Angel on the Tracks

“When I was in my twenties,” writes Virginia, “I had three little girls, and one on the way. I had gone to visit my mother, and stayed until mid-afternoon.”

By the time she decided to leave, however, the sky was darkening. Rain was definitely on the way.

Should she stay or go? This was only to have been a brief visit, so Virginia had very few supplies with her, and she could be home via the country road within an hour… 

Taking a deep breath, she buckled up her daughters and set out. “It wasn’t too bad in the beginning,” she says. “Thunder, lightning and a medium downpour.” But as they drove, the sky got darker, and the rain denser. 

Eventually, the storm was so heavy that Virginia could not see her own hood. Terrified, she rolled the window down trying to see the road, but she couldn’t. Visibility was zero. Would another driver hit her?

Virginia knew vaguely where she was, and her fear deepened. There was nowhere to pull over, given the deep ditches along the road, and the dense forest beyond. But worst of all, a railroad crossing was somewhere up ahead. “There was only a sign posted on the crossing, not a signal,” she says, “because we were way out in the boonies.” No one would be able to see the warning sign until they were upon it. And then it might be too late.

Virginia’s daughters had fallen asleep. It would be too difficult to awaken all three and get them out of the car. Where could they even run to safety? Possible solutions flew through her mind as she continued to inch along, the rain pounding the car. She prayed for direction, for protection, for her vulnerable unborn baby. And suddenly the car stopped.

Wait! She hadn’t touched the brake. Was the engine flooded? Then, to Virginia’s utter amazement, the mist cleared for a moment. Ahead of her, no more than an arm’s length from her bumper, was a moving train.

Virginia sat for a moment, dazed, as the freight cars sped by. It took some time for the train to completely pass, and when it did, she was able to see a little bit better. The storm was quieting. Her family was safe. And her car started.

“To this day I still believe that God sent his angel to be with us,” Virginia says. “There is no way I could have stopped in time if not for the power of God.”