'Weird Lansdale' Tuesday Evening Examines Purportedly Haunted Bucks Co. Tunnel

LANSDALE, PA — Area residents interested in the other-worldly have the chance to learn about one local landmark said to be haunted by ghostly beings and strange phenomenon.

The Lansdale Historical Society on Tuesday evening will discuss the famed Landis Ridge Tunnel in nearby Perkasie, Bucks County.

The old rail tunnel, which the group calls "dark and foreboding," is known for some legendary tales, including unexplained happenings, strange coincidences, apparition sightings, and, well, all around "creepy, odd, mysterious" and even goofy happenings.

At 7 p.m. Tuesday, the historic society will host "Weird Lansdale" at Lansdale Borough Hall and during the program will talk about the historic Landis Ridge Tunnel.

Borough Hall is located at 1 Vine Street in Lansdale.

According to online accounts, the Landis Ridge Tunnel, formally known as the Perkasie Tunnel, was considered to be an important contributing factor in helping the formation of the town of Perkasie, in nearby Bucks County.

Ground was broken for the tunnel's formation back in 1853, according to historical accounts, and it was tied into the North Penn Railroad three years later.

Today the tunnel, which is located behind the Perkasie post office on 7th Street, is owned by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.

A blog post on Mid-Atlantic Hauntings and Ghosts reported that the tunnel, which was built to bridge the railroad gap between Fort Washington, Pa. and Bethlehem, Pa., has been known for strange happenings dating back decades.

One story goes that a railroad engineer during the steam era of the 1940s stuck his head out of the side of a locomotive at the wrong time and ended up being decapitated by a passing train.

"It is said that late at night, if you travel to the north side of the tunnel and hold your ear to the rail and wait long enough, you can hear a train coming," the blog post states. "The longer you wait, the louder the sound will get as the ghost train approaches, manned by the headless engineer."

The blog author says that according to legend, if you start running toward the south end of the half-mile long tunnel, you're safe if you're able to out-run the train, but if the train catches up to you, the headless ghostly engineer is said to decapitate the runner.

Other strange happenings are said to have occurred throughout the years at the infamous tunnel.

The historical society will likely address these stories and more during Tuesday evening's program, which is free and open to the public.