pa winters there was plenty of time for cross breeding that summer so who really knows and never say they all could not have survived they may well have made it had they found proper shelter.
Now in a strange twist I was with my wife at railroad museum and saw pictures of the wreck
and my wife remarked. Her Great Grandfather Albert Tretow who became the first Superintendent of Pittsburgh Zoo was an animal trainer for the Mains Circus But was not involved in the wreck.
He died of a lung disease we now believe to be Bird Flu as he took care of many exotic birds.
The Bellaire House of Mystery in Bellaire Ohio. Definitely an Active Paranormal site you need to investigate
As you ride thru the Ohio Valley between WV and OH you come across plenty of abandoned and spooky looking homes and buildings left over from the days when Glass, Steel ,Coal Mining and Pottery Making ruled the valley.
Luckily Bellaire House which sat empty for a while and was rumored to be haunted managed to survive the building of Ohio Route 7 which just like its parallel cousin WV Route 2 saw the ripping out and destruction of many homes business and geological features in the valley.
While the Bellaire house over 100 years old looks like large Plain Farm House don't lets ts exterior fool you
Rumored to sit on Ley Lines and near a continuous water source to draw energy from the Ohio River as well as many other claims in the houses supposed history which I could not verify as time lines do not match up as well as incidents which happened I can find no proof of I have researched on it .
But there is definitely paranormal activity's with in which I can verify because many of the pictures I took would not transfer to this blog no matter what I did never had this problem before.and other investigators who have had experiences as well.
Built over a Hundred years ago by Jacob Heatherington an owner of Coal Mines in the Valley for him and his wife Eliza Armstrong
They would have a daughter Rebeca . the house would be passed down to a grand daughter Edna who would pass in the home from Illness in her teens .
The home went thru several owners to then sit vacant for many years
While it was sitting vacant neighbors claimed to see people walking about and looking out the windows thou it was locked tight
When Kristen Lee was looking for a home built higher up in the valley after going thru 2 floods in 2005 her and her family moved in and that's when the fun began. Little incidents soon became intense from pillow being tossed at people to Copper Penny's and much worse according to Kristen.
That forced them to move out .
Kristen now offers those brave enough to stay overnight to stay on Saturday and Sunday evenings investigations
The home still has all its original Wood work and many beautiful Fire Places 3 story's in all .
I was given a tour by Dove and decedent of Jacob who told me of the many happenings in the house.
Dare you stay at whats rumored to be among the top 5 paranormal hot sots in America?
For Further information
A Horific and forgotten Accicdent in Waltersburg Pa which helped to expose the Ford Pinto Exploding Gas Tank Scandal
In the 1970s Ford motor company produced the Ford Pinto Compact Hatch Back Car It was a great starter car or one for work except for a hidden flaw
which in 1973 caused several horrific accidents that saw the occupants of the vehicles burned to death when the cars where hit from behind and gas tanks exploded .
https://www.autosafety.org/ford-pinto-fuel-tank/
It got so bad that people started putting signs on their vehicles rear windows saying stay back and flammable saw many riding with our parents on road trips . My Cousin owned a light green one and got rid of it as soon as all the bad press came out
He was a delivery driver for a seafood distributor at time of wreck and witnessed 2 young lady's be struck from behind by a pickup their car exploding and then being pushed into the wooded section off of Pa 51 south also known as Pittsburgh Street in a sleepy little town of Waltersburg.
There was nothing Ken or anyone else could do that day who witnessed it and Ken had nightmares about it for years after and this accident helped to bring to light the travesty of a scandal that Ford knew they had a problem and decided to ignore it and pay claims silently instead. I remember seeing the Newscast the evening of the wreck the reporter was almost in tears . There was also a big write up in Post Gazette but I have not as yet been able to find it.
A large white wooden cross stood in the wooded section of the road for many years marking where the Young Lady s Car landed and eventually fell down and was removed and gravel added into the spot and leveled.
Pa.51 has a very long and deadly legacy over it entire route over 500 plus people have perished over the decades from the Ohio line in Beaver County to the end of its lanes in Uniontown in Fayette County. Just last week 3 people died in 2 separate accidents where excessive speed was involved and vehicle exploded and they where burned to death. one lady driver was estimated to be going over 120 miles an hour when she hit a steel traffic light post.
and a young couple died in a fire feed wreck near Allen's Haunted Hayride after smashing into a Water Tanker Truck at very high speeds you can see the scorched road in picture below.
With the fact Ford knew there where problems and did nothing the public's eyes where opened to this horrible tragedy and finally the Pintos where recalled around 1978
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