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The Blue Ghost Tunnel: Making of a Legend Safety, Security and the Future

Safety, Security and the Future

On my last visit to the tunnel with several members of NAGS, and under the authority of the St. Lawrence Seaway, we were in disbelief at the state of the tunnel. It had more water seeping down its walls and dripping into pools at our feet then at any other time. The stones were eroding under the constant pressure of the ice build-up. We concluded that the tunnel was generally unsafe and agreed that it would not exist much longer under these conditions.

But the tunnel remains still, holding strong, a testament to the engineering and quality of the workmanship. Visitors hoping to experience the paranormal keep visiting and others with alcohol and drugs continue to rendezvous for a quick thrill.

The Seaway Authority believes the tunnel is unsafe and in 2010 constructed a wire fence around the property and mounted security cameras. They hoped to deter visitors to the tunnel, but admit it is nearly impossible because of its remote location. They have been the defendant in three separate lawsuits where individuals have been injured while on Seaway Property.

There have been talks of sealing the tunnel completely, with tons of dirt and cement, as has been done with other tunnels in the area. But these talks have been ongoing for the last five years and budget concerns seem to get in the way of implementing the measure.

Recently, authorities had to prosecute several individuals for trespassing on the land as they were conducting “ghost tours” of the tunnel. The tours have been canceled.

Proposals to open up the area as park land with historical markers about the Welland Canal are still being debated. Would this clean up the tunnel? Would it allow visitors to safely visit? Perhaps.

Discussions about cleaning up the area, creating parkland with extensive pathways, and placing historical markers on the land began as far back as 1979 with Greenwald et al, The Welland Canals, Historical Planning and Research Branch, and the Ontario Ministry of Culture and Recreation. It is interesting to note that nowhere in the documentation do the words “haunted” or “ghost” receive printed mentioned.

Recently, The Region used Shadows of Niagara as a reference to determine whether or not exploiting sites such as The Blue Ghost Tunnel might be beneficial in bringing additional tourist dollars to the Region. Talks about opening up the area as parkland are once again making the rounds.

Future access to the tunnel is certainly in jeopardy as additional security fencing, cameras and lights have been added to the roadway approaching the tunnel. For those interested in the paranormal, this location may soon disappear. The tunnel will always, no matter what its condition, remain a mystery and the legends that it spawned will continue to grow and develop.

The Blue Ghost Tunnel: Making of a Legend Murder, Rape and Ghosts That Can't Escape

Murder, Rape and Ghosts That Can't Escape

In my research, an unlikely witness came forward with yet another narrative to describe the source of the paranormal activity at the tunnel. Due to his past relationships and his activity with a local biker gang, this witness wishes to remain anonymous.

“I can't remember the exact date, or even the year, to tell you the truth, but I remember what happened and I can also tell you that the tunnel is haunted. I know that for a fact.”

“In the early seventies the land back there was mostly private and there was no golf course or offroaders. Growing up in the area we knew of the tunnel and we heard that it was haunted. A lot of us didn't believe in shit like that, or pretended we didn't.”

“There were pretty big caves out that way as well and we all said it would be a perfect place to hide stolen loot or even hide out if we had too. We didn't spend much time there, but we did occasionally visit the tunnel.”

“We called it The Screaming Tunnels because there were other tunnels in the area and they were all connected* even to the small one in Niagara Falls.”

“I don't know who told me, but the rumor was that a little girl was raped and murdered in that tunnel and you could hear the screams if you listened closely. It was like a record player being played over and over again through time. I heard the screams for myself and I also saw the little girl's ghost but I'll get back to that later.”

“Many of my friends worked at the factories in Thorold and St. Catharines and some worked at the GM Plant as well. You could get to the tunnel two ways—a short way through GM property or the long way through the cemetery from the Falls.”

“When new recruits were brought on board sometimes we would fuck with them and see how tough they really were. We told them the stories of the tunnel and then we drove them through the cemetery, down a road toward the tunnel alongside the canal. When they reached the tunnel they had to go inside with their bike and stay there for the night. If they made it, we knew they weren't chicken shit.”

“We used the tunnel a few times as well, just to meet up or hang out because it was so secluded. Sometimes we would send people in on foot. There was about a half-foot of water near the middle of the tunnel and it leaked a lot.”

“But here's another thing that happened down there. Once one of the members brought a prostitute down from the strip and she was involved with some drugs being stolen or something like that. Anyhow, the guy that brought her down roughed her up pretty bad. A few of the guys had their way with her as well even after they nearly drowned her. From what I heard, they let her go and she ran out the other end of the tunnel. I've also heard later that they killed her down there and buried the body. But I wouldn't know since I was never there and this was told to me a few years after the fact.”

“Now here is the fucked-up thing. The rumor is that in the early days a girl was raped and murdered in the tunnel and that is who is haunting it. I've heard her scream and I've seen her ghost. I've also seen a man ghost down there. A big fuck with a dark coat, hat and beard. He looked like a Mennonite.”

“A few years back I heard that people were going down there to have a look at the tunnel to see ghosts. I can tell you that I've been there a few times and never felt good about the place. The girl didn't scare me, it kind of makes me sad in a way, but the guy I saw in the dark coat scared the shit out of me. He was smiling, like a crazy person would. Like a perfect psychopath. I figured he was the one that raped the girl. It was a weird feeling I got looking at him. He wasn't like a ghost, you know, see through. He was like real life. But then he disappeared after a few seconds. He's keeping the ghosts down there.”

“I haven't been back and don't think I would go down there. Some things are just better left alone.”

Other witnesses have come forward with the same suggestion that the tunnel was used by local biker gangs as a hang out. The remoteness of the tunnel would surely be advantageous, but the rough condition of the roads would be a deterrent to someone riding a Harley Davidson. The local biker gangs have all since faded or amalgamated with the Hell's Angels. There have been no reports in recent years of the tunnel being accessed by any biker gangs.

Police records show no investigations at the tunnel throughout its history, except for the recent trespassing and activity starting shortly after the show Creepy Canada and Tour Operators Haunted Hamilton showcased the tunnel on television.

Newspaper and local media also do not provide any reports of any murder, rape or any other criminal activity at or near the tunnel, neither at the turn of the century or any other time.

The Blue Ghost Tunnel: Making of a Legend The Early Explorer's 1950-1980

The Early Explorer's 1950-1980

In the early days several residents of Thorold and the surrounding area discovered that hiking along the Old Welland Canal was adventurous and exciting. This was especially true for the children, who made the land a playground as there was so much to explore―The Old Welland Canal, natural limestone caves, a nearly abandoned cemetery, historic houses and foundations, and of course a dark, creepy tunnel.

The Blue Ghost Tunnel sat undisturbed, save for a chance meeting with a hiker, or a group of children daring each other to enter. Several Thorold residents have come forward to say they had played in or near the tunnel as early as the 1950s.

Recounting their memories, only one person believed they had heard that the tunnel was haunted. The others say they knew it only as an abandoned railway tunnel that was mostly flooded with water and pretty much uninteresting, although they admit it had a creepy feeling to it.

The one person who had been told it was haunted could not recount by what or by what means it was considered haunted. It was trivial to the children at the time because there were other locations within sight that were considered truly haunted. These included the abandoned Quarry Mansion on the hill, The Lakeview Cemetery and the Bishop Fuller House.

“I had a talk with my sister and father while going over some photos,” says Ed Pendykoski. “My dad, who’s now 85, doesn't recall a ghost but did refer to an ice angel. This would be from the ice in the winter.”

“Even in the 50s there was ice in the tunnel. From his description there was more to see at that time of the foundation and land of the farm houses. The tunnel still had a rail bed (no tracks though) and on the inside you could still see the small wooden posts on the wall at the top with some glass knobs that held wires. He did tell of a ghost, but that was in the big house on top of the hill above at the quarry.”

“I don't recall the GTR tunnel being haunted until about 1970,” recalls Mr. Pendykoski.

He also mentions that he did not see or hear a ghost on his many adventures to and around the tunnel, but he had had a strange feeling about the tunnel itself.

Another man, Gerald Stech, remembered being in a group of teens visiting the tunnel in the late 1970s when they decided to enter the tunnel and slosh through the nearly foot of water in an attempt to see where the tunnel actually led. He said they made it in about a quarter of the way before they felt very uneasy.

“It was like a wall of darkness had been put up around us,” recounts Mr. Stech. “Suddenly, it got very, very cold and I was the first to see it. It was a woman in a black dress, with a black hat. We all screamed and started running for the entrance. I remember I dropped my torch and it went out, presumable broken, or the batteries came loose, making the tunnel very dark.”

“As we got out we slipped in the mud and made a mess of our clothes. Our mothers scolded us later about the mess but we told them what had happened. One of my friends mother said they had heard about the tunnel and knew of a group from New York State that would come and look.”

The children found out that two psychics had visited the tunnel and the canal area in the fall of 1976 and were told what they had encountered:

“The family went down there with these two women from the US. They were psychic and said that they were interested in things like this. Well, I was told that things got really strange and that the psychics found out that a widow had been looking for her lost son when she stumbled and fell into the canal. Unable to swim, she drowned and to this day, I guess, she is still looking for her son.”

“Now our parents had told us never to go near the canal, or the tunnel, but after hearing that, they didn't need to tell us again.”

I tried to contact the psychics who were supposed to have visited the tunnel and encountered the spirit of a widow, but I was unable to do so. Nor was I able to find the family that had originally contacted the psychics. The psychics hometown of Lilydale, New York (a psychic commune of sorts) says they do not know who it may have been and that the story of the widow looking for her lost son might have simply been a fanciful narrative to keep the young boys away from the dangers of the canal and the tunnel.

The Blue Ghost Tunnel: Making of a Legend Visitor Experiences

Visitor Experiences

It was close to Halloween and me and a friend decided to visit The Blue Ghost Tunnel. We had visited other tunnels like The Screaming Tunnel before, but this tunnel is way different. It’s huge and dark and very scary inside. If you don't have a good flashlight you wouldn't be able to see your hand in front of your face. We brought along two flashlights and as we entered one of them did not work so we ended up with one light between the two of us. At first, nothing was happening. We took a few pictures and my friend thought he heard voices coming from the front of the tunnel and decided to go see if anyone he knew was coming up on us. We met three groups leaving the tunnel as we were going down the roadway to it. I just sat in the darkness and I could feel an overwhelming sense of fear build up. I looked to where my friend had walked and I saw a flashlight point in my direction. He was coming back, or so it appeared. It wasn't him, because he was right beside me and had walked right up to me in the dark. We thought it was another group of people coming down to see the tunnel, but my friend said no one was out there. We turned and walked out and no one was around. We sat at the end of the tunnel and smoked a cigarette and snapped some more pictures. Suddenly, from inside the tunnel we heard a scream. Now no one was inside the tunnel because we just were in it and we came out. We both heard the scream and looked at each other. I tried to flash my flashlight in the tunnel but my light simply faded and the batteries drained. I heard ghosts can do this. With no light source we decided to leave the tunnel.

Justin

I've had several experiences within the tunnel including the vision of a man holding a cane pointing it at me. This experience left me shaking and not wanting to return. I was alone near one of the beams that is really low and I ducked down and under it and saw a man standing there in old-time clothing holding a cane and pointing it in my direction. He was angry and I was just about to say 'sorry' thinking he was real when suddenly I heard a loud 'thump' sound and I heard footsteps running away from me. A friend who had been further in the tunnel said he heard the footsteps as well. Other times I heard a woman crying, and a bunch of whispers as well. The man scared me the most and left me shaking because I could feel his hate for me. It was like he was mad at me for trespassing on his land. When I saw the man it was the last time I went down to the tunnel.

Mark

I was in the tunnel and we were trying to speak to the ghosts in there when suddenly I felt a tug on my hand. I looked around and asked which one of my friends had tugged on my hand. That is when I felt another tug and it really scared the crap out of me. I then heard the word “Help” whispered. My one friend immediately said before I could say anything, “Did you hear that?” I started to cry and I felt really horrible. It felt like a child spirit around me. I picked up the name that begins with M. We tried to communicate further with the ghosts and the child spirit, but something was blocking us. We were all exhausted that night and some of us were ill the next day. The next weekend we returned and just at the front of the tunnel I could feel a presence. The entity was guarding the tunnel. It felt male. We entered the tunnel and heard audible cries and we could make out whispers from the end of the tunnel. Our whole group that night (six of us) heard this. We recorded EVPs of it as well. Some of us captured mist in our photographs.

Lori

I have been going to the BGT since about 2004 and have made many visits at night and during the day. I often come across groups of people down there looking to find a ghost. They sit in the dark for a few minutes, take pictures and leave. I have never encountered anything like a ghost down there at all. I get a weird feeling sometimes but that is all.

Dave

I've been investigating the tunnel for the past five years and have found that trigger objects work for me. I set up a candle and a shot glass of whiskey. When I called out to the ghosts in the tunnel to take the whiskey the candle was blown out. I also got an evp at the same time of footsteps.

Mark

I've been pushed inside the tunnel. Literally hit from behind in my lower back. I turned around and didn't see anything and my friends were all in front of me at the time. I swore out loud at whatever did it and I got out of there pretty quick.

Carl

I've heard a train-whistle in the tunnel one time. Other times I've heard what sounded like sobs and cries coming from a girl. I never got anything on camera except for the orbs that we all know aren't real.

John

Me and my mom went down near Halloween and we came across a photo of some old guy posted to one of the wooden beams. We left it there but it was really freaky to see. Later we felt cold spots and heard whispering coming from the tunnel.

Dianne

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The Blue Ghost Tunnel: Making of a Legend Schizophrenia

Blue Ghost Tunnel Schizophrenia

After the airing of the BGT segment on Creepy Canada, the tunnel became a tourist attraction with car loads of teens, families with small children and investigators as far away as Germany exploring the tunnel on a nightly basis. However, there are two people who shaped the BGT legend more than any others visiting the tunnel in the early days.

The first was a self-appointed “Ghosthunter” who frequented haunted locations across Niagara, but concentrated on Port Colborne and Fort Erie, Ontario. I met Mark “The Ghosthunter” at the tunnel one night where he was performing a “satanic ritual”. I've never witnessed a satanic ritual, but I got the impression that things weren't going the way they were supposed to when I saw a few dollar store candles and a few upside-down crucifixes, along with a man in his 50s sporting a scruffy, untrimmed beard and a flashlight chanting, or rather mumbling, magic words. After his ritual, nothing extraordinary happened.

Apparently, this “Ghosthunter” was opening a portal to hell, that he found under the 2 feet of water near the East-end of the tunnel. According to the “Ghosthunter” there was evil in the tunnel, and the only way to free the spirits was to open a portal and send the demons back. He didn't say if it worked out. The ritual ended without a flash, a bang, or acknowledgment. I kept my distance. Not from the presence of the portal, but from the sorcerer.

This same ghost hunter began telling his tales of evil inside the tunnel online on various message forums and spent days and nights at the tunnel trying to recruit members to his now defunct Yahoo! Group.

One person he did recruit was a Burlington, Ontario resident named Chad Irish. Chad's interest in the paranormal began when he attended a ghost walk conducted by Haunted Hamilton. Chad's interest in the paranormal grew and he soon suspected that Haunted Hamilton was simply a business, and not seriously interested in the paranormal. Feeling betrayed he looked to other sites on the Internet and befriended an investigating team called Hamilton Paranormal.

Here, he discovered The Blue Ghost Tunnel and quickly became obsessed with it. Driving daily from Burlington to Thorold, he would remain at the tunnel for hours, sometimes alone and other times with fellow investigators or people he befriended by chance at the tunnel.

At first, his discoveries were consistent with others visiting the tunnel: weird sounds, misty photos with orbs, etc. Each visit was the same as the last, so he began creating tales about the tunnel, the history and experiences.

Disillusioned with Haunted Hamilton, and the lack of investigating from Hamilton Paranormal, Chad began his own paranormal web site. He named it Haunted Tunnels and featured The BGT with updates regularly.

He said he befriended the original “discoverer” of the tunnel, Russ. However, Russ says he has no idea who Chad was, or is. Chad revealed that he explored the tunnel during the earlier days with Russ and again Russ' own accounts do not mention Chad whatsoever. Chad also suggested that Russ had burned his Ouija Board and ran away to Florida to hide from the ghosts of the tunnel, which apparently seduced and then raped him just before he made his escape to the holy-land of Tampa Bay.

Chad's focus was on the tunnel, but he needed to expand. Soon, he pretended to discover other tunnels around the BGT. He named one “The Devil's Tunnel” - and gave directions to a drainage tunnel near the BGT. He concocted a haunting and placed it on the Internet for the gullible to read:

“In 1978 a hooker by the name of Alice was doing her thing in the tunnel, screwing a GM worker, no doubt after a long shift. Well she didn’t get paid and then the guy sliced her neck open with a knife and stabbed her over 50 times! Both Alice and the dead guy haunt the tunnel. There is still a mattress in the tunnel that she used. Warning: don’t touch it.”

Next, he “discovered” caves near the Lakeview Cemetery. One was “The Creepy Cave” while another was christened “The Bat Cave”. The caves had once been accessible, but they had been filled in for safety reasons long before Chad knew of their existence. He kept their directions private on his web site because, well, the caves didn't really exist.

He also suggested that he found tunnels under the Welland Canal that are haunted as well. There are no other tunnels under the Welland Canal that were accessible, but Chad knew that in order to keep an audience he would need to keep adding haunted tunnels with ghost stories associated with them. These stories sometimes make their way into the fabric of the legend of The Blue Ghost Tunnel.

Growing in popularity, he needed to form a team. You've heard the expression before: There is no I in T-E-A-M. Well in Chad's world, there is. He had some lovely, well-endowed women on his team, along with a host of smart-looking men but none of them actually did exist. I am sure they did somewhere, as Chad lifted the images from the Internet and proceeded to make Team Member Profiles for each. Many fell ill or were away on business or vacationing each time he made a visit to the tunnel.

When members of NAGS questioned and exposed the none-existent haunted locations and fictitious Haunted Tunnel team members, Chad was furious and defaced the BGT in an attempt to anger the NAGS members.

Chad decided to change his online alias several times and was known as: Skully, GhostChad and Daddy-Long-Legs. This last one, he thought would be a hit with the ladies.

Chad's interest in the paranormal faded and he took down his web site in 2006. He has never made an attempt to visit the tunnel again.

Mark the Ghosthunter, however, is still lurking in the Niagara Region and is spreading more ridiculous lies. This time, he is concentrating on a historical cemetery in Thorold and visiting it with a crowbar (that glows!) in an attempt to banish the town of a vampire. I am not joking. I can't make this shit up.

The Blue Ghost Tunnel: Making of a Legend The Death of a 5-Year-Old

The Death of a 5-Year-Old

In 1912, the steamship La Canadienne suddenly lost power in lock 22 of The Welland Canal causing a huge rush of water to hit Lock 21 and flooding the entire area. The tidal wave rushed towards three children who were fishing along the canal. Two of the boys were rescued but tragically five-year-old Willie Wallace Tiffney, adopted son of the Tiffney family in Thorold, drowned in the tidal wave.

Some believe that the ghost of the child seen, heard and felt at the tunnel may be that of Willie. Many, however, believe the spirit is that of a female and not a male. And one wonders why the spirit of Willie would be haunting a tunnel that lies a considerable distance from the location at which he was drowned.

The Blue Ghost Tunnel: Making of a Legend The Real History of The Blue Ghost Tunnel

The Real History of the Blue Ghost Tunnel and the Surrounding Area

The Niagara Region of Ontario was beginning to see growth and prosperity in the late 1800s and in 1871 the Dominion of Parliament authorized the second phase of the Welland Canal to be built to suit large cargo and passenger ships.

The work commenced in 1873 and the new route now bypassed its traditional route in the natural river valleys next to St. Catharines. The new canal was aligned on a direct route from Port Dalhousie to Thorold, which necessitated a new rail crossing.

The railway would not accept the early plans for a swing bridge over the canal as they anticipated long delays and the potential for danger and accidents and therefore they insisted that a tunnel be built under the waterway to ensure safe and efficient passage of rail traffic. It was a grand proposition and many were opposed to the idea as it would take a great deal of engineering and hard labor.

As the Welland Canal was slowly being constructed it was clear the landscape would need to change significantly. When the land surveyors completed their first task, they came to agreement that an old burial ground near St. Peter's Anglican Church, as well as the church itself needed to be moved to accommodate the canal system.

Previously, a log-built Lutheran Church resided on the consecrated land and burials as early as 1752 had taken place within the churchyard. As the land was being surveyed and construction crews hired from nearby Slabtown (Merritton), the cemetery and church were spared, but future plans insisted that the land be used for the canal.

Meanwhile the canal developers and railway companies came to agreement of where the tunnel would be constructed and work began in the spring of 1875 with loads of Queenston rock being cut and delivered to the construction yard. Several hundred workers labored on the stone cutting and fitting while Irish immigrants, numbering near a thousand, entrenched the land and tunnel area. Teams of horses brought heavy limestone from the Queenston Quarry to the site.

There were several serious accidents at the construction site, including three reported deaths. In one report from 1875 a young Irish immigrant, aged 14, was crushed under the weight of the large stones. Other injuries occurred on a daily basis, but none serious enough to stop construction.

The tunnel curving on a gentle arc is 665 feet in length providing a semi-circular arch 16 feet wide and 18 feet high. A single track ran its length connecting lines of the Great Western Railway. The railway, now connected with points in the Niagara Region, could express cargo and passengers from New York to Toronto and almost all points in between.

During this time the Welland Canal construction was completed and several men perished building its walls and reinforced lock system. Many of the injuries and deaths occurred in the Thorold area, within miles of the tunnel.

The first train, loaded with dignitaries and engineered by Harry Eastman, ran through the tunnel in February 1881. Harry Eastman was also the last Engineer to blow the whistle and pilot a train through the tunnel.

To prevent cows and other grazing animals from entering the tunnel and causing a derailment, a post-guard was set up on each side of the tunnel. These men watched the rail, chased away animals and kept the track clear. Their wages were extremely low and they were often paid in pints of ale as well as wages.

Amalgamation of the Great Western Railway and the Grand Trunk Railway was approved by the Great Western Railway shareholders in 1882 and the post-guards received better pay as well as uniforms and small shelters which were built on either end of the tunnel.

These improvements, however, did not prevent a tragic accident occurring in 1903 just 100 metres shy of the western entrance to the tunnel. At 7:03am a light mogul train weighing 80 tons collided head-on with the Number 4 Express running at full-steam. The engines smashed into each other and the cars followed into an entanglement of iron and fire. Both train engineers survived the wreck and only suffered minor injuries.

BAD TRAIN WRECK, No.4 Express Collides with a light Mogul Near Merritton Tunnel.

Charles Horning, the fireman on the express train, was killed instantly when his body was pinned between two massive pieces of ironwork, the flaming hot boiler and the tentler. Attempting rescue, his badly mangled body was pulled on by engineers and post-guards, however, when they pulled at him, his arms and legs pulled from his body. One train worker commented that Horning's watch still ticked while he held the severed arm in his hands. His body was never fully recovered from the wreck.

The fireman for the mogul train, Abraham Desult, was smashed into the boiler of the train. He was rushed to hospital only to die of his terrible burns five hours later.

Mr. Armstrong worked in the express car that followed the engine of the Number 5 and regained consciousness in the roofless, upturned car. Covered in ruined goods he managed to crawl through the rubble to safety. He recalls that they were given clearance in Merritton by the dispatcher to enter the line and blamed the wreck on misinformation, a single track and poor visibility.

The line and the tunnel, however, were continuously used until plans for a double-track were developed. The track was returned to its original alignment when the Fourth Welland Canal was being constructed.

A double-tracked swing bridge was built in the late 1880s and the tunnel was used sparingly until the 1930s when the track was removed altogether.

The burial ground, now in disuse by Thorold citizens, was moved to the New Lakeview Cemetery (now called the Old Lakeview Cemetery). The land was needed to establish a pond area for excess water from the canal and in July 1923, Thorold residents were asked to pay and make arrangements for their interned family members to be moved. Only 253 of the 842 bodies interned in the burial ground were actually moved. Families simply could not afford the re-internment and many graves had no family members to care for them.

When excavation and re-internment of the bodies occurred, some corpses were misidentified and some went missing altogether. Adding to the confusion is the fact that some remains were not recoverable and only some body parts and coffins were moved to the new location.

According to the superintendent of Lakeview Cemetery, there were 118 graves full with no record of whom they contained and another possible 72 which may have contained only body parts with no further records. He also stated that a number of the monuments were damaged or destroyed when they were moved to the new location.

During construction of the Fourth Welland Canal several more men lost their lives, including ten during the worst accident in the history of the Welland Canal System.

On August 1, 1928, a roar was heard for miles around when at Lock 6 a large locomotive powered crane fell into the lock chamber taking with it a 500 ton steal lock gate. In less than a minute eight men lay dead while two others were dying from massive chest and head wounds. The two seriously injured men were sent to St. Catharines General Hospital and Homer Construction Hospital only to die of the terrible wounds two days later. Twenty-two others were seriously wounded and rushed to each of these hospitals. Thirteen would never return to work on the canal.

On August 1, 1930, exactly two years to the day, another accident occurred at Lock 6 and like the previous accident this one was fatal—eight men were killed while twenty others were seriously injured. It was rumored that the canal was cursed and some abandoned their positions, refusing to work on its construction and maintenance.

In total, the Welland Canal claimed the lives of 107 men and injured thousands of others during its construction.

Could the train wreck victims be haunting the tunnel? Or could it be the victims of the Welland Canal construction? What of the forgotten spirits of the cemetery? Could they be the source of the paranormal activity?

The Blue Ghost Tunnel: Making of a Legend Russ Exposes The Tunnel

Russ Exposes The Tunnel

In 1999 a group of paranormal enthusiast began visiting known haunted locations across the Niagara region. Headquartered in Welland, Ontario, the group often visited sites in Niagara Falls, Fonthill and Port Colborne. After visiting the likes of The Screaming Tunnel and the Old Fonthill Cemetery, they were determined to find additional locations to explore and investigate while simultaneously gaining interest in dowsing, Ouija boards and casting “spells”.

Russ, a teenager and member of the group, became active on paranormal discussion boards and developed his own web site, sharing haunted locations, stories and experiences.

Questioning those on paranormal forums about other haunted locations, he found information about another tunnel named “The Screaming Tunnel”, in an article written by Nick Blay, who visited the tunnel on a regular basis with friends years previous to Russ' discovery. This was not the same “Screaming Tunnel” near Warner Road in Niagara Falls, Ontario that Russ had already visited. This was a new tunnel, untouched by paranormal enthusiasts.

Nick believed that the tunnel might be haunted, but did not believe all of the tales about it. He provided the following history of the tunnel and nearby cemetery, which fascinated Russ, who planned to visit the tunnel for himself.

At the time my friends and I were going to what is now known as the Blue Ghost Tunnel, we were calling it the Screaming Tunnel. Although we were aware of the actual tunnel in Niagara-on-the-Lake of the same name we felt the Blue Ghost Tunnel was more ominous and more deserving of the name, so that's just how we referred to it throughout our tenure there.

We used to go there and have bonfires, a few drinks and just gather as a group. It was our spot that very few people knew about or felt the desire to trek out to, so the place was like our own personal escape. A few times we had explored the tunnel during the day, but mostly came at night when we had groups of people.

Many times we would be able to get about halfway in but due to the joist beams collapsing midway through we never got all the way through during the night. There were definitely some ominous overtones to the tunnel itself, we always sat just outside of it at the mouth of the tunnel and throughout the years we had compiled stories of what we believe caused the tunnel to be haunted.

Once or twice we would catch something out of the corner of our eye moving through the tunnel. The smoke from the fire would filter into the tunnel, and that very well could have been it, but a big part of me knows that it probably wasn't just the smoke. We also a lot of time went to the old pump house and frequently walked to the cemetery up the road until the bridge next to the pump house had collapsed. I do not know if it has since been fixed.

One of the earlier accounts we had of the tunnel was that above the tunnel was an old cemetery. When the canal began to expand and the tunnel was created to move ore (I believe) from one side to the other the cemetery was transplanted to the current Lakeview Cemetery, I think, which we would often walk to, which was an odd experience in itself.

On one such visit to the Blue Ghost Tunnel we trekked to the Cemetery where it was completely dark, upon turning to leave candles began to light up. Now being that it was late and pitch black we didn't see anyone else in the cemetery but we decided not to stick around to find out. Back to the transplantation of the bodies from the tunnel though, as the story went all the bodies had been relocated save for the bodies of some children, whether it was that the graves were unmarked or the children were purposely not relocated I can't be sure but that was one of the stories we had come to accept.

After digging around the Internet and local records we found that indeed the tunnel had been used to transport something from one side of the canal to the other but it was actually done by train.

Apparently a one-rail track was laid through the tunnel and a train would pass through delivering the material. Two different stories emerged from this, one being that a train coming through was going too fast and upon hitting the curve outside of the tunnel fell off the track and crashed killing the driver.

Another version has it that two trains collided on this single track going through the tunnel and that the occupants of both trains now haunt the tunnel and surrounding areas.

It's hard to determine what has validity and what has been thrown in and mixed with the truth with regards to the accounts of how and why this place is haunted. I personally think that there were more than just a few incidents involving people losing their lives in and around this tunnel throughout the time that it was used.

At the time of our visits to the, now coined, Blue Ghost Tunnel we were just looking for a place to call our own and enjoy our summers nights with friends. We also were on somewhat of a ghost hunting kick which most likely lead to my original post on the Haunted Niagara websites, but all in all from the time we were 18-20ish we were just looking for a place to have fun.

We definitely weren't the only ones, as there were always smashed bottles and remnants of old fires prior to our arrival but we always tried to keep the place clean because, again, it was our spot.

As I said earlier we caught glimpses of something in the tunnel from time to time so we always felt like something was around us. Occasionally we would also hear sounds we couldn't explain emanating from the tunnel, and we would always try to find where in the tunnel they were coming from but to no avail.

The sounds would generally cease once we got close to halfway in.

I think the last time that I visited the tunnel was in early 2007. By that time the landscape of the tunnel had changed drastically. The ominous feel of the open mouth tunnel of the defunct Grand Trunk Railway system seemed muted. The entrance way was closed up with cinder block bricks and mortar and a gated entrance, reminiscent of an old jail door. It was clear that the Seaway no longer wanted people on their private property. I assume that the next group of people that took over after we left didn't keep it so clean, and the graffiti was definitely a strong indication of that.

It was definitely sad to see the change at the tunnel, I have always felt that perhaps if Russ and his crew hadn't tried to make it such a spectacle that it wouldn't have gained as much notoriety and the Seaway wouldn't have been forced to close it up and add security requirements around the area. Although it is on private land it is a part of Niagara Heritage, like the Decew House, Queenston Park, Beaverdams Park and so on. It should have been restored so people could use the trail to walk through and experience a part of history.

Now it has been coined the Blue Ghost Tunnel. A place that most people will never see, never have a chance to walk through, even if only half way, because the owner of the land is tired of people disrespecting their land and property.

Perhaps if I had never mentioned our place the current state of the tunnel would be different, but then again there would have always been someone to occupy their nights in front of the tunnel and not all of them would have respected the place as much as my friends and I did. It was probably inevitable that the Seaway took action to try and prevent people from being there, but who can ever really say for sure. When I was last there it was evident that people didn't take kindly to the Seaway locking up the tunnel as the door was not locked and a cinder block or two was missing.

All I can say with absolute certainty was that I loved each and every night I spent there with my friends. We respected the tunnel and the area because we considered it our own. I will always remember the fun we had and the explorations we did. It's definitely a time in my life that I miss.

Before Russ visited the tunnel, he decided to gather as much information about the tunnel and the surrounding area as possible, and began questioning the Toronto Ghost and Hauntings Research Society (TGHRS) about “The Screaming Tunnel.”

In his correspondence with Matthew James Didier, co-founder and operator of TGHRS, Russ indicated that he didn't find the tunnel that haunted.

“Initially Russ did not claim to have any ghostly encounters at the BGT aside from numerous photos he took that contained 'orbs'. Even way back in those days we doubted that 'orbs' or 'mists' were much more than something natural (rather than supernatural) in true origin, (not to mention it was snowing in several of Russ' shots) so we felt no need for further investigation (by ourselves) based on his evidence,” says Matthew James Didier.

However, Russ maintained that his first visit to the tunnel wasn't until 2002 and his claims of paranormal activity at the tunnel were reported to others and within his online texts as extremely high even on that first visit.

Russ first visited the tunnel in April, 2002 and decided to document his entire experiences so he began an online journal. The web site which stored the original journal was deleted by Russ shortly after he disappeared from the paranormal community. Here are the original journal entrees, unedited:

Russ' First Journal Entry

So last night (saturday) our group decided that we would investigate this “other” screaming tunnel that we read about.

There were four of us and it was raining and generally miserable out. Nevertheless we got our gear together. We found the road and the dirt mound and parked the car and walked for about a mile or a mile and a half. We checked out a few of the paths along the road that lead to a river with a dam.

We began to get audible manifestations once we were about half way to the original graveyard area. At one point we were standing right on top of the tunnel without realizing it and our emf went off. We investigated a pathway that leads you right atop the tunnel entrance. It was a very steep but short path off the main road. Directly on top of the actual tunnel. It was very creepy.

We continued down the road until it bent right and found the stoney path that leads down the hill to the tunnel. When the tunnel came into sight I took out my divining rods and went slowly forward with the rest of our group. Our friend JJ was ahead with the flashlight and emf.

We got about 20 feet away from the entrance to the tunnel and stopped to prepare to enter. At this point a couple of members in the group described that they felt dizzy and overheated. I was a little dizzy but felt like I was plugged into a 12 volt power source. You know how when you are near a haunted location you get that feeling?

Anyway the feeling intensified and intensified as we crept slowly toward the entrance of the tunnel. At this point I wanted to test the divining rods. I have a really good set that I got from divining mind, anyway so I take them out of my pack that I carry all of my equipment in. I’m standing there with my friends fairly close and the rods out pointed toward the tunnel entrance.

JJ approaches the tunnel entrance and is approximately10 feet from the entranceway and he begins to flash his flashlight inside. He also snapped a few pictures. About 20 seconds after he flashed the camera and the tunnel got dark again he was getting his flashlight ready to go inside.

I caught a glimpse or visual manifestation. It was ice blue and fog like. It formed the face of a wolf or dog like animal.

Before I had a chance to ask if anyone could see it, it was gone, and I was wondering if I saw it at all.

At this point my feet are glued and that feeling of being plugged into an electrical socket increased about 1000 times. The divining rods started acting very peculiar. There was a force on them that pushed the one in a complete 360 degree counterclockwise direction while the other rod went completely horizontal at 90 degree angle. They then came around and crossed and uncrossed, crossed and uncrossed. Things got a bit surreal at this point.

I shouted to the group to look at my rods. There was definitely a charge that was building up in the area and I had the feeling like something was going to happen. Then BANG something like a rock or a part of the structure of the tunnel fell from inside.

Evidence of poltergeist activity.

At this point everyone in the group was acting a little odd and there was an overwhelmingly strong sense of fear. I was actually quite frightened which is not common for me.

Seconds after the BANG noise from inside the tunnel an apparition as plain as day appeared that all four of us can confirm. (wondering if it will show up on our film).

It was ice blue and fog like and hovered for approximately 10 to 15 seconds at the tunnel entrance.

It was shifting in form and was amorphous but I could make out several shapes at once. A face, a body, demonic, wolflike, human, all at the same time.

Later we discussed this and everyone sort of interpreted the apparition differently but there was no doubt that all of us witnessed it. At this point the fear was overwhelming. We were not prepared to go inside the tunnel because of whatever was guarding the entrance. Two members of our group are returning there tonight with more equipment to record and measure the level of activity here.

As far as I am concerned this area is the single most haunted spot in Niagara.

I'm still debating whether or not I want to return to investigate the graveyard sections and the inside of the tunnel itself. I'm thinking that it might be safer by daylight.

It was obvious that whatever was guarding the tunnel was not about to permit us entrance without consequence. I am wondering if I can persuade it by bringing flowers for the headstones, or asking it to grant us access. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about this, but last night we were ill prepared for what actually happened. I wasn't expecting much at all, and really it was way crazier than what I thought it was going to be. I'm going to be prepared next time.

Russ' Second Journal Entry

Yes this place is very crazy.

To be honest i was not expecting, nor were we prepared for anything like this...Whatever manifested itself was not letting us through the tunnel.

It would have been suicide to get any closer. We are returning in two weeks.

I have to prepare. Does anyone have any spells that we can use as protection? Additionally, I need a way to insure that it does not follow us home after. When we get the pictures developed I will post them, but there are still many snaps left on this roll of film. We are going back there with a ton of equipment to take video, evp recordings, temp readings, etc etc.

The whole expedition will be documented.

Russ' Third Journal Entry

This Saturday we returned to the tunnel at Gm gate 12. Things were definitely weird but not as intense as last time. Here is an account of things that happened, in the order that they happened.

Arrived at 11:30 party members formed a circle and cast 5 layers of protection spell, and did the hike down the road toward the tunnel.

At 11:45 approximately we were on the road above the tunnel. Emf went off. party members entered circle again to cast invocation spell.

Climbed down the rocky decline and approached tunnel slowly. Took dowsing rods out of pack, got camera ready.

Slowly approached tunnel. Dowsing rods began spinning in 360 degree radius just like last time except that this time both rods were completely spinning quite rapidly. Approached threshold of tunnel.

Asked several yes no questions where whatever “spirit” was there would answer by spinning or not spinning the dowsing rods. Worked fairly effectively.

Noted several visual flickers inside of tunnel and strange fog. No really strong visual manifestations this time. No real strong sense of fear.

There were however several auditory manifestations.

• Hissing. (could be an animal)
  Auditory: Someone walking through the tunnel towardus. Very defined sound of footsteps.
  Noted green slime on wall on outside of tunnel.
  Noted banging noises inside of the tunnel.
  Noted strange watermarks on the walls in the shape of three human figures, two soldiers, one person hanging. (could be coincidence but it was neat to look at)

Entered tunnel. Wow was it cold in there! Approximately a 20 to 30 degree temp drop with cold spots in the tunnel that you could see your breath. Went deep into tunnel until entrance could no longer be seen. Very wet in there. Reached the part of the tunnel where it is blocked off. Not impassable but it is very very very deep in water. Can't wait for summer to dry that up. Took several pictures in and outside of the tunnel. Everytime we go back we just end up with more and more questions about this place. it's bizarre.

Here is the killer part. Took the pictures to be developed. Film returned blank. Underexposed. EVERY PICTURE!!!!!

Very weird indeed. We are returning there next time with EVP recorder, infrared thermometer, more cameras, etc.

Russ continued to visit haunted locations across the Region, but his main focus remained the tunnel which in his next visit he would call The Blue Ghost Tunnel. According to Russ the blue, fog-like apparition he had witnessed previously danced at the front entrance and appeared to him as a beautiful young female who later revealed herself as a soft-spoken seductress named September.

The apparition was only seen by Russ, and others in his group say that they did not witness an apparition named September. In the tunnel, one of the members, who wishes to remain anonymous, recalls finding a picture of a girl. The photograph was old, he recounts, and the image was that of a girl, perhaps 16 years of age. On this visit Russ made contact with the spirit of a little girl who he described as “pretty”, and he provided photographic evidence of this encounter by posting several images of the inside of the tunnel. Within the images he saw “a beautiful girl”, “a demonic devil-like thing” and “a dog.” When the photos were shared online, others pointed out angels, cats, winged-beasts, severed hands and railway wheels.

In reality, the photographs in question show nothing more than Russ' own breath expelled while the snapshot was taken in the cold, moist atmosphere of the tunnel. Inside the swirl and mist objects became defined through a psychological phenomenon known as “pareidolia”.

Russ captured no ghosts on film but he captured the imagination of others.

As a result of posting his online journal and switching his entire focus to the tunnel, the tunnel's name stuck: The Blue Ghost Tunnel and for short The BGT. Several other groups quickly became interested in the newly discovered hotspot. Russ continued to visit the tunnel and became obsessed with it. Several of his friends were alienated by his ambition and now insist that a lot of the events that took place with Russ were manufactured within his own mind.

“It's hard to believe what he was experiencing,” says Dave. “I didn't witness some of the things he claims.”

“Some weird stuff did happen, but a lot of it was just Russ,” says Laura.

But these friends were not active online at this time and they did not protest the statements made by Russ. Many of them abandoned Russ' group and parted company with him. Russ continued to add to the story and weaved a tale that he openly said would lead to a book deal or even a movie deal because “...it is so intense and scary!”

In one journal entry he said that he communicated with the spirits of the tunnel and learned that one, the dancing blue misty female, was named September. He learned she was nineteen years old and was murdered at the tunnel. Russ developed a whole persona for September, which he communicated and interacted with via a Ouija Board.

As Russ continued to expand the experience for the online crowd, others joined in as they learned about the tunnel's existence and “extreme haunting”. Groups like Hamilton Paranormal and Amateur Spirit Seekers visited and posted their experiences which included several parallel experiences to Russ'.

Russ posted a weekly update and then turned it into a daily event because the ghost known as September had, according to Russ, stalked him and followed him home. It was all coming to a grand climax, however. Russ tried to gain the interest of publishers, with no luck. Hollywood was not calling either. Russ was lost and like the tunnel itself—abandoned, save for the online crowd of paranormal thrill-seekers—and needed an out. His personal life was being affected as friends abandoned him, due to this abnormal behavior, and he came up with an exit strategy.

September had seduced him, he stated, and was most likely, according to Russ, a demonic spirit. This spirit had not only seduced him, but then proceeded to physically rape him, according to his journal. Violated and wanting to end this multidimensional relationship, he took the Ouija Board that first made contact with September and burned it.

Suddenly, Russ was offline. There were no more updates on his web site and his journal ended in June 2002. In a short three months he transformed a seemingly lost tunnel into North America's must-go-to haunted tourist attraction.

Rumors quickly spread that he ran away as far as Florida to get away from the demonic, sexual harassment he found at the tunnel. But Russ re-reemerged briefly in October of 2002 to say he was in Florida with family. That same year he deleted his web site and removed his online journal, never returning to the paranormal community again.

One has to question this entire affair, from Russ being totally engaged with the paranormal to abandoning it altogether. Was his ambition of securing a book deal and movie deal his primary goal? Was his only motive to gain publicity and popularity?

In 2009 I caught up with Russ and questioned him about the tunnel and his experiences within it. He remained silent and did not respond. In 2010, I again contacted him directly and questioned him, and referenced this book idea and the possibility of it being published. Russ refused to cooperate and to this day refuses to talk about the tunnel. He wishes to remain anonymous, known only as “Russ”, the one who discovered The Blue Ghost Tunnel, the single-most influential spark to the legend.