The Great Train Robbery

[Murphy Siding]

     Thomas Edison's first commercial movie was The Great Train Robbery.  That, in itself, tells me that train robberies were big in the eyes of entertainment people 100+ years ago.  Nearly half of all western movies since seem to involve a train robbery.  Some of the best are in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  But really, how frequent were train robbed, and what kind of impact did they really have on the railroads, and on everyday life in America?  When was the last train robbery in America?

[KCSfan]

The robbery of a Milwaukee Road mail train on June 12, 1924 at Rondout, Illinois is considered to be the last major train robbery in the US. The robbery was carried out by the Newton boys from Texas and netted about 3 million dollars in cash and securities. Rondout is some 20 miles north of Chicago and the Milw crossed the EJ&E at grade at that location. One of the most well known signs on any railroad was the one posted in advance of that crossing which required Milw Road trains to "Reduce Speed to 90 MPH".

Mark

[dknelson]

Thanks to YouTube we can easily watch that classic Edison film of the Great Train Robbery -- and stay with it for the final seconds which terrified the audiences of the time.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bc3_i-rgSs

Here is information on the nefarious Newton Gang

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/TX-Treasure7.html

And here thanks to "Fuzzy" Mark Hintz's wonderful website

 http://www.fuzzyworld3.com/index.html

you can see his photo of the comemorative plaque at Rondout -- which is a railfan destination well worth taking in by the way. 

 http://www.fuzzyworld3.com/pictures3/railroad/rt01/l.html

Dave Nelson

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

The robbery of a Milwaukee Road mail train on June 12, 1924 at Rondout, Illinois is considered to be the last major train robbery in the US. The robbery was carried out by the Newton boys from Texas and netted about 3 million dollars in cash and securities. Rondout is some 20 miles north of Chicago and the Milw crossed the EJ&E at grade at that location. One of the most well known signs on any railroad was the one posted in advance of that crossing which required Milw Road trains to "Reduce Speed to 90 MPH".

Mark

This robbery was also an inside job that was aided and abetted by a crooked Postal Inspector who provided the robbers with the necessary info and conducted the initial "investigation" after the heist.  I don't know the particulars on how the case was eventually cracked.

[Murphy Siding]

The robbery of a Milwaukee Road mail train on June 12, 1924 at Rondout, Illinois is considered to be the last major train robbery in the US. The robbery was carried out by the Newton boys from Texas and netted about 3 million dollars in cash and securities. Rondout is some 20 miles north of Chicago and the Milw crossed the EJ&E at grade at that location. One of the most well known signs on any railroad was the one posted in advance of that crossing which required Milw Road trains to "Reduce Speed to 90 MPH".

Mark

     By 1924, the rejoinder to "Hands up-this is a train robbery" would have to be "You've got to be kidding me".