Just uploaded my “documentary” on Moonville, Ohio and wanted to share it here. For those not familiar with Moonville, it was a mining town on the former Marietta and Cincinnati, which went into the B&O (and then Chessie System and CSX). The town was abandoned in 1947 (buildings were torn down in the 1960s), and CSX abandoned the route in 1986, pulling the tracks and bridges in 1988.
The video looks at the history, the ghostly legends, and my experiences on my three trips down there. Enjoy!
Hello Kevin.
Just saw your Moonville Tunnel video that you posted on the TRAINS website and found it fascinating and well done. First past through the tunnel in 1954 on my high school’s senior trip to Washington DC. We went through after dark and were quite comfortable in a nice coach and I never knew about the tunnel. In the 50’s the B&O had three passenger trains a day each way on that route and it was the B&O’s mainline to St Louis as you know. The times change and, well you know all that.
Q. 1) The tunnel appears to be brick lined and in good shape. Is that correct?
Q. 2) Road looks to be just a notch above passable?
Q. 3) Do you plan to do more emf tests there?
Q. 4) Do you have any thought about why SEVEN spikes in each burst?
Q. 5) Did I understand you to say that you had a fully charged spare battery that had lost its charge when you went to use it?
The tunnel is brick-lined and in good shape. Granted, some of the bricks from the tunnel faces spelling out MOONVILLE are missing either from vandalizm or age.
The road is passable. It’s narrow and dirt/stone. In some spots, there are drop offs along the road with no guardrails. That portion is in the Zaleski State Forest, so it’s basically as it was when Moonville was in existence.
I am hoping to do more trips to Moonville as well as EMF tests while down there. It’s a really neat area to see some beautiful scenery, discover some of Ohio’s and railroading’s history, and do some ghost hunting.
As far as why there were seven EMF spikes in each burst that I got, I honestly don’t know. There is no electicity out there, so I shouldn’t have been picking up anything. Plus, whatever was causing the spikes was moving all around me in different directions. I did get a new video camera this past Christmas, so hopefully if it happens again I’ll have a camera with me to catch it as it happens.
The issues with the flashlight, lantern, and camera were a bit of a surprise for me. Both the lantern and flashlight that I had on at the tunnel seemed like they weren’t lit at full power, but when I got them home that night, they worked normally. The flashlight I’d used came in a set with a cordless drill. There were two identical batteries. I’d charged both before going to Moonville. I didn’t think to try the second battery (or my second flashlight) when I was down there since the temperatures that evening were dropping fast, and I was nervous about losing light and not being able to find my way back across the river to get back to the Jeep. That weekend, I was working on some shelves for on the front of my model railroad layout in the basement. I was using the battery that I’d used at the tunnel, and it started to run down after a while. I figured I’
That grave in the cemetery with the flag, I’m assuming a veteran’s buried there. Does the stone say who it is and what war the man fought in? As an old Marine I’m curious, also gratified that someone still remembers and cares.
Also, a bit of contructive critisizim, if you don’t mind. It’s a GOOD 47 minute video, with a bit of editing it’ll be a GREAT 30 minute video.
Old show business addage: Always leave 'em wanting more!
Thank you so much! I trace railroads using the Path tool on Google Earth a lot in my free time and one of the systems that I have completed is the B&O. Often I simply speed through an area, and it is very nice to take a deeper look at a line. Thanks a lot for sharing, and excellent video.
Civil War! The 30th Ohio Infantry served from 1861 to 1865, and without taking too much of everyone’s time they fought at Second Bull Run and Antietam, and were in Sherman’s “March To The Sea.”
And this fella was there. How nice someone remembers.
