The Ghost Train

"The Ghost Train" is a supernatural historical thriller that reimagines the building of the Transcontinental Railroad as a dark, occult ritual spanning a continent. Set in 1869, the story follows Wei Chen, a brilliant Chinese powder-master who discovers that the "iron road" is not merely an engineering marvel, but a massive, profane circuit designed by railroad tycoon Leland Collis Huntington.
Huntington, driven by an obsessive grief over the death of his son, has discovered that the vibration of train wheels on iron rails-when aligned with the earth's natural "dragon lines" (ley lines)-can thin the veil between the living and the dead. To achieve this, he has corrupted the ancient principles of feng shui, etching occult symbols onto survey stakes and driving specially treated spikes into sacred burial grounds and battlefields across the American West.
As construction nears the final "Promontory Point," the consequences become terrifyingly clear:

• The Ghost Train: A silent, terrifying prototype that runs without fuel, instead consuming the "essence" of laborers who die during construction.
• The Screaming Whistle: A sound that isn't steam, but the collective cry of souls trapped within the engine's resonance.
• The Great Rupture: Huntington's ultimate goal is to complete the circuit, permanently tearing the boundary between worlds to harness the wisdom-and the energy-of the dead to fuel a new industrial age.