Museum uses real central Pennsylvania events for spooky experience

True tales of scary historical events involving area residents might send a chill through visitors at the Railroaders Memorial Museum’s Haunted Rails and Tails the next two Saturdays.

Visitors will go on a guided tour through the museum, where actors portraying people who lived between 1850 and 1950 will tell real life accounts of events.

Through these stories of death and sacrifice, Mark Frederick, museum director of digital outreach, is hoping to respectfully honor and remember those individuals.

“I like the tagline of ‘history is scary enough, you don’t need to embellish it,’” Frederick said. “You will stop at several exhibits and these characters will tell you their stories.”

During the times where these stories take place, safety regulations did not exist, and a lot of people died on the railroad and in Altoona.

Maddie Letsche of Altoona, who portrayed Nell Gwynn at The Church in the Middle of the Block Cultural Center and acted in “The Great Gatsby” at the Mishler Theatre, will play Josephine Thompson.

The character is based on real life women who worked for the PRR during the 1940s when men from Blair County went to serve in the war.

Letsche will be telling her account of a co-worker who died while working for the railroad.

“I really admire these strong women for stepping up in a role that was unfamiliar,” she said.

Leila McCrumb of Palmyra, who currently lives in Altoona, plays Willis Fleck, a woman who lived in the 1800s who will tell the story about losing a loved one.

“I enjoy exploring the pain that she feels and how we all deal with those same emotions,” she said.

Edward Mulvihill, a flag man whose job was to warn trains of danger will be played by Mike Manfred.

“He is a working class guy, but his job is instrumental — kind of like an unsung hero,” Mulvihill said.

“I think it is important for us locals to remember who came before us and what those people sacrificed, which in some cases was their lives,” Frederick said.

Organizers envisioned a production where the museum comes to life for an immersersive and emotional experience.

“Ultimately that is the mission of the railroaders museum, to pay tribute to the generations of railroaders and workers who built not only our community, but also a nation,” Frederick said.

“Through these stories you also get different aspects of where iconic events happened,” Frederick said.

All stories are based off of Altoona Tribune and Altoona Mirror articles. He said every story is accurate, with a little spooky twist added.

It wasn’t difficult to articulate and flush out these stories and turn them into a first person account because the newspaper articles made it so easy.

“The newspapers of the day really went into fine detail — in some cases it was in very gruesome detail — especially when it comes to murders and accidents,” he said.

From those articles, Frederick was able to create a script that is between 26 and 30 pages and each monologue is five to six minutes long.

There are six stories portrayed by actors, with a few extras that will fill in the gaps.

He said events like these are important because it allows these stories to be preserved.

Outfits for the roles were rented from Altoona Community Theatre and some local reenactors.

“Visitors can expect to be shocked, scared and have all the feelings you get from a Halloween event, but I think it will be harder when they realize this really did happen and quite often,” Frederick said.

He said events like these are important because it allows these stories to be preserved.

Frederick described this year’s event as a mobile play with multiple stages.

Just like any other production, there were casting calls, auditions and multiple rehearsals.

Director Emily Evey has been his sidekick through all of this, and Miranda Harkins, director of museum services helped with proofreading the scripts.

Evey thought they have created an experience that is hard to find anywhere else.

“I’m looking forward to seeing it all come together, and hope people walk away with greater appreciation for local history,” she said.

Evey said they have actors of diverse backgrounds playing all the roles.

Haunted Rails and Tails started Saturday and will continue on Oct. 15 and 22.

Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online at the museum’s website. Walk-in tickets are available, but it is recommended to buy them online to ensure spots are open.

The museum usually closes down after Thanksgiving, but this year it will be open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

There is a Veterans Day event coming up, and the museum will be decorated for Christmas again.