Train robberies were more common in the past, especially in the American Old West and Indian Territory. The most notorious US train robbery was in 1899, while India and England also had famous train robberies. Today, train robberies are rare, and people are more likely to be victims of mugging, pickpocketing, or burglary.
Train robberies are not very common in modern times. In today’s world, the average person is far more likely to be the victim of a mugging, pickpocketing, or burglary than a train robbery. Train robbery crimes were much more common in the 1800s and even the first half of the 1900s than they are now. Like highwaymen, train robbers are more likely to be seen in historical novels and history books than on the daily news.
Train robbery was more common in the American Old West than it is today. Train robberies were especially prevalent in what was called Indian Territory during the aftermath of the American Civil War. Often, train robbers of this period would move a train to a different track to send it in the direction of waiting robbers; the robbers would then threaten the train driver with pistols and force him to unhook the passenger cars so that they could take the mail car and the car containing the safe themselves for the robbery. In many cases, they were content to rob a train’s mail car and safe, but sometimes they also robbed the passengers.
One of the most notorious train robberies in U.S. history was the 1899 robbery of train No. 1 of the Union Pacific Overland Flyer. Six train robbers managed to escape with loot that the train company claimed was worth more than $50,000 US dollars (USD). This robbery occurred when the robbers tricked the engineer into stopping the train and then boarded it. They then used dynamite to blow up a bridge the train passed over, and more dynamite to gain access to the mail car, express car, and safe.
The United States was not the only country to deal with train robberies. Another of the most famous robberies occurred in India in 1925. This robbery was planned by members of the Hindustan Republican Association in an attempt to raise funds for a revolution against Britain. The robbers engineered the halt of a Northern Railway train and were able to subdue a guard. They then proceeded to steal bags of British Government Treasury money, but did not rob the Indian passengers.
Another famous train robbery, dubbed the Great Train Robbery, occurred in England in 1963. To rob this train, highwaymen rigged a train signal to be red when it should have been green. When the train stopped and one of the crew got off, the bandits boarded the train and managed to steal a large sum of money. These robbers cut telephone lines in the area and used decoy vehicles to mislead any witnesses.
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