The Signal Man by Charles Dickens

The Signal-Man” by Charles Dickens (1866):

Summary

The story is narrated by an unnamed traveler who encounters a railway signalman working in a lonely, isolated post near a railway cutting. The narrator calls out to him, but the signalman responds nervously, almost as if expecting something dreadful. The narrator approaches and strikes up a conversation.

The signalman is an intelligent and conscientious man, but he seems troubled and fearful. Over the course of their meetings, he confides in the narrator that he has been experiencing strange, supernatural visions.

Each time, he sees a mysterious figure near the railway tunnel, waving one arm as if to warn him and covering its face with the other. Whenever the figure appears, a terrible accident soon follows:

The first time, there was a catastrophic train crash.

The second time, a young woman died suddenly on a passing train.

Now, the figure has appeared again, and the signalman is tormented, certain that another disaster is imminent.

The narrator tries to comfort him, suggesting the visions are hallucinations caused by isolation and overwork. He promises to return the next day.

When he does, however, he discovers a crowd gathered at the railway line: the signalman has been struck and killed by a train. Shockingly, the train driver and witnesses describe waving gestures made before the accident—movements eerily similar to those of the specter the signalman had described.