What’s left of a fading ghost haunts his modern highway just west of Denver. On July 20, 1881, a Colorado Central locomotive struck a man walking on the Ralston-to-Golden tracks near Van Bibber Creek. The impact knocked the man far into the bushes. In spite of an in-depth search, his body was never found. All the searchers found was a derby hat laying near the railroad tracks where the man was struck. Within a month of the accident, the man’s apparition started appearing at the spot where he was killed. The spirit appears wearing a derby hat and reeking of rotting flesh. He is said to manifest in trains, along the tracks, and to pople passing through the area. The spirit haunted the area for a while, but has begun to fade away with time. The tracks have been replaced by a modern highway, but the eerie presence can still be felt. The apparition shows itself now as a vaporous shape, a cloud of dust, or a just lingering sense of uneasiness.
Golden is 5 miles west of Denver, just off 1-70. The presence has been reported north of Golden, along highway 93 near Van Bibber stream.