I am attempting to identify the specific locomotive present at the Garrettsville, Ohio depot on November 7, 1935. The number of this engine was 6-2-6. Garrettsville was part of the Erie Railroad, and on November 7, 1935 train 6-2-6 stopped at Garrettsville, headed East, and was robbed by notorious outlaw Alvin "Creepy" Karpis and his newly formed gang. He had been the No. 2 man in the Barker-Karpis gang until Fred and "Ma" Barker were killed by G-Men at Ocklawaha Florida on January 16, 1935. The Garrettsville robbery was the last great American train robbery in U.S. History. I need help identifying the actual engine. Thanks.
Mr. Smith:
My suggestion is to contact the Erie-Lackawana Historical Society by "Googling" that historical society.
Ed Burns
It seems 626 was the train number, not the engine number-- an afternoon train from Cleveland to Pittsburgh. So no one can tell you about the engine without seeing the pic.
I was wondering that myself, I hit four reference books and couldn't find any Erie steam locomotive in the "600" series.
Are you sure about that engine number? Mind you, the engine rosters in by books are all post-1900.
The train was likely the eastbound "Steel King", and I suspect your best bet on finding the engine number will be to see if there are contemporary newspaper pictures in the source material for books like Turzillo's "Murder and Mayhem on Ohio's Rails", or in the information that Julie Thompson of Garrettville has assembled concerning this.
I'd also ask the question on the B&O historical Yahoo group, as those folks may have train consist lists with engine numbers for that date.
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