The Great Train Robbery of 1963,Bridego Bridge,sears Crossing,Bucks,Uk(history in description).
The great train robbery
Late on Thursday 8 August 1963, a Travelling Post Office train left Glasgow for Euston. On board, staff sorted the mail and parcels prior to its arrival in London.
The second carriage from the front of the train was a High Value Package carriage, where registered mail was sorted. Much of this consisted of cash. Usually the value of these items would have been in the region of £300,000 but, because there had been a Bank Holiday weekend in Scotland the total on the day of the robbery was £2.3 million (£30 million today).
The wrong signal
The train passed Leighton Buzzard about 3am on 8 August 1963, moments later the driver, Jack Mills saw a red signal ahead at a place called Sears Crossing.
The signal was false. A glove had been stuffed onto the proper signal and the red light was activated by attaching it to a six volt battery. When Mills stopped, his co-driver David Whitby climbed out of the diesel engine to ring the signalman to ascertain the problem.
He discovered that the cables from the line-side phone had been cut and as he turned to return to his train he was attacked and thrown down the steep railway embankment.
Meanwhile, a masked man climbed into the train cab and coshed the driver around the head rendering him unconscious. Meanwhile, other robbers uncoupled most of the carriages, leaving on the engine and the first two carriages containing the high-value property.
The steep embankments at Sears crossing were unpractical for removing the loot from the train but the gang had planned to drive the train a mile further to Bridego Bridge. Here, Land Rovers were waiting to transport the cash to a nearby hideout.
Soon the well-planned heist encountered a problem. One of the gang had spent months befriending railway staff on the pretence of being a railway enthusiast. He had been allowed rides in the cabs of trains and had even been permitted to drive a few trains.
His part in the robbery was to drive the train to the rendezvous point but as he climbed into the cab of the train he realised that this huge diesel train was far more complicated than the local trains he had previously travelled in. One of the gang, Ronnie Biggs, had to rouse the driver to continue the journey.
In the front two carriages, frightened Post Office staff were pushed to one end by some of the fifteen strong gang – but, in the remaining ten carriages left at Sears Crossing, staff did not even realise anything had happened.
A human chain of robbers
At Bridego Bridge a human chain of robbers removed 120 sacks containing two-and-a-half-tons of money. The robbery was well organised and swift. Before leaving, one of the gang ordered Post Office staff to stay still for 30 minutes before contacting the police. This gave the investigators an important clue, they suspected that the gang had a hideout within a 30 minute drive of the scene.
This was indeed the case. An old farmhouse in Oakley Buckinghamshire, Letherslade Farm, had been rented and during the next few days the jubilant gang shared out the cash. They even played Monopoly using real money.
A huge police investigation was launched, run by the Flying Squad at Scotland Yard and senior detectives from the Buckinghamshire Police. The officer in overall command was Detective Chief Superintendent Jack Slipper.
British Transport Police had a small role to play in the investigation, mainly conducting enquiries, obtaining lists of staff and suspects.
Back at the farm, the gang were becoming spooked by low flying RAF aircraft who were actually on training runs and nothing to do with the manhunt that had now been established. They split the money which was mainly in used £1 and £5 notes (Biggs was to receive £147,000) and left the scene immediately rather than ‘lying low’ for several weeks as they had planned.
A nearby resident became suspicious of the comings and goings at the farm and advised the police. PC John Wooley responded to the report and found large amounts of abandoned food and provisions.
As promised to my loyal subscribers is this special history video on the famous 1963 great train robbery which later kick started the great film Buster...
Greatest Robbery - The Great Train - Documentary
The Great Train Robbery was the robbery of a Royal Mail train heading between Glasgow and London in the early hours of Thursday 8 August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England.
After tampering with line signals, a 15-strong gang of robbers led by Bruce Reynolds attacked the train. Other gang members included Gordon Goody, Buster Edwards, Charlie Wilson, Roy James, John Daly, Jimmy White, Ronnie Biggs, Tommy Wisbey, Jim Hussey, Bob Welch and Roger Cordrey as well as three men known only as numbers '1', '2' and '3'. A 16th man, an unnamed retired train driver, was also present at the time of robbery.[3]
With careful planning based on inside information from an individual known as 'The Ulsterman' (named as Patrick McKenna in 2014), the robbers got away with over £2.6 million (the equivalent of £48 million today). The bulk of the stolen money was never recovered. Though the gang did not use any firearms, Jack Mills, the train driver, was beaten over the head with a metal bar. Mills' injuries were severe enough to end his career.
The True Story of The Great Train Robbery of 1963
The Great Train Robbery was the robbery of £2.6 million from a Royal Mail train heading from Glasgow to London on the West Coast Main Linein the early hours of 8 August 1963, at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn, near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England.
The train was hauled by English Electric Type 4(later known as the Class 40) diesel-electric locomotive, Number D326(later known as 40 126). The train consisted of 12 carriages and carried 72 Post Office staff who sorted mail during the journey.
After tampering with line signals, a 15-strong gang of robbers led by Bruce Reynolds attacked the train. Other gang members included Gordon Goody, Buster Edwards, Charlie Wilson, Roy James, John Daly, Jimmy White, Ronnie Biggs, Tommy Wisbey, Jim Hussey, Bob Welch and Roger Cordrey, as well as three men known only as numbers 1, 2 and 3. A 16th man, an unnamed retired train driver, was also present at the time of the robbery.
With careful planning based on inside information from an individual known as The Ulsterman (named as Patrick McKenna in 2014), the robbers escaped with over £2.6 million (equivalent to £49.1 million today). The bulk of the stolen money was never recovered. Though the gang did not use any firearms, Jack Mills, the train driver, was beaten over the head with a metal bar. Mills' injuries were severe enough to end his career.
After the robbery, the gang hid at Leatherslade Farm. It was after the police found this hideout that incriminating evidence would lead to the eventual arrest and conviction of most of the gang. The ringleaders were sentenced to 30 years in jail.
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2012 - Location of the 1963 Great Train Robbery
Today I went to visit the locations of the Great Train Robbery of 1963. Sears Crossing (no public access), Bridego Bridge and Cheddington Station. Next year will be its half centenary.
To see a re-enactment of the job from the movie Buster please go here -
(or search Buster pt 3 in youtube). The movie does not use this location. Instead using a bridge on the Great Central Railway between Leicester and Loughborough. D306 was used in place of D326 (later known as 40126 as it was scrapped in 1984 prior to the making of the movie in 1987).
Paste locations into google Earth - 51°53′23″N 0°40′23″W (Sears Crossing where stop light was tampered with to stop the train), 51°52′44″N 0°40′10″W (Bridego Bridge where trucks were waiting to be loaded with the money bags). A difference of 800 metres.
Thank you for watching!
Remembering Bonnie Franklin, Dale Robertson, Bruce Reynolds and The Great Train Robbery
Good Guys And Bad Guys On Trains
A PROFESSIONAL CRIMINAL, TALES OF WELLS FARGO, AND ONE DAY AT A TIME
The 1960's were a time when outlaws could become celebrities. In August of 1963, a group of men led by Bruce Reynolds commandeered a British train and robbed it of over 2.5 million pounds. Reynolds became known as the mastermind of The Great Train Robbery, immortalized on television, film and a hilarious routine by the English comedy troupe, Beyond The Fringe. Dale Robertson, from Oklahoma, was the handsome star of the Tales of Welles Fargo, one of television's classic Westerns of the late 1950's/early 1960's. Bonnie Franklin was the star of One Day At A Time, groundbreaking as the first television show to feature the story of a divorced mother. Earlier in her career she won a Tony nomination for memorable performance of the title song from the 1970 classic Broadway musical, Applause.
Bonnie Gail Franklin (January 6, 1944 -- March 1, 2013) was an American actress, best known for her leading role in the television series One Day at a Time (1975--1984). She was nominated for the Emmy, Tony and Golden Globe Awards.
Franklin first appeared on television at age 9 in The Colgate Comedy Hour.[5] As a small child, she later appeared in a non-credited role in the Alfred Hitchcock film The Wrong Man. In the 1960s, she portrayed a teenage feature character in You're the Judge, a short educational film about baking sponsored by Procter & Gamble and featuring the use of Crisco. She debuted on Broadway in 1970 in the musical Applause, earning a Tony Award nomination.[1] She appeared at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey in both George M! and A Thousand Clowns.
Franklin guest-starred on several television series, including The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (The Gazebo in the Maze Affair from 1965). She had a semi-regular role in the ABC series Gidget. She directed several episodes of the 1980s sitcom Charles in Charge. In 2011, she was reunited with her One Day at a Time costar Valerie Bertinelli on Hot in Cleveland, playing the mother of Bertinelli's character's boyfriend.
Franklin was best known for her portrayal of divorced mother Ms. Ann Romano on the television situation comedy One Day at a Time (1975--1984). In April 2011, Franklin and other cast members from One Day at a Time accepted the Innovators Award from the TV Land cable channel—one of several awards in the annual event. The citation on the TV Land web site reads:
Dayle Lymoine Robertson (July 14, 1923 -- February 26, 2013) was an American actor best known for his starring roles on television. He played the roving investigator Jim Hardie in the NBC/ABC television series, Tales of Wells Fargo, and Ben Calhoun, the owner of an incomplete railroad line in ABC's The Iron Horse. He was often presented as a deceptively thoughtful but modest western hero. From 1968 to 1970, Robertson was the fourth and final host of the syndicated Death Valley Days anthology series. In the 1966-1967 season, Robertson starred in ABC's The Iron Horse, in which his character wins an incomplete railroad line in a poker game and then decides to manage the company.[1] In 1968, he succeeded Robert Taylor as the host of Death Valley Days, a role formerly held by Stanley Andrews and future U.S. President Ronald W. Reagan. In rebroadcasts, Death Valley Days is often known as Trails West, with Ray Milland in the role of revised host. Though Robertson played a central part in two episodes of CBS's Murder, She Wrote series with Angela Lansbury, he was not credited in either appearance.
The Great Train Robbery is the name given to a £2.6 million train robbery (the equivalent of £41 million today) committed on 8 August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England.[1] The bulk of the stolen money was not recovered. Three robbers were never found, two convicted robbers escaped. One convicted was most likely never involved, and died in prison. Though there were no firearms involved, the standard judgment was 30 years.The train was duly stopped at Bridego bridge and the robbers' assault force attacked the High Value Packages (HVP) carriage. Frank Dewhurst was in charge of the three other postal workers (Leslie Penn, Joseph Ware and John O'Connor) in the HVP carriage. Thomas Kett, Assistant Inspector in charge of the train from Carlisle to London Euston was also in the carriage. Both Dewhurst and Kett were hit with coshes when they made a vain attempt to prevent the robbers' storming of the carriage. Once the robbers had entered the carriage, the staff could put up no effective resistance and there was not a single police officer or security guard on board to assist them. The postal workers were quickly detained in a corner of the carriage and made to lie face down on the floor. Mills and Whitby were then brought into the carriage, handcuffed together and put down beside the sorters.
Secret History's The Great Train Robbery 1999 (Full HD)
The Great Train Robbery was the robbery of £2.6 million 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.
After tampering with the lineside signals in order to bring the train to a halt, a gang of fifteen, led by Bruce Reynolds, attacked the train. Other gang members included Gordon Goody, Buster Edwards, Charlie Wilson, Roy James, John Daly, Danny Pembroke, Jimmy White, Ronnie Biggs, Tommy Wisbey, Jim Hussey, Bob Welch and Roger Cordrey, as well as three men known only as numbers 1, 2 and 3. A 16th man, an unnamed retired train driver, was also present.
With careful planning based on inside information from an individual known as The Ulsterman (erroneously named as Patrick McKenna in 2014), the robbers escaped with over £2.6 million (equivalent to £53.5 million today). The bulk of the stolen money was never recovered. Though the gang did not use any firearms, Jack Mills, the train driver, was beaten over the head with a metal bar. Mills' injuries were severe enough to end his career.
After the robbery, the gang hid at Leatherslade Farm. After the police found this hideout, incriminating evidence led to the eventual arrest and conviction of most of the gang. The ringleaders were sentenced to 30 years in jail.
#SacredEyeOfHorus#TheGreatTrainRobbery#SecretHistory
Luton Model Railway Club - The Great Train Robbery, '03.24 8-8-63' 29.08.2015
Whilst at the Nene Valley Railways' 'A Weekend Tornado' event (see my uploads for footage of this), I took the opportunity to view the Luton Model Railway Clubs diorama of The Great Train Robbery, '03.24 8-8-63'. This video was filmed on the 29th August 2015.
The Great Train Robbery took place in the early hours of Thursday the 8th August 1963. The gang of robbers stopped the Glasgow to London Royal Mail train at Sears Crossing on the West Coast Mainline, then moved forwards to Bridego Bridge, Ledburn near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, between Leighton Buzzard and Cheddington Stations. A substantial amount of money equivalent to around £50 million in today's money was taken that day. This robbery has become the most well-known robbery of the 20th century in both the UK and the world.
Rush Hour Trains at Cheddington, WCML | 20/11/18
This video is property of Richard Chalklin
2160p 4K HD!
A very busy visit to Cheddington on the West Coast Mainline on a Tuesday evening peak it was a very cold night to (around -3C) i stayed as long as i could till i had to head into Milton Keynes.
Cheddington info:
Cheddington railway station serves the village of Cheddington, in Buckinghamshire, England, and the surrounding villages, including Ivinghoe and Mentmore. The station is 36 miles/58 km north west of London Euston on the West Coast Main Line. It is operated by London Midland, which also provides all services.
The station has four platforms, each with 12 carriage capacity, but only platforms 3 and 4 are used regularly and platforms 1 and 2 are used only during engineering works and disruption. Platforms 2 and 3 form a centre island. The main station buildings are located on Platform 1 adjacent to the car park. Access to the other platforms is gained by a footbridge.
The ticket office closed on 28 March 2013 and the station is now unstaffed.
Cheddington was formerly a junction for the London & North Western Railway's branch line to Aylesbury High Street. This branch terminated in the east of Aylesbury and made no connection to the GCR/Metropolitan Railway station in that town. The branch closed to passengers in 1953 but with freight services continuing until 1964. The trackless edge of the Aylesbury branch platform is still in evidence at Cheddington and part of the old track bed of the branch is now used as the station's approach road.
Just over 1.2 miles (2 km) north of this station, on the stretch of line between Cheddington and Leighton Buzzard, is Bridego Bridge, the scene of the Great Train Robbery of 1963.
Services:
The basic pattern is one train each hour, seven days a week in each direction: southbound to London Euston and northbound to Milton Keynes Central. Additional trains supplement this pattern during the weekday morning peak and evening peak periods. Early in the morning and late at night the station is also served by services to/from Birmingham New Street, Northampton and Crewe via the Trent Valley Line (just one morning service to Crewe) (valid until 9 December 2017).
#trains #trainspotting #cheddington
*BIRTHDAY SPECIAL* Rush Hour at Cheddington, WCML | 11/07/18
A very busy and fairly warm evening at Cheddington situated on the WCML during, my birthday and evening rush hour of Wednesday 11th July 2018. As seen by the title it was my birthday, so i thought of going on the WCML for the evening rush hour for around 2 hours or less, turns out the video was much longer then i expected it to be, but anyways it is a special video.
Cheddington info:
Cheddington railway station serves the village of Cheddington, in Buckinghamshire, England, and the surrounding villages, including Ivinghoe and Mentmore. The station is 36 miles/58 km north west of London Euston on the West Coast Main Line. It is operated by London Midland, which also provides all services.
The station has four platforms, each with 12 carriage capacity, but only platforms 3 and 4 are used regularly and platforms 1 and 2 are used only during engineering works and disruption. Platforms 2 and 3 form a centre island. The main station buildings are located on Platform 1 adjacent to the car park. Access to the other platforms is gained by a footbridge.
The ticket office closed on 28 March 2013 and the station is now unstaffed.
Cheddington was formerly a junction for the London & North Western Railway's branch line to Aylesbury High Street. This branch terminated in the east of Aylesbury and made no connection to the GCR/Metropolitan Railway station in that town. The branch closed to passengers in 1953 but with freight services continuing until 1964. The trackless edge of the Aylesbury branch platform is still in evidence at Cheddington and part of the old track bed of the branch is now used as the station's approach road.
Just over 1.2 miles (2 km) north of this station, on the stretch of line between Cheddington and Leighton Buzzard, is Bridego Bridge, the scene of the Great Train Robbery of 1963.
Services:
The basic pattern is one train each hour, seven days a week in each direction: southbound to London Euston and northbound to Milton Keynes Central. Additional trains supplement this pattern during the weekday morning peak and evening peak periods. Early in the morning and late at night the station is also served by services to/from Birmingham New Street and Northampton).
Trains and Tones at Cheddington, WCML | 28/01/18
A windy and busy visit to Cheddington situated on the West Coast Mainline after spending 2 hours on Sunday 28th January 2018, a few voyagers then usual in this video.
Cheddington info:
Cheddington railway station serves the village of Cheddington, in Buckinghamshire, England, and the surrounding villages, including Ivinghoe and Mentmore. The station is 36 miles/58 km north west of London Euston on the West Coast Main Line. It is operated by London Midland, which also provides all services.
The station has four platforms, each with 12 carriage capacity, but only platforms 3 and 4 are used regularly and platforms 1 and 2 are used only during engineering works and disruption. Platforms 2 and 3 form a centre island. The main station buildings are located on Platform 1 adjacent to the car park. Access to the other platforms is gained by a footbridge.
The ticket office closed on 28 March 2013 and the station is now unstaffed.
Cheddington was formerly a junction for the London & North Western Railway's branch line to Aylesbury High Street. This branch terminated in the east of Aylesbury and made no connection to the GCR/Metropolitan Railway station in that town. The branch closed to passengers in 1953 but with freight services continuing until 1964. The trackless edge of the Aylesbury branch platform is still in evidence at Cheddington and part of the old track bed of the branch is now used as the station's approach road.
Just over 1.2 miles (2 km) north of this station, on the stretch of line between Cheddington and Leighton Buzzard, is Bridego Bridge, the scene of the Great Train Robbery of 1963.
Services:
The basic pattern is one train each hour, seven days a week in each direction: southbound to London Euston and northbound to Milton Keynes Central. Additional trains supplement this pattern during the weekday morning peak and evening peak periods. Early in the morning and late at night the station is also served by services to/from Birmingham New Street, Northampton and Crewe via the Trent Valley Line (just one morning service to Crewe) (valid until 9 December 2017).
Trains at Cheddington, WCML | 05/11/17
A busy and cold day at Cheddington station on the West Coast Mainline after spending around 2 hours on Sunday 5th November 2017,
NOTE: Trains were delayed or cancelled because of Overrunning Engineering Works at Rugby and a Signalling problem at Bletchley, services were delayed up to around 45 minutes or higher.
Cheddington info:
Cheddington railway station serves the village of Cheddington, in Buckinghamshire, England, and the surrounding villages, including Ivinghoe and Mentmore. The station is 36 miles/58 km north west of London Euston on the West Coast Main Line. It is operated by London Midland, which also provides all services.
The station has four platforms, each with 12 carriage capacity, but only platforms 3 and 4 are used regularly and platforms 1 and 2 are used only during engineering works and disruption. Platforms 2 and 3 form a centre island. The main station buildings are located on Platform 1 adjacent to the car park. Access to the other platforms is gained by a footbridge.
The ticket office closed on 28 March 2013 and the station is now unstaffed.
Cheddington was formerly a junction for the London & North Western Railway's branch line to Aylesbury High Street. This branch terminated in the east of Aylesbury and made no connection to the GCR/Metropolitan Railway station in that town. The branch closed to passengers in 1953 but with freight services continuing until 1964. The trackless edge of the Aylesbury branch platform is still in evidence at Cheddington and part of the old track bed of the branch is now used as the station's approach road.
Just over 1.2 miles (2 km) north of this station, on the stretch of line between Cheddington and Leighton Buzzard, is Bridego Bridge, the scene of the Great Train Robbery of 1963.
Services:
The basic pattern is one train each hour, seven days a week in each direction: southbound to London Euston and northbound to Milton Keynes Central. Additional trains supplement this pattern during the weekday morning peak and evening peak periods. Early in the morning and late at night the station is also served by services to/from Birmingham New Street, Northampton and Crewe via the Trent Valley Line (just one morning service to Crewe) (valid until 9 December 2017).