Type
Railroad bridge over paved road
Legend
It is said that “during the 80s”, a satanic cult was practicing in the woods surrounding this bridge. Some of their secret rituals including sacrificing a newborn baby by throwing it off the bridge onto the road below. For this reason, people claim to hear the sounds of a baby crying, coming from under the bridge.
Ritual
Interestingly enough, while there is a ritual associated with this bridge, it has nothing to do with being able to hear the baby crying. But it is said that if you park your car under the bridge, turn it off, and wait a few minutes, you will not be able to re-start the car. In fact, the only way you’ll be able to get the car to re-start is if you physically push it out from under the bridge, at which point the engine will turn right over and everything will be as it was before you went to the bridge.
Hopefully, this goes without saying, but the idea of parking your car under a bridge, especially at night, is never a good idea. Not only is it technically illegal, you’re just opening yourself up for a nasty accident. So don’t do it, OK?
Location
Located along Abbeyville Road in Valley City (Medina county). Approximate location is the 2300 block of Abbeyville Road. And if you keep heading south on Abbeyville Road, you’re bound to run into the other Abbeyville Road Crybaby Bridge.
Notes
OK, I’m going to be totally transparent here: this is a spooky-looking bridge and that’s all. And to be honest, whomever created the story is one of the laziest storytellers out there. I know urban legends are supposed to push the boundaries of believability, but this one goes well beyond. I mean, if this cult was supposed to be so secret, why are they chucking babies onto a public road, where anyone passing by could see them? And how come satanic cults were only active in the 80s? Did Geraldo Rivera do an expose to frighten them off or something?
Sorry for being so sarcastic, but here’s why: I don’t want you guys to waste your time with this one. For one, parking your car under a bridge is just asking for trouble. On top of that, this bridge is located near a church and cemetery, both of which have nothing to do with the legend and are both decidedly unhaunted (despite some offshoots of the Crybaby Bridge legend that claim the Satanists held their rituals in the church—yeah, that makes sense).
So please, I beg of you, leave the churchgoers and their church alone. And if you choose to visit the cemetery, please do so during daylight hours and be respectful. If you don’t, your actions are going to ruin things for the rest of us…and that will not make us very happy.
Personal Experiences
So I don’t know who told you that train bridge is haunted or whatever, but the whole story is a bunch of BS!!! I have lived on Abbeyville Road all my life and didn’t hear anything about any cult or whatever until maybe 3 or 4 years ago. Now the other bridge that’s on the other side of Abbeyville Road, that’s the one that I’d always heard was haunted. They said a lady got pregnant by some guy she wasn’t married to and she threw the baby off the bridge to drown it. I went out to that bridge a couple of times when I was younger. Never heard anything at all. It’s a spooky place, though.
–Mark H., Valley City, Ohio
Want to tell your side of this urban legend? Drop me a line at jim@strangeandspooky.com
Additional Information
Dead Ohio
Ohio Exploration
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