The last major American train robbery was attempted on November 25, 1937, on a Southern Pacific Railroad's westbound Apache Limited out of El Paso, Texas.
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Although it may sound like a bygone method of heist, robbing freight trains is not unheard-of in modern times. But it has previously required some degree of sophistication to accomplish.
The Great Train Robbery was the robbery of £2.61 million (about £61 million today) from a Royal Mail train heading from Glasgow to London on the West Coast Main Line in the early hours of 8 August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn, near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England.
The Great Train Robbery of 1963 made some of the men who carried out the £2.6million heist household names, including the notorious Ronnie Biggs. But whilst 12 men were either jailed or fled, three individuals eluded police. Two, Harry Smith and Danny Pembroke, were later unmasked, but the third remained unidentified.
The era of the freight train-hopping, job-seeking hobo faded into obscurity in the years following the Second World War. Many hobos from this era have since “caught the westbound,” or died. A small number of so-called hobos still hop freight trains today.
FACT 7: TRAINS CAN SNEAK UP ON YOUYou don't always hear that loud “clacking sound” anymore. This means that trains can be closer than they appear and move faster than you think.
1975 Dutch train hostage crisis: Seven terrorists hijacked the Hoogeveen-Beilen train with about 50 passengers held them hostage for twelve days, killing three hostages.
The robbers escaped with an estimated £2.6 million, which would have been worth about £46 million today, which they split amongst themselves. Most of the cash has never been recovered.
Japan: L0 Series Maglev (374 mph)Although not yet in regular service, this Japanese train, which is currently being developed and tested by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), holds the land speed record for rail vehicles, clocking in at 374 mph.