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     "In April, 1954, six miles south from New Castle, Pa., a section of Route 18 caved in, carrying with it telephone poles, road signs and grass on both sides of the road. The sinking left a 450-yard gap in the road with a huge pit 50 feet deep.

    “The State Highway Department sent engineers from Harrisburg to determine the cause of the sinking and to repair it. The experts decided that a shifting clay stratum had caused the roadbed to sink and recommended that the hole be filled in.

    “For a week 1600 cubic feet of filler material was poured into the hole -– 24,000 pounds altogether. The engineers were confident that they could fill the hole to the former road level -– but suddenly the sinking began again. The now road sank 50 feet.

    “The State Highway Department gave up. It now appears that it will be necessary to build a bypass around this bottomless pit. The Pennsylvania Railroad already has closed its tracks nearby and rerouted traffic to another line."

 

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The following story, titled 'SUBTERRANEAN TRAIN', appeared on page 74 of the March, 1956 issue of FATE magazine:

 

     "In 1875 at Pueblo, Colo., a locomotive and several cars were derailed into quicksand. They sank out of sight almost at once. Workme later probed down to a depth of 50 feet -- but they never found the vanished train."

 

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The following information appeared on pages 8-9 of the September, 1956 issue of FATE magazine: