Ghost Tracks

A legendary railroad crossing near San Juan Mission where, according to local lore, a school bus stalled on the tracks in the 1940s and was struck by a train, killing ten children. For decades, San Antonians have visited to park on the tracks, put their cars in neutral, sprinkle baby powder on their bumpers, and wait for ghost children to push them to safety, leaving tiny handprints as proof.

Near the San Juan Mission, at the intersection of Villamain and Shane Road on San Antonio's south side, lie the famous "Ghost Tracks"—a railroad crossing that spawned one of Texas's most enduring urban legends.

The story centers on a tragic school bus accident in which children were killed by an oncoming train. According to legend, if you park your car on the tracks, shift into neutral, and wait, the ghosts of those children will push your vehicle to safety. Generations of visitors have sprinkled baby powder on their cars' rear bumpers, later finding what appear to be small handprints in the powder—proof, believers say, of spectral intervention.

The truth is more complex. The mysterious movement of vehicles is actually an optical illusion created by a slight incline at the crossing that makes an uphill grade appear level or downhill. The fingerprints? They were already on your car—the baby powder simply reveals them.

The legend claimed local authenticity from the nearby street names: Bobbie Allen, Cindy Sue, Laura Lee, Nancy Carole, and Richey Otis. Believers pointed to these as memorials to the children who died. However, the streets were actually named for the grandchildren of the area's developer.

Perhaps most damning: the bus accident that inspired the legend never occurred in San Antonio. In 1938, the San Antonio Light ran a front-page story with the headline "26 Children Killed When Fast Freight Train Crushes School Bus," but the tragedy happened in Salt Lake City—1,300 miles away.

Despite the debunking, visitors continued making pilgrimages for decades. In 2018, Union Pacific made permanent changes to the crossing, adding a second track and altering the elevation so the perceived phenomenon no longer works. The Ghost Tracks themselves have become history—but the legend they spawned remains a beloved part of San Antonio folklore.