The Paranormal Blog

Posted by Matthew

Those that know me too well will now see this here on the Paranormal Blog and groan in pain....

Yes, I'm finally doing it here... combining double-decker buses and the paranormal.

Allow me to fill in those not in the know...

The Paranormal Blog is one of two Sue and I look after.

The Old Green Bus Blog is the other... which is where we are hoping to "rescue" an old double-decker bus...

There's a bit in there about some synchronicities with "us" and the bus... but I'd like to share a couple of "busly ghost stories", if you will, that my hobbies have led me to...

The first one here is the best known "ghostly double-decker" as far as being oft told...

Below has been reproduced from the book Ghosts of London by J.A. Brooks, published by Jarrold Publish, Norwich 1982, 1991
ISBN 0-7117-0557-7...

The phantom bus that haunts North Kensington between the Cambridge Gardens and Chesterson Road junctions on St. Mark's Road is one of the strangest of London's ghosts, even though it seems to have lain dormant for almost fifty years. It's presence was acknowledged after the death of a young motorist in June 1934. He suffered a terrible death when his car, for no apparent reason, swerved off the road, hit a lamp post, and burst into flames. A reason for the accident was put forward at the inquest by several witnesse, who spoke of their own encounters with the ghost bus. It always appeared on the same stretch of road, usually at the junction of Cambridge Gardens with St. Mark's Road. It was always a No. 7 operated by the London General Omnibus Company. Thus it carried the word 'General' on its side: The LGOC became London Passenger Transport Board in 1933, and by June 1934 nearly all of its fleet bore the 'London Transport' lettering. Incidents involving the bus always occurred at the same time, 1:15a.m., a strange hour for a No. 7 to be about. Witnesses came forward to tell how the bus tore down the middle of the road towards them, and how they desperately swung their vehicles off the road to avoid it. When they looked back no bus was ever seen. After the inquest even more people came forward with their own experiences, while others put forward rational explanations (it was a late staff bus, or an apparition caused by reflections, etc.). However it would seem to be a difficult tale to tell policemen today, as they lean on the window of an erratically driven car, breathalysers at the ready...

There's also another phantom bus in London... a Regent that was supposedly a victim of a WWII German bomb during the blitz killing several passengers and it's driver. This Regent RT Bus supposedly involved is VERY similar to my beloved RLH machines and is said to make late-night runs through it's old route also causing mild mayhem when sighted... I'm trying to dig this one up as well as it has had more recent sightings, but I do remember it well as my original source for the story (one of my mountains of books...) had a wonderful, if a bit 'nightmarish' sketch of the old girl as a ghost tearing down the route it never completed. At this point, I'm looking for two reasons... one is to get the story and reproduce it here... the other is for the really excellent artwork.

Now, the newer and more intriguing bit is when I was in contact with a fellow who is an RLH (Regent Low Height) driver in England and current owner/enthusiast about things to do with our beloved buses, he asked me what I knew of "haunted buses" and if it was possible a "bus" was haunted.

I answered with the above two stories and said I didn't see why a "person's ghost" wouldn't also haunt a bus considering that we have similar ghosts on other vehicles like ships and whatnot... and then "popped" the question if this was about one of his vehicles. I received a stern "NO!" from him... Did the man protest too much? Maybe... maybe not. Either way, I'm still wondering if he has a haunted bus in his "fleet"... although he says "no", one wonders then why ask...

Granted, he might not have been asking for himself, but someone else...

I can't say who or where as the company/owner doesn't really want to acknowledge this, but we either have a phantom passenger and/or a phantom conductor.

You see, older double-deckers had "open platforms" at the back and you'd hop in that way, not beside the driver with a ticket/cash box, so a uniformed conductor would go from person to person to selling tickets and taking money.

Well, it seems that (somewhere in the world) an operating older double-decker has had two occurrences in the same bus and the driver e-mailed me about it a while back.

One report is from the driver, noticing in his mirror, that an older lady is still in his bus despite heading back to his garage. When he pulls the bus over to ask the woman (on the lower deck) to leave the bus, he finds no one there. This wouldn't be too remarkable, except it's happened more than once... to more than one driver. All describing the same woman. One of them noticed her, remembered the stories and assuming she was "jumping off" before a driver could get to her, he drove it straight into the garage... only to find the bus empty there.

Next, with the same bus, they were asked by a group who saw the bus go by (it was making a turn to come into a platform/stop a little better) who they'd hired to act as a "conductor"... despite the bus no longer having a conductor as it was strictly for charters and tours (tickets sold at a kiosk or by phone or rides done at fairs and the like) and they don't hire "historical interpreters" or folks like that... and the bus, apparently, was empty. All this, yet apparently, two men and two women "saw" a London Transport(?) uniformed conductor standing on the rear platform "as normal" while the bus passed on it's circuit... but he vanished before it pulled up for them.

What stuck out for this fellow who wrote me was that neither of these "phantoms" were frightening or "odd looking" in the least and certainly weren't "misty" or "see-through". I got to be the poor sod that told him that this description of "ghosts" was more normal than the one's with transparent or translucent entities. Most "ghosts" appear to the witness as a "normal" person... but are dressed or do something "extraordinary" before being "detected" as ghosts.

He has asked for utter privacy and secrecy in the matter, so for now, this is all I can tell anyone... sorry.

Maybe, if someone helps me out, one of my beauties will be haunted too! Mobile lab to the max, anyone?

Imagine the ghost tour! You get on the bus and ask, "Where are we going?" and are told "Nowhere... they're here in the vehicle with us! Look around and be patient!"

Also for the record, I had to explain to him that trying to find "the history" of these two passengers (or one passenger, one worker?) would be next to impossible... unless he wants to go "psychic" and hope for a correlation.

So there you have it... my total amount of knowledge about "Haunted Double Deckers" so far...

If you have a moment, please take some time to visit our other blog, The Old Green Bus Blog... We'd be grateful if you did...

Now, "double deckers" are not our only "other hobby"... and we have collected some great reports from our other sideline... I may share one of those shortly...