Is the Port Moody Station Museum haunted?

Many have passed through the the Port Moody Station Museum since it was built over a century ago, including rumour has it a number of ghosts.

Mysterious footsteps have been heard over the years inside the 1908 station building, which onceserved as a CPR station and live-in quartersfor the station master. And a ghostly woman has been spotted inside the Venosta, a retired CPR sleeping car that sits next to the museum.

"Ghost hunter" Darryl Pearson of Northern Paranormal Investigations was drawn to the site by its history and colourful rumours, and approached the museum's Executive Director Jim Millar with a request to study the site.

"I've had a few experiences with noises and things," says Millar. "So I thought, why not have it checked out?"

Pearson and his team have spent many nights onsitesearching for signs of the unusual with special equipment, including a heat-sensitive cameraand various sensors meant to detect shadows, changes in temperature and disturbances in the electromagnetic field.

Pearson said ultra-sensitive soundrecorders have detected multiple voices, including a spirit claiming to be named Peter. Although he has not personally seen the woman reported to haunt the Venosta, he feelsshe may have been responsible for turning flashlights and cameras off and onduring investigations on the train car.

As to who could be haunting the site, Pearson said there are many possibilities, given the number of people and artifacts thathave passed through the train and building, The station building now houses hundreds ofitems, including the bell from a train that crashed into a nearby lumber yard in 1913, killing five workers.

"Maybe they just like it here, maybe they've worked here, maybe they're stuck here and just want to move on," he mused.

"I honestly don't know. And that's why we keep on looking and striving to ask questions to find out why they're here."

To listen to a ghostly tour of the museum with a paranormal investigator, click the audio labelled "Port Moody Haunted Museum."