When was the last train robbery in Texas?

[majormadmax]

By the way, if you ride the 'Old No. 99' train today, they share the story...

San Antonio's "Great Little Train Robbery" ‐ July 18, 1970

2 Bandits Rob Train in Park

By JOHN POLICH

Two masked men waylayed [sic] a Brackenridge Eagle train at 1 p.m. Saturday, brandished a revolver and ordered the miniature train's 75 passengers to hand over their valuables. The bandits escaped with about $500 in the first train robbery in the Wild West in nearly 47 years.

The holdup was staged just one block from heavily traveled Broadway on the eastern leg of the Brackenridge Park railway which is obscured by high brush and trees. The loss was more than cash for some of the victimized families who were left without car keys, check books and credit cards to continue their vacations and return to Houston; Boulder, Colo., and other cities.

The robbers’ timetable was thrown off by the incredulous reaction of many passengers and a bold move by the 24‐year‐old engineer. "I laughed at the man with the pistol," said C.A. Berndt, 52, of Houston, who was sitting in the first coach behind the locomotive. "The robber had just grabbed the man in front of me by the neck when he refused to turn over his wallet," Berndt said, "but nobody took him seriously. When he pushed me down the seat and held the gun against my head, I still laughed." Berndt said he didn't realize the drama was for real until the fellow grabbed his wife's purse and moved on down the train. The Berndts lost $25, credit cards and the keys to their car. Many families succeeded in laughing away the holdup men, who were about 20 years old and became increasingly nervous. Others weren't so lucky and one couple lost $135.

Meanwhile, the engineer, Walter Lucas, 434 Laurelwood Dr., watched the robbers move away from him and slowly reached for a walkie‐talkie in his back pocket. "That man was really brave. He sat there calmly until the men were about 20 feet from him and then used the radio to call for help," Mrs. Brandt recalled. "They answered me and I told them I was being robbed," Lucas said of his transmission to the railway station near the zoo. The train manager, Jim Collins, 47, of San Marcos could make out some of Lucas' whispered words and immediately set out with a park ranger to aid the train. Lucas reported he had just chugged out of the tunnel south of the Witte Museum when two men sprang from behind some brush. One was wearing a ski mask and carrying a large white laundry bag which was used to hold the loot. The other, armed with a .22‐caliber snub‐nosed revolver, wore a woman's stocking over his head. The stocking resembled those worn by six bandits who stopped the KATY Limited near Okesa, Okla., on Aug. 21, 1923. That was the last robbery in the Southwest, according to Charles Mizell of Dallas, former president of the Southwest Railroad Historical Society. Mizell said reference works indicate those men, their faces hidden by silk stockings, lined up the Pullman passengers, robbed them and then took $21,000 in Liberty Bonds from an express car.

Other victims in Saturday's incident included Glen Falcon, 34, of Boulder, Colo., his wife and two children. "I threw my camera off into the bushes so they wouldn't get it," Falcon said. His wallet was taken. It held $45, credit cards and his driver's license. When the gunman confronted Mrs. Sue Stewart, 31, of Lovington, N.M., she said she told him, "You're shaking worse than I am." "I know I am," she quoted the man as saying as he took $8 and the family's credit card. "The last of the Great Train Robberies," declared husband, Jim, 31, and their two children laughed.

"We were robbed of $72," sighed Mrs. H. D. Chesley of Houston. "If we had known it was the real thing, we could have hidden all our money." Chesley said the family did manage to slip $800 into their shoes just before the robbers got to them. They said they had discussed the possibility of being robbed Friday and had decided to hide some case in the woman's check book. "If we hadn't, we would have to go home barefooted," Mrs. Chesley joked.

"I really thought they were kidding until he pointed the gun at me and I saw the bullets in the cylinder," said Raymond Hernandez, 30, of Austin. "He just grabbed my wife's purse containing $5 and kept moving." The couple's four children watched the episode from nearby seats.

"We all just sat here like dummies because we thought it was a joke," explained A. D. Coe, 59, of Houston. The man with the gun corrected that impression when he pointed the weapon at Mrs. Coe and announced, "Lady, this is no joke." He grabbed her purse which held $135, eyeglasses and heart pills for her husband.

Mrs. Maria Huerta, 41, of Del Rio took six of her children for a train ride while her husband went to the zoo with another son. She said she had just cashed one daughter's $60 pay check before coming to San Antonio Saturday morning, and had put the cash in her purse for safekeeping. The bandits took the mother's purse but spared the daughter's.

Mrs. Laura Martinez, 23, lost $45 when one robber saw her trying to hide her purse under one of her two children. Two Corpus Christi youngsters also were robbed. An inexpensive camera was taken from Janice Fogle, 15, and Karen Kolluzey, 12,was relieved of her purse and $4. The first passenger approached by the holdup men who laughed even when he was being choked slipped away as police arrived and was not identified. His good humor saved him the loss of any money.

Collins, the railway manager, said the walkie‐talkies have been in use about six months. "It never occurred to us something like this might happen," he admitted. "We wanted to be prepared for breakdowns, passengers who get sick along the way and other emergencies. This certainly fits in that last category."

San Antonio Express and News
Sunday, July 19, 1970

 

[Moonpie]

What round for train robbers?

 

[Nightwatch]

.45ACP oughta do nicely.

 

[Moonpie]

.45ACP oughta do nicely.

Silly person.
.45 Colt. Loaded with blackpowder. For the win!

 

[Nightwatch]

I'm OLD, but I do adopt modern ideas now and then...

 

[Longhorn1986]

The last train robbery in Texas was when Metro crammed those ridiculous rail projects that go nowhere down the throats of Houston taxpayers.........

 

[topduarte]

http://www.texasescapes.com/FEATURES/Last_fullsized_train_robbery_Texas/train_robbery.htm

 

[Rebel]

Silly person.
.45 Colt. Loaded with blackpowder. For the win!

I prefer .455 round balls

 

[Maverick44]

Silly person.
.45 Colt. Loaded with blackpowder. For the win!

I prefer .44 WCF.

 

[Eli]

I remember in the 1990s, some guys robbed a train crew on a train stopped along Hardy Road on the north side of Houston.

The last train robbery in Texas was when Metro crammed those ridiculous rail projects that go nowhere down the throats of Houston taxpayers.........

What's a few billion dollars among friends?

Eli

 

[Darkpriest667]

Dad worked for railroad for 40 years said some guy in Dallas climbed up on a switch engine and robbed the engineer at gunpoint