Does a good ghost story send chills down your spine? Here’s a tragic story about a ghost who supposedly haunts a historic train depot.
The Denver & Rio Grande Western Depot opened in 1910.
Ron Reiring/flickr It’s a beautiful building with a unique history. It was constructed just one year after the Union Pacific Depot, and designed to be much more elaborate. While the Union Pacific Depot was built in 1909 at a cost of just $300,000, the Rio Grande cost $750,000 to build. All that extra money resulted in a building with gorgeous architectural details, including the huge, arched windows on the second story. In its heyday, this train depot was a bustling, busy place… but it was supposedly the site of a terrible tragedy.
Not long after the depot opened, a woman was killed on the tracks.
Salt Lake City Television/Youtube The story goes that the woman and her fiancee were having an argument while standing on the platform. Either the woman or her fiancee threw her engagement ring down onto the tracks. Sobbing and distraught, the woman went down onto the tracks to retrieve the ring, but was hit by an incoming train and killed.
The “Purple Woman” has been spotted in several locations throughout the train depot over the years.
Rio Grande Cafe/Facebook The first known sighting was back in 1947, when a female train passenger stopped to use the restroom. She claimed to have seen a woman wearing a purple dress and a large, purple hat in the style of the early 1900s. Since that sighting, many people have seen the Purple Lady.
She’s most often seen in the women’s restroom, but guests and employees have also seen her in the Rio Grande Cafe, a restaurant located on the depot’s main floor.
management/Tripadvisor Employees also report hearing singing and footsteps at night, after the restaurant is closed.
Security guards have seen the Purple Lady on the mezzanine at night, and have also heard her footsteps.
railsr4me/flickr In addition to the Purple Lady, it’s believed that several other ghosts inhabit the depot. There have been many sightings of another ghost on the mezzanine, who appears to be male. It’s thought that he might be a past stationmaster or even the fiancee of the Purple Lady.
What do you think? Is the Denver & Rio Grande Depot haunted by the Purple Lady?
Rio Grande Cafe/Facebook
What do you think of this ghost story? For more historical information about the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Depot, check out this video posted by Salt Lake City Television on Youtube:
Ron Reiring/flickr
It’s a beautiful building with a unique history. It was constructed just one year after the Union Pacific Depot, and designed to be much more elaborate. While the Union Pacific Depot was built in 1909 at a cost of just $300,000, the Rio Grande cost $750,000 to build. All that extra money resulted in a building with gorgeous architectural details, including the huge, arched windows on the second story. In its heyday, this train depot was a bustling, busy place… but it was supposedly the site of a terrible tragedy.
Salt Lake City Television/Youtube
The story goes that the woman and her fiancee were having an argument while standing on the platform. Either the woman or her fiancee threw her engagement ring down onto the tracks. Sobbing and distraught, the woman went down onto the tracks to retrieve the ring, but was hit by an incoming train and killed.
Rio Grande Cafe/Facebook
The first known sighting was back in 1947, when a female train passenger stopped to use the restroom. She claimed to have seen a woman wearing a purple dress and a large, purple hat in the style of the early 1900s. Since that sighting, many people have seen the Purple Lady.
management/Tripadvisor
Employees also report hearing singing and footsteps at night, after the restaurant is closed.
railsr4me/flickr
In addition to the Purple Lady, it’s believed that several other ghosts inhabit the depot. There have been many sightings of another ghost on the mezzanine, who appears to be male. It’s thought that he might be a past stationmaster or even the fiancee of the Purple Lady.
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