Truckee is famous for its ghosts.
From the Truckee Hotel, where paranormal researchers have recorded what they say is the voice of the murdered girl who haunts the fourth-floor scene of her death, to the spine-chilling history of Wells, Fargo & Co.’s Haunted Express Train Car #5, this Old West town is full of stories of the dead, and the not-so-dead.
Some of those historic characters will spring to life October 18 and 19, when the Truckee Donner Historical Society presents its 4th Annual Historical Haunted Tour. Part theater, part oral history, the adult-only event kicks off with a prize-filled raffle, drinks, and appetizer specials at Moody’s Bistro both nights at 5 p.m.
From there, participants will be led on a two-hour walking tour of downtown Truckee haunts — spots like Richardson House, where the ghost of Maggie Richardson is apt to make an appearance, and MoBo Law, where a paranormal researcher has spotted the ghost of someone dressed like a surgeon peering out the window.
Not surprisingly, the old building used to function as a hospital, said Christina Stoever-Young, who produces the event pro bono.
New this year, she said, will be the story behind the Wells, Fargo & Co.’s Haunted Express Train Car #5. Train robberies and holdups were the order of the day before the turn of the century, and train personnel would routinely be assigned to rail cars to guard precious cargo.
“It is a car that was haunted that used to come through here, and nobody wanted to be assigned to that car,” she said.
Why?
That’s a secret, said Stoever-Young, one of the many mysteries to unfold in all its gory detail as volunteers in period costumes act out the drama of days gone by. The event is a fundraiser for the Historical Society and Trails & Vistas, and has sold out early in recent years, raising more than $15,000 for the two nonprofits.
Raffle prizes include a two-night stay at the Truckee Hotel, the Richardson House, Hampton Inn and the River Street Inn, a vintage English flask, a Pampered Pooch Package from Scraps, gift baskets from Squeeze In, an assortment of chocolates from Dorinda’s, tickets to Trails & Vistas, and a framed vintage photo of Truckee.
