Mars Train Station – History

Mars Train Station

Mars, PA

 

For nearly fifty years, this train station was the central hub of the entire town of Mars, PA. While this small town is on the outskirts of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, situated about 20 miles north of the city, it has acted as a secondary stop for commuters and visitors alike ever since its inception. This increased ten fold as this train station was constructed which ultimately helped build and economically solidify the town. As business and travelers increased, the town saw an increase in growing legend and lore. With the increasing stories, there’s no doubt that at least a portion of them are true with the amount of townspeople experiencing odd phenomena all throughout the town particularly converging on the old train station, even after its untimely closure.

 

Past

 

The small town of Mars was originally founded in 1873 with the first residential and combined gristmill construction by Samual Parks. From that point until the mid-1890’s the town’s population and economy was in flux. By 1897, the residents had pushed for stability so the town was practically forced to expand with a major addition of the first iteration of the Mars Train Station. This helped bring the Pittsburgh and Western Railroad through the town of Mars.

 

For nearly fifty years, the town grew and attributed this major increase to that very train station. The residents seemed to get the stability they had hoped for but in the mid-1920’s a freight train would derail and smash directly into the station. Even though this did cost the town a large sum of money, the station received the necessary repairs but also upgrades which it desperately needed at this point in time.

 

 

Following the station’s facelift, the station drew in many locals and visitors alike during President Warren G. Harding’s funeral train which passed through the town and directly through the station. This time period marked the highest peak of the train station’s popularity and functionality. As with any technology, time moved on and the train station would be outdated and initially closed its doors in the mid-1960’s. This only lasted about ten years as the station was reopened in the late 1970’s after sitting abandoned and empty. This second lifespan lasted until the early-1980’s when it closed its doors and retired as a usable train station for the final time.

 

With a humongous contribution through donations, the Mars Historical Society purchased the old station before it was too far into disrepair in the late-1990’s. The restored station was officially opened as a repurposed and fully functional museum in the year 2000. The museum was featured on the History Channel in 2006 as an episode of Save Our History which helped bolster interest and further donations to keep the museum up to date.

 

 

As the museum grew, the campus added a short rail train in 2013. This railroad was constructed as a 1-½” scale model with the locomotive as an exact version of the old switch-type diesel but currently powered by a 6 horsepower engine. Along with this, the passenger cars are also 1-½” scale of the old cars. The current layout of the track is about 1,000 feet in length and encircles the campus of the museum. Visitors, up to 14 at a time, can enjoy approximately 10 minutes of a ride along the re-constructed train passing through a tunnel and over the nearby Breakneck Creek. Guests can ride this iteration of the train any Friday, from May through October, from 10 AM to 2 PM and all ages are welcome. The only cost is a gift of a donation to the historical society and the museum. 

 

If you feel so inclined, the group has opened their online PayPal account for additional donations to anyone that feels like making a heartfelt gesture of contributing to the growth and stability of the Mars Train Station. This donation can be contributed at: 

 

https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/1538573

 

 

Paranormal Experiences

 

Locals have passed around some very odd tales of the intriguing and macabre. The first dates all the way back to the very first timeframe of operation when a cat seemingly considered this station a second home. The only thing that was known about this cat is that she followed her owner to work at the station every day and grew accustomed to making herself comfortable in this location all throughout the day only to follow her owner back home at day’s end. She was given the nickname of ‘Chessie’ in a callback to the train station main locomotive line. This occurred regularly for years until she just stopped the habits. She disappeared; that is until the train station was under construction in the next century in the year 2000. 

 

 

As the station was being restored, it was necessary to physically move the old station from its former foundation. With the crews hard at work, there were minimal stoppages. However, as the foundation was revealed the crew members had no choice but to stop the process as a mummified cat’s remains were dug out. It’s thought that this cat fell between some arrant floor boards next to the train tracks and it was trapped and ultimately died in this exact location. This made the small town’s headlines and the tale made its way around the entire town of Mars, so much so that they believed it was the old cat ‘Chessie.’

 

 

Following the completion of the reconstruction and opening of the museum, construction workers, completing their final work, and visitors, simply getting a feel for the refreshed building, began to hear a cat’s purring. As they mentioned this to the staff on site that there may be a stray cat, the staff member explained that there is no pet around and the doors and windows were all sealed with no way in or out. This cat simply could not exist inside the building. Those who experienced the strange occurrence were astounded but no more than their peers who visually spotted a small cat rush past them. 

 

As time drew on, these tales just simply grew and those volunteers and employees to the museum took no true notice of this but simply blamed their otherworldly visitor; Chessie. This became much more of a reality, however, when there was some further construction taking place. Fresh sawdust laid on the floor prior to the crew cleaning it up and everyone on site were completely in awe as they noticed a paw print very recognizable as a cat’s print. Since this time, most employees find comfort in this long lost cat’s presence whereas others feel sadness as they feel that the cat is still searching for its owner in the afterlife.

 

 

This phantom cat is not the only supernatural phenomenon noted to wander the old train station. Another local legend tells of a homeless drifter who used to bounce around train cars practically living at the old train station during the station’s second lifespan in the 1970’s. Unfortunately, these train cars were not well insulated nor were they ever constructed as living quarters. This hobo was said to pass out one extremely cold winter night. Whether he was drunk and passed out or simply fell asleep while resting was never determined. What was finite though is that he did perish in a train car located in the Mars Train Station.

 

 

While he may have passed onto the next plane, this man has been said to return to this place he considered home and ultimately his deathbed. A man in tattered clothing has been explained wandering the tracks aimlessly but as witnesses follow him, typically in a concerned state, he disappears around the building. Some can see more details of this unnamed phantom while others simply see a dark outline moving about the train tracks.

 

Even though there have been no major tragedies there are a few notable deaths tied directly to this old station. While these passings were truly unexpected, these paranormal phenomena seem to return to this location due to their life features and actions rather than their sad deaths. It can be no surprise that with how much this structure meant to the town and the residents of Mars, PA that there is extra energy expended here and their unofficial mascot returning to its eternal home inside the train station turned museum.