The Ghost Train: The Dead Ride The Rails - Softcover

Autry, Richard Bryan

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798243597890

Publisher: Independently published, 2026

Synopsis

"The Ghost Train" is a supernatural historical thriller that reimagines the building of the Transcontinental Railroad as a dark, occult ritual spanning a continent. Set in 1869, the story follows Wei Chen, a brilliant Chinese powder-master who discovers that the "iron road" is not merely an engineering marvel, but a massive, profane circuit designed by railroad tycoon Leland Collis Huntington.
Huntington, driven by an obsessive grief over the death of his son, has discovered that the vibration of train wheels on iron rails—when aligned with the earth’s natural "dragon lines" (ley lines)—can thin the veil between the living and the dead. To achieve this, he has corrupted the ancient principles of feng shui, etching occult symbols onto survey stakes and driving specially treated spikes into sacred burial grounds and battlefields across the American West.
As construction nears the final "Promontory Point," the consequences become terrifyingly clear:

• The Ghost Train: A silent, terrifying prototype that runs without fuel, instead consuming the "essence" of laborers who die during construction.
• The Screaming Whistle: A sound that isn't steam, but the collective cry of souls trapped within the engine’s resonance.
• The Great Rupture: Huntington's ultimate goal is to complete the circuit, permanently tearing the boundary between worlds to harness the wisdom—and the energy—of the dead to fuel a new industrial age.

When Wei Chen and a small group of workers who honor the "Old Ways" are brought into Huntington's inner circle, they are given a choice: serve the new world order or become fuel for the machine. Wei Chen chooses to play the part of the loyal employee, but he has a secret plan. As the powder-master, he knows how the earth fractures. He begins to calculate a "controlled destruction" not of the mountains, but of the occult network itself—planning to turn Huntington's own energy against the railroad and derail the Ghost Train before it can consume the world of the living.

Edition details

• Publisher: Independently published
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798243597890
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 83