Train robbery is a type of

robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

, in which the goal is to steal

money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money ar ...

or other valuables being carried aboard trains.

History

Train robberies were more common in the past when trains were slower, and often occurred in the

American Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

. Trains carrying payroll shipments were a major target. These shipments would be guarded by an expressman whose duty was to protect the cargo of the " express car". Bandits would rely on the expressman to open the

safe A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure Lock (security device), lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form ...

and provide the goods. Without the combination lock information, it was almost impossible to break into the

s. However, the invention of dynamite made it much easier to break into safes and rob the train. If the outlaw was unsatisfied with the goods, unarmed passengers of the train's carriages are held at gunpoint and forced to hand over valuables, usually in the form of

jewelry Jewellery (British English, UK) or jewelry (American English, U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be at ...

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general ...

. Contrary to the method romanticized by Hollywood, outlaws were never known to jump from

horseback Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

onto a moving train. Usually, they would either board the train normally and wait for a good time to initiate the

heist A heist is a robbery or burglary, especially from an institution such as a bank or museum. Heist may also refer to: Places *Heist, Germany, a municipality in Schleswig-Holstein *Heist-aan-Zee, West Flanders, Belgium *Heist-op-den-Berg, Antwerp, ...

, or they would stop or derail the train and then begin the holdup. Famous train robbers include Butch Cassidy, Bill Miner and Jesse James. Jesse James is mistakenly thought to have completed the first successful train robbery in the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

when on July 21, 1873 the James-Younger Gang took US$3,000 from a Rock Island Railroad train after derailing it southwest of the town of Adair, Iowa. However, the first peacetime train robbery in the United States actually occurred on October 6, 1866, when robbers boarded the Ohio & Mississippi train shortly after it left Seymour, Indiana. They broke into one safe and tipped the other off the train before jumping off. The Pinkerton National Detective Agency later traced the crime to the Reno Gang. There was one earlier train robbery in May 1865, but because it was committed by armed guerrillas and occurred shortly after the end of the Civil War, it is not considered to be the first train robbery in the United States. In 2021, train robberies in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

resulted in hundreds of discarded packages to be strewn about the tracks. Trains were targeted on a section of tracks that they must slow down on and that are easy to access. Thieves are using boltcutters to cut open the locks on shipping containers and taking the packages inside. Union Pacific estimated that losses were in the millions from all the stolen merchandise.

List of train robbers

Some of the most notable train robbers are: * Ronnie Biggs (1929–2013) * Butch Cassidy (1866–1908) * Bill Downing (1860–1908) * Buster Edwards (1931–1994) * Brian Field (1934–1979) * The Dalton Gang (1890–1892) * Jesse James (1847–1882) * Frank James (1843–1915) * Carlos Marighella (1911-1969) * Elmer McCurdy (1880–1911) * Bill Miner (1847–1913) * Bruce Reynolds (1931–2013) *

Charlie Wilson Charles, Charlie, Charley, or Chuck Wilson may refer to: Entertainment * Charles Heath Wilson (1809–1882), Anglo-Scottish painter, art teacher and author * Charles C. Wilson (1894–1948), American film actor * Charles Banks Wilson (1918–2013) ...

(1932–1990)

Notable robberies

* The Great Western Mail Robbery (1849) In two robberies on the Bristol and Exeter Railway two passengers climbed from their carriage to the mail van and back. They were discovered at

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...

after the second robbery. One was Henry Poole, a former guard on the Great Western Railway, dismissed for misconduct (possibly on suspicion of another robbery); the other was Edward Nightingale, the son of George Nightingale, accused, but acquitted, of robbing the Dover mailcoach in 1826, when two thieves had dressed in identical clothes to gain an alibi for the other. They were transported for 15 years. Henry was sent to

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on the

Sir Robert Seppings (ship) The merchant ship ''Sir Robert Seppings'' was launched at Mawlamyine, formerly Moulmein, Burma in 1844 and traded between India and London. It was first recorded in Lloyd's Register in 1848, when the owner was J. Allen, the Master was Richard ...

in December 1850 whilst Edward was transported to

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

on the

Sea Park The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

in January 1854. *

Great Gold Robbery of 1855 upright=1.6, Agar and Burgess in the guard's van, emptying the safes of the gold The Great Gold Robbery took place on the night of 15 May 1855, when a routine shipment of three boxes of gold bullion and coins was stolen from the guard's van of ...

, United Kingdom – France (1855) *

Union Pacific Big Springs robbery The Union Pacific Big Springs Robbery was a robbery of a Union Pacific train near present-day Big Springs, Nebraska on September 18, 1877. The robbery was perpetrated by a gang of six outlaws led by Sam Bass. Though there were no fatalities, the ...

, Nebraska, US (1877) * Canyon Diablo Train Robbery, Arizona, US (1889) * Fairbank Train Robbery, Arizona, US (1900) *

Rogów raid Rogow raid was a train robbery, carried out on November 8, 1906, in the village of Rogow, Brzeziny County, Rogow, near the city of Łódź, Congress Poland. It was carried out by 49 members of Łódź branch of the Combat Organization of the Polis ...

, Poland (1906) *

Bezdany raid Bezdany raid was a train robbery carried out on the night of 26/27 September 1908 in the vicinity of Bezdany (since 1946 Bezdonys) near Vilna on a Russian Empire passenger and mail train by a group of the Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist ...

, Lithuania (1908) * Baxter's Curve Train Robbery, Texas, US (1912) *

DeAutremont Brothers The DeAutremont Brothers, Roy (March 30, 1900 – June 17, 1983), Ray (March 30, 1900 – December 20, 1984) and Hugh DeAutremont (February 21, 1904– March 30, 1959), were a criminal gang based in the Pacific Northwest during the 1920s. Their u ...

, Jackson County, Oregon, US (1923) * Newton Gang, Rondout, Illinois, US (1924) – The target was Milwaukee Road's '' Fast Mail'' * Kakori Train Robbery, India (1925) * B & O Zoot Suit Bandits, W. Virginia, USA (1949) * Great Train Robbery, United Kingdom (1963) * Sallins Train Robbery, Ireland (1976)

In fiction

* '' The Great Train Robbery'', film (1903) * '' Jesse James'', film, (1939), starring Tyrone Power and Henry Fonda * '' Whispering Smith'', film (1948), starring Alan Ladd * '' Rage at Dawn'', film (1955), starring Randolph Scott and Forrest Tucker * ''

Man of the West ''Man of the West'' is a 1958 American Western film noir film starring Gary Cooper and directed by Anthony Mann, produced by Walter Mirisch and distributed by United Artists. The screenplay, written by Reginald Rose, is based on the 1955 novel ...

'' film (1958), starring Gary Cooper * ''O Assalto ao Trem Pagador'' (1962) a Brazilian film which portrays the

Japeri Train Robbery Japeri () is a municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro, southeast region of Brazil. This city was founded on June 30, 1991. Is very known to be located next to the last station of the largest branch of the railroad of Brazil (Central do Bras ...

* '' Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'', film (1969), starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford * '' The Wild Bunch'', film (1969), starring William Holden * '' One More Train to Rob'', film (1971), starring George Peppard * '' The Train Robbers'', film (1973), starring John Wayne * '' The Taking of Pelham One Two Three'', film (1974), starring Walter Matthau * '' The Great Train Robbery'', novel (1975) * ''

The Missouri Breaks ''The Missouri Breaks'' is a 1976 American Western film starring Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson. The film was directed by Arthur Penn, with supporting performances by Randy Quaid, Harry Dean Stanton, Frederic Forrest, John McLiam, and Ka ...

'', film (1976), starring Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando * '' The First Great Train Robbery'', film, (1979), starring Sean Connery * '' The Chase'', novel by Clive Cussler * '' The Grey Fox'' (1982) Canadian film starring Richard Farnsworth that was filmed on the British Columbia Railway * '' Tough Guys'' (1986) a comedy film about two elderly train robbers, starring

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in ''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Dou ...

and Burt Lancaster * '' Money Train'', film (1995), starring Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes * " The Train Job", an episode of the TV series '' Firefly'' that involved a train robbery * '' The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'', film (2007), starring Brad Pitt * '' The Taking of Pelham 123'', film (2009), starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta * "

Dead Freight "Dead Freight" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of the American television drama series ''Breaking Bad'', and the 51st overall episode of the series. Written and directed by George Mastras, it originally aired on AMC in the United States o ...

", an episode of the TV series '' Breaking Bad'' in which methylamine is stolen from a train * '' Solo: A Star Wars Story'', film (2018) * ''

Red Dead Redemption 2 ''Red Dead Redemption 2'' is a 2018 action-adventure game developed and published by Rockstar Games. The game is the third entry in the ''Red Dead'' series and a prequel to the 2010 game ''Red Dead Redemption''. The story is set in 1899 and f ...

'', video game (2018) *''Marighella'', Brazilian film by Wagner Moura, with Seu Jorge on the role of Marighella (2021)

References

Notorious train robber nabbed in 1916 – Pantagraph
(Bloomington, Illinois newspaper) {{DEFAULTSORT:Train Robbery Robbery Illegal occupations Organized crime activity Western (genre) staples and terminology