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101-478: The Great Gold Robbery took place on the night of 15 May 1855, when a routine shipment of three boxes of gold bullion and coins was stolen from the guard's van of the service between London Bridge station and Folkestone while it was being shipped to Paris. The robbers comprised four men, two of whom—William Tester and James Burgess—were employees of the South Eastern Railway (SER), the company that ran

202-399: A 19-year-old prostitute, and the two began a relationship; Campbell's pimp , William Humphreys, took umbrage at the loss of her earnings. To overcome any problems, Agar lent Humphreys £235. When he went to collect the repaid money, he was arrested as one of Humphreys' associates passed him a bag of coins. Police stated that this was the proceeds of a cheque fraud in which he was involved and he

303-446: A brake van still in use on main-line British railways is the driving van trailer (DVT), which is used on locomotive-hauled trains to control the locomotive from the other end of the train in a push-pull configuration, removing the need for the locomotive to run around its train at termini. Although the DVT has braking capability of its own, this is incidental, as the vehicle's primary purpose

404-563: A cabinet at the railway offices on Folkestone pier. One of the keys held at Folkestone was lost in July 1854 by Captain Mold of the steamship company. The SER sent the safes back to Chubb for the locks to be reconditioned and new keys issued. The clerk involved in corresponding with the company was Tester. By October, Chubb's work had been completed and the keys sent to the SER. Tester was able to smuggle them out of

505-450: A child with Agar and moved in with him in December 1854. William Tester was a well-educated man who wore a monocle and had a desire to improve his position; he was briefly employed after the robbery as a general manager for a Swedish railway company. He worked in the traffic department at London Bridge station as the assistant to the superintendent, which gave him access to information about

606-485: A cloak, and carpet bags : these were to carry the lead shot onto the train, and the gold off it. By May 1855 the men were now ready to carry out the robbery, and only needed to wait for a day when a gold shipment was taking place. Tester altered the staff rosters to ensure Burgess was working on the evening mail service for the month to ensure Agar had access to the safe. A signal was arranged whereby either Agar or Pierce would wait outside London Bridge station every day; if

707-479: A continuous train braking system in either the whole train or the rearmost section of the train ("unfitted" or "partly fitted", respectively in UK railway parlance) were still prevalent in the 1970s, but mostly eliminated by the 1980s. Early brake vans were heavily weighted, adapted open freight wagons, equipped with an externally mounted hand-operated brake acting on all four wheels. The term brake van began to be adopted from

808-651: A different set of case histories.) In academic circles, he is especially well known for his studies of the criminal underworld of London from Victorian times, through World War II to the Kray twins . He wrote seven biographies and a handful of other biographical studies, as well as fictionalised biographies of individuals such as Bonnie Prince Charlie . His biography of Lewis Carroll is recommended by Representative Poetry Online , and his other biographical works can be found on many academic reading lists. He edited volumes of Everyman's Library on poets ranging from John Dryden to

909-529: A number of other titles, and three series featuring the main characters of: (Verity was created under the pseudonym Francis Selwyn.) His other novels include The Raising of Lizzie Meek , "based on the scandals surrounding the Victorian miracle-worker Father Ignatius of Capel-y-ffin ". Thomas is represented by Bill Hamilton of A.M. Heath & Company, Ltd. Having retired from Cardiff University, he remained affiliated there, as an Associate Research Professor in

1010-554: A play by the lawyer Gerald Sparrow , and directed by John Llewellyn Moxey , it starred Colin Blakely as Pierce, James Booth as Agar, Henry McGee as Tester and Leslie Weston as Burgess. The writer and director Michael Crichton produced his novel The Great Train Robbery in 1975; his introduction reads "The Great Train Robbery was not only shocking and appalling, but also 'daring', 'audacious' and 'masterful'." A feature film based on

1111-523: A respectable station in life, and considering the commercial activity of this country during the last twenty years, would probably have enabled him to realise a large fortune. Burgess and Tester were both sentenced to penal transportation for 14 years. Pierce, as he was not a member of SER staff, was given the lighter sentence of two years' hard labour in England, three months of which would be in solitary confinement. Tester and Burgess were transported on board

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1212-478: A shipment was being made, Burgess would walk out of the station and wipe his face with a white handkerchief to alert them. At the same time, Tester would travel to Redhill railway station and await the first stop of the train. He would take one of the bags of gold and return to London. On 15 May 1855, while Agar was waiting outside London Bridge station, Burgess came out of the station, wiped his face with his handkerchief and went back inside. Agar notified Pierce and

1313-417: A significant amount of ballast, in the form of concrete, cast iron or water tanks built into their structure, to increase the available braking effort. Whilst most brake vans had two axles with four wheels, many railway companies built brake vans with three axles and six wheels. The Great Northern Railway built a few eight-wheelers for very heavy coal trains, the only rigid eight-wheeler brake vans built in

1414-674: A study on censorship in modern Britain, reviewed as "provocative, timely and disturbing" by Iain Finlayson in The Times . Thomas died on 20 January 2022, at the age of 87. As a poet, Thomas won the Eric Gregory Award in 1962 for his collection Points of Contact . His biography of Robert Browning A Life Within Life was a runner-up for the Whitbread Prize , and his Victorian Underworld

1515-429: A suspect because of his 14 years of service to the company. Tester had been seen at the SER offices while the train was still en route to Folkestone, so was also discounted as a potential thief. A reward of £300 was soon advertised in several newspapers for information regarding the case. Pierce and Agar began to melt down the bars to create new, smaller bars of 100 ounces (2.8 kg), although they briefly set fire to

1616-552: Is a man who is as bad, I dare say, as bad can be, but that he is a man of most extraordinary ability no person who heard him examined can for a moment deny. ... Something has been said of the romance connected with that man's character, but let those who fancy that there is anything great in it consider his fate. It is obvious ... that he is a man of extraordinary talent; that he gave to this and, perhaps, to many other robberies, an amount of care and perseverance one-tenth of which devoted to honest pursuits must have raised him to

1717-459: Is less secure and has fewer features than a passenger brake van. Eight-wheeled brake vans were introduced recently to improve the riding comfort for the guards. A passenger brake van was a combine car originally designed to serve the same purpose as a goods brake van, but, when continuous brakes became standard on passenger trains, its use changed. The van may have equipment for the application of continuous brakes in an emergency if fitted alongside

1818-550: Is to allow the train to be driven from the opposite end of the train from the locomotive, as well as to provide accommodation for bulky luggage. Brake vans are still a common sight on many heritage railways . On occasion, multiple brake vans will be coupled together in what is known as a "brake van special" for people to ride in. In Australia, brake vans (or guard's vans; both terms were in common use) were often also used for carrying parcels and light freight, and usually had large compartments and loading doors for such items. Some of

1919-884: The Edwin Fox convict ship on 26 August 1858; the destination was the Swan River Colony in Western Australia . Burgess was given a ticket of leave in December 1859 and a conditional pardon in March 1862. Tester received his ticket of leave in July 1859 and a conditional pardon in October 1861. He left Australia in 1863. Agar remained in England for a little longer; he is known to have been held in Portland Prison in February 1857, before being transported to Australia on 23 September 1857. He

2020-504: The Indian Railways , besides the heritage railways . Railways were a formalised development of industrial tramways, which had found need on occasions to add additional braking capacity by adding an empty truck to the rear of a group of tramcars. This allowed the "locomotive" — often a cableway powered by a steam engine at the surface — to operate both safely and, more importantly, at higher speed. The first railways, such as

2121-646: The Mansion House , presided over by the Lord Mayor of London in his role as the Chief Magistrate of the City of London . For the first two hearings, Agar was not present, but was brought to the court on the third day. When questioned, he confirmed the story he had given to the police, and identified pieces of evidence that had been gathered. On 10 December Tester appeared in court, having been dismissed from his position with

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2222-401: The South Eastern Railway (SER) ran a boat train service between London Bridge station and Folkestone , on the south coast of England. It provided part of the main route to Paris at the time, with a railway steamer from Folkestone to Boulogne-sur-Mer , northern France, and a train to complete the journey direct to Paris. The service ran at 8:00 am, 11:30 am and 4:30 pm; there

2323-405: The 1870s onwards, when bespoke designed vehicles had a specific hut added to house the guard away from the weather. In keeping with tradition, most brake vans had an open area, but from the 1870s onwards this "veranda" became in part enclosed through the addition of a roof. Some vans became fully enclosed, but were equipped at each end with windows to allow the guard to view the entire train. All of

2424-508: The American eagles and obtained £213 for them; at a second such shop, they exchanged 200 of them to get a cheque for just over £203. The three bullion merchants demanded recompense for the lost gold—most of Abell's gold was insured through the SER, but the company denied any culpability, claiming that the robbery must have taken place in France. The French authorities pointed out that as the weights of

2525-641: The May 1955 issue of The Railway Magazine the railway historian Michael Robbins wrote an article on the robbery; in November 1980 the Journal of the Railway and Canal Historical Society carried an account written by the historian John Fletcher. On 25 December 1960 the television anthology series Armchair Theatre dramatised the crime under the title The Great Gold Bullion Robbery . Adapted by Malcolm Hulke and Eric Paice from

2626-532: The Post-Romantics, and also offered a translation of Michel Millot and Jean L'Ange's bawdy 17th century novel L'École des filles , which is described as "both an uninhibited manual of sexual technique and an erotic masterpiece of the first order" on its back cover. In fiction terms, he is perhaps best known for his more recent works, in particular a series of Sherlock Holmes pastiches, beginning with 1997's The Secret Cases of Sherlock Holmes . He has also written

2727-442: The SER line. The box of bullion, labelled "E. R. Archer, care of Mr. Ledger, or Mr. Chapman", was sent through to Folkestone where Agar would collect it. Agar collected the package from the SER office and watched while the company's superintendent retrieved the safe key from a cupboard at the back of the room. Knowing where the keys were stored, the following weekend Agar and Pierce stayed in nearby Dover and walked to Folkestone. When

2828-441: The SER who had been dismissed from its service after it was found that he was a gambler; he worked as a ticket printer in a betting shop after leaving the company. According to the historian Donald Thomas , Pierce was "a large-faced and rather clumsy man with a taste for loud waistcoats and fancy trousers. ... he was described as 'imperfectly educated'. The turf was his true schooling". The burglar and safe-cracker Edward Agar

2929-499: The SER, Pierce continued to drink in the pubs and beer shops around London Bridge in which railway employees also drank. Over time he picked up detailed information about the gold shipments to Paris, while he watched and planned. He concluded that a theft would only be possible if he obtained copies of the keys to the safe. He relayed his thoughts to Agar before the latter's visit to the US; at the time Agar declined to take part, telling his friend

3030-583: The School of English, Communication and Philosophy. In 2005, as Personal Chair in the School of English, Communication and Philosophy at Cardiff University, he "donated a selection of his personal archive of research papers, used in writing his series of acclaimed books on the Underworld in Victorian and World War II eras to the University [of Cardiff]'s Special Collections and Archives." Some of his last works included

3131-647: The Swedish company. When the Lord Mayor gave his decision on 24 December that the three men were to stand trial for the robbery, Pierce said "I have nothing at all to say. I reserve my defence." Burgess and Tester both stated "I am not guilty". The trial took place at the Old Bailey between 13 and 15 January 1857, and received wide coverage in newspapers across Britain. Burgess, Tester and Pierce all pleaded not guilty. Agar gave evidence against his former colleagues again, and told

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3232-522: The UK railway system persisted until post-nationalisation in 1948 with "unfitted" (discontinuously braked) trains and loose couplings (the final unfitted trains ran in the 1990s), other systems, such as the North American adoption of the Janney coupler , overcame the same railway safety issues in a different manner. On unfitted trains, the brake van has several purposes, and hence jobs for the guard: Operating

3333-477: The UK, Ireland, Australia and India for a railway vehicle equipped with a hand brake which can be applied by the guard . The equivalent North American term is caboose , but a British brake van and a caboose are very different in appearance, because the former usually has only four wheels, while the latter usually has bogies . German railways employed brakeman's cabins combined into other cars. Many British freight trains formerly had no continuous brake so

3434-551: The UK. In the 1930s, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) built three bespoke twin-bogied vans (four axles, eight wheels), for use on a particular branch line, where they replaced pairs of four-wheeled vans. The design covered the entire chassis length, with two extended verandas on either side of a cabin equipped with twin duckets. To improve braking further, some LMS and LNER brake vans were fitted with vacuum brakes in addition to their normal brake, which could be operated by

3535-685: The behest of William Cobbett and published between 1809 and 1826. Among his earliest forays into the world of fiction was Sergeant Verity and the Cracksman , 1974, published under the pseudonym Francis Selwyn . By the early 1980s, however, he had largely shed the Selwyn pseudonym (returning to it briefly in the late 1980s for some non-fiction works, and once in 2000, for another "Verity" novel), and began writing under his own name, Donald (S.) Thomas, switching from academic study and biography to Sherlockiana and crime fiction, all underpinned with his deep knowledge of

3636-421: The boat arrived from Boulogne, both members of the SER staff left the office to meet it; they left the door unlocked when they left. Pierce entered the office while Agar waited at the door on lookout. Pierce opened the cupboard and took the safe key to Agar who made a wax impression. The key was returned, and the two men returned to London via Dover. Over the following months Pierce and Agar created rough keys from

3737-471: The box from Abell was found to be 40 pounds (18 kg) lighter than it had been in London, whereas the other boxes both weighed more. They were transported to Paris, where they were weighed again, with the same results as at Boulogne. When they were opened the lead shot was found and the news relayed back to London. When the working day began on 16 May, Pierce and Agar went to a money-changer 's shop with some of

3838-452: The boxes in France both matched, and differed from that in England, it must have occurred in the UK; both the French and British companies stated "that the crime was an impossibility", according to Thomas. Newspapers reported that "It is supposed that so well planned a scheme could not have been executed in the rapid passage by railway from London to Folkestone". Burgess was examined, but not deemed

3939-459: The boxes were weighed when they were loaded onto the guard's van , at Folkestone, on arrival at Boulogne and then again on arrival in Paris. The company's guard's vans were fitted with three patented "railway safes" provided by Chubb & Son . These had three-foot (0.91 m) sides and were made of one-inch-thick (2.5 cm) steel. Access to the safe was through its lid, which was hinged for access;

4040-469: The brake, train supervision, and illumination & communication. Firstly, and most importantly, the guard would use the brake van's brakes to assist with keeping the train under control on downwards gradients, and whenever they could see that the locomotive's crew was attempting to slow the train. Route knowledge would allow the guard to initiate the braking before the driver. To aid in this, signalling regulations mandated that signals be left at clear until

4141-469: The brewing company Reid & Co ; Pierce opened a betting shop near Covent Garden , telling friends he had won the capital by betting on Saucebox in the St Leger Stakes horse race at long odds. Tester put his money into Spanish Active bonds. That September he left the SER and became the general manager of a Swedish railway company. At around the time Agar had separated from Kay, he met Emily Campbell,

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4242-515: The burnt floorboards, small specks of gold in the fireplace and under the floorboards, and evidence that the fireplace had been used at a very high temperature. Agar was interviewed in October 1856, while still in Pentonville, by John Rees, the company solicitor for the SER; Agar refused to answer any questions, and so Rees returned around two weeks later and tried again. In the interim, Agar had heard that Pierce had not kept his word and so, angered by

4343-503: The carriage of the gold, including collecting the bullion from the three companies and delivering it to London Bridge, were Chaplin & Co. The gold shipments always went on the 8:30 pm train. At Boulogne the bullion boxes were collected by the French agents Messageries impériales before being transported by train to the Gare du Nord and then to the Bank of France . As a security measure,

4444-567: The carriage of valuable goods and the guards' rota. James Townshend Saward , also known as Jim (or Jem) the Penman, was a barrister and special pleader at the Inner Temple . His activities were described by contemporary sources as "planning and perfecting schemes of fraud, the bold audacity of which is equalled only by their success". He was the head of a forgery gang who had been practising cheque fraud for several years. After being dismissed from

4545-523: The characteristics of that individual which served in large part as inspiration both for C. S. Forester 's Horatio Hornblower , and for Patrick O'Brian 's Jack Aubrey . In 1994, his Hanged in Error? provided an overview/investigation as to the likely guilt of seven individuals all hanged in the UK before its abolition as a means of capital punishment in 1965. The book dealt with the cases of Timothy Evans , John Williams (alias George MacKay, hanged in 1913 for

4646-409: The coach consists of space for carrying parcels and small goods. It also has seating for ladies or for the disabled (wheelchair friendly). The goods brake van is less attractive, is generally the last vehicle on the train, open on both sides, and does not necessarily have interior lighting/lamps, but it does house a small lavatory seat for the guards, owing to their long hours on freight trains. The van

4747-490: The cool of evening or night. It was common for guards to carry old newspapers with which to stop up any draughts that made their presence felt at speed; partly fitted freight trains might run up to 60 mph (97 km/h). Other features of the van's interior would be a coal stove for the guard's heating and cooking needs, above which was a rail with hooks on for the purpose of drying wet clothing. Furniture would consist of padded seating, with pads at shoulder height to protect

4848-455: The court he was, in Thomas's words, "a self-confessed professional criminal who had not made an honest living since the age of eighteen". Witnesses included the locksmith John Chubb , the bullion dealers, transportation agents, SER staff, the station staff of London Bridge and Folkestone, a customs officer from Boulogne, railway police, taverners and hotel keepers. All corroborated Agar's story that

4949-473: The deceit of his erstwhile partner, he turned Queen's evidence and gave Rees the full details of the crime. Pierce and Burgess were arrested on 5 November. As Tester was living in Sweden he could not be arrested, but he was informed that the police wanted to interview him. He voluntarily returned to England on 10 December and gave himself up to the Lord Mayor . In November and December 1856 hearings took place at

5050-410: The entire train, the whole train was reliant on the braking capacity of the locomotive, and train lengths were restricted. To allow for longer trains, early railway companies from the 1840s onwards began replicating industrial tramway practises, by adding "break vans". The term was derived from their name on the industrial tramways, in which they controlled the (residual) train if there was a "break" in

5151-429: The entire twin-bogie chassis. Equipment carried aboard the brake van, which had to be checked by the guard before the train's departure, consisted of: These checks were part of the guard's train preparation duties, and their responsibility. The guard would also ensure that the van carried coal and kindling to light the stove fire, even in summer if the train was to be relieved by another crew who might have to work into

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5252-422: The entirety of a train (including guard's van) had passed, as the guard would immediately apply brakes upon seeing a signal at danger. Secondly, they minimized the risk of snapped broken couplings by application of handbrake wheel, which would keep otherwise-loose screw couplings taut between unfitted wagons. This helped mitigate the risk of a coupling failure from uneven acceleration ("snatching" or jerking). This

5353-414: The exterior had two keyholes, high on the front. Each of the three safes had the same pair of locks, meaning that only two keys were needed to open all three safes. Copies of the keys were held separately by SER officials at London Bridge and Folkestone, and the company ensured no individual could hold both keys at the same time. The originator of the plan was William Pierce, a 37-year-old former employee of

5454-476: The fatal shooting of Inspector Arthur Walls in Eastbourne during a burglary attempt), Edith Thompson , Robert Hoolhouse , Neville Heath , Charles Jenkins (hanged in 1947 together with Christopher Geraghty for fatally shooting Alec de Antiquis following a botched London jewel robbery), and James Hanratty . (N.B. This is not the same as the similarly titled 1961 book Hanged in Error by Leslie Hale , which contains

5555-506: The floor of Cambridge Villa when one of the crucibles cracked, spilling molten gold. Relations between Agar and Kay deteriorated around this time, and he moved out of their house to stay with Pierce while they continued to process and dispose of the bullion. £2,500 of bullion was sold to Saward, acting as a fence , and the proceeds split evenly between Agar, Pierce, Tester and Burgess. Burgess invested his earnings in Turkish bonds, and shares in

5656-405: The four men knew each other, and were present together at various stages of the planning and execution of the crime. It took the jury ten minutes to decide on the guilt of the three men, Pierce of larceny , Burgess and Tester of larceny as a servant. The judge, Sir Samuel Martin , showed what the journalist Fergus Linnane calls "a grudging admiration" for Agar during his summing up: The man Agar

5757-423: The guard from the inevitable jolts and jerks ('snatches') of freight work, at the duckets; the guard would sit here for protection while the train was moving, unless absolutely necessary. The guard could reach the brake wheel from that position. This padded seat would be on top of a bench locker that stretched the entire side of one side of the van and half of the other (the side which the stove). A further padded seat

5858-406: The guard was the provision of side lamps on brake vans. The white lamp is the tail lamp, whilst the grey lamps are the side lamps, along with the standard tail lamp (showing red to the rear and sides) required on the rear of every train. The side lamps showed a white light towards the front and a red light to the side/rear. The front-facing lamps were an indication to the locomotive crew that the train

5959-407: The guard. Almost all War Department brake vans were fitted with vacuum cylinders, as they were exclusively used on ammunition trains. The Southern Railway built some twin-bogie brake vans on redundant electric locomotive chassis, termed the "Queen Mary" brake vans. Designed for high speed operation on milk and parcels trains rather than stopping power, they had a lengthened cabin, but did not cover

6060-441: The hand brake for when the train is parked without a locomotive present. The vehicle also provides a compartment for the guard, a luggage compartment, and sometimes passenger accommodation, as well. Examples of British passenger brake vans include: In the UK, converted British Railways Mark 1 passenger brake vans are used as the basis for preserved steam locomotive support coaches . Donald Serrell Thomas Donald Thomas

6161-547: The impressions they had taken. In April and May 1855 Agar would travel along the Folkestone route when Burgess was on duty—seven or eight trips in total—and would hone the keys until they worked smoothly and without effort. Pierce and Agar then separately visited the Shot Tower, Lambeth , where they obtained two long hundredweight (220 lb; 100 kg) of lead shot . They also obtained courier bags , which could be strapped under

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6262-486: The larger vans also included a compartment for passengers travelling on goods services or drovers travelling with their livestock. Sugar cane railways in Queensland sometimes have radio-controlled brake vans. The wagons in these trains are unfitted and have no continuous brake pipes. On Indian Railways , brake vans are still in use to a great extent on freight or goods trains and in some passenger trains. The brake van in

6363-517: The late 1990s. The requirement to use brake vans on trains in Great Britain was formally removed in 2021 with changes to the formal rules for freight train operation (colloquially known as the 'White Pages'). In the years immediately prior to that, brake vans were only deemed necessary by HM Railway Inspectorate or Network Rail in certain special cases, for example in trains with unusual cargoes, track maintenance trains. The nearest equivalent to

6464-419: The linkage to the locomotive. Early railway couplings had been found to be prone to breakages. The term was only replaced by "brake van" from the 1870s onwards. Because of the combined risks of shortage of brake power and breaking couplings, the speed of freight trains was initially restricted to 25 mph (40 km/h). The brake van was marshalled at the rear of the train, and served two purposes: While

6565-437: The locks was secured—an SER employee later reported that typically only one lock was used—and Agar soon had the bullion boxes out of the safe. Instead of opening the box through the front, he used pincers to pull the rivets out of the iron bands that bound the box, and used wedges in the reverse of the box to open the lid without too much visible damage. He removed gold bars from inside the box from Abell & Co, weighed them with

6666-460: The more common. The North Eastern Railway , Great Central Railway , London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway all built brake vans with a raised look-out at one end of the roof. Two issues always added to brake power, the purpose of a brake van: wheels, and weight. Hence, many companies tried both approaches to improve their brake vans. Brake vans often had

6767-526: The notice of the SER's own police force and the Folkestone Borough Police . As a result, Pierce returned to London and left Agar to watch alone. As part of his intelligence gathering, Agar drank in the Rose Inn, a public house near the pier, where railway staff also drank. The pair concluded that one of the keys was carried by the superintendent of the Folkestone end of the line; the other was locked in

6868-403: The novel, The First Great Train Robbery (1978), presents a highly fictionalised version of the event, portraying Pierce (played by Sean Connery ), as a gentleman master criminal who eventually escapes from the police. The robbery also featured as one of the themes in the 2006 mystery novel Kept by D. J. Taylor . Guard%27s van Brake van and guard's van are terms used mainly in

6969-412: The office briefly, and met Pierce and Agar in a beer house on Tooley Street , London, where Agar made an impression of them in green wax. Tester was so nervous when he removed the keys, that he brought two identical ones with him, rather than one for each lock; the plotters were still missing one of the keys. Agar, using the false name of E. E. Archer, used his own funds to send £200 of gold sovereigns on

7070-519: The only available brakes were those on the locomotive and the brake van. Because of this shortage of brake power, the speed was restricted to 25 mph (40 km/h). The brake van was marshalled at the rear of the train so both portions of the train could be brought to a stand in the event of a coupling breaking. When freight trains were fitted with continuous braking, brake vans lost their importance, and were discontinued by many railways. However, they still continue on some important railways, such as

7171-407: The operating equipment, specifically the brakes and sandboxes to improve traction, were located in the open area of the brake van. Brakes were normally controlled using a hand wheel mounted within the veranda, although some early designs continued with an externally mounted shaft. To improve the guard's visibility, many were fitted with look-outs on the roof, but side look-outs (termed "duckets") were

7272-475: The passenger trains (usually the first and last coaches in the train) is a part of a coach and consists of an enclosed room/cabin with two small seats facing opposite each other, one seat having the writing table for the guard to assist writing and working his train, the opposite seat being a spare. The van also has a small lavatory. A special feature of the passenger brake van is a small dog box where passengers can carry their pets along with them while they travel in

7373-415: The pioneering Liverpool and Manchester Railway of 1830, used a version of the tramways buffer and chain coupling , termed a screw-coupling. Vehicles are coupled by hand using a hook and links with a turnbuckle -like device that draws the vehicles together. Vehicles have buffers , one at each corner on the ends, which are pulled together and compressed by the coupling device. With no continuous brake across

7474-411: The rail service. They were joined by the planners of the crime: Edward Agar, a career criminal, and William Pierce, a former employee of the SER who had been dismissed for being a gambler. During transit, the gold was held in "railway safes", which needed two keys to open. The men took wax impressions of the keys and made their own copies. When they knew a shipment was taking place, Tester ensured Burgess

7575-514: The same train in a different coach. The guard generally remains responsible for the water and pet food while the train is moving, and there are features to the dog box to allow the same. The brake van also contains a stretcher, an emergency train lighting box, and a stand to hold the lamp signal during the night. The vacuum or air pressure gauge is hosted in front of the guard's seat with a lever to operate it in case of emergency. The hand brake can be used in case of high emergency. The remaining part of

7676-425: The scales he was carrying in the bag, and put the same weight of lead shot back into the box. He nailed the bars back around the box, then resealed a wax seal on the front, using a die he had made himself, rather than one of the official seals of the bullion dealers. He deduced—correctly—that on the poorly lit station at Folkestone, a cursory glance at the seals would not show any change. He managed to do this before

7777-416: The scheme was impracticable. When Agar returned to Britain, the two discussed the possibility again and Agar said that "it would be impossible to do it unless an impression of the keys could be procured". Pierce said he thought he knew how that could be arranged. They realised that for any theft to succeed, they needed the assistance of a guard travelling in the van with the safes, and an official with access to

7878-537: The ship crossing the English Channel , or on the French leg of the journey. When Agar was arrested for another crime, he asked Pierce to provide Fanny Kay—his former girlfriend—and child with funds. Pierce agreed and then reneged. In need of money, Kay went to the governor of Newgate Prison and told him who had undertaken the theft. Agar was questioned, admitted his guilt and testified as a witness. Pierce, Tester and Burgess were all arrested, tried and found guilty of

7979-490: The side closest to the faster running line, and would be deployed on relief or slow lines where faster running lines ran parallel with no more than one other line intervening, or on loops or refuge sidings next to running lines. In an emergency, the guard could attract the attention of other railway staff by reversing these side lights, so that red lights shone forward to alert the locomotive crew, and any other railway staff that saw them. In Great Britain , freight trains without

8080-404: The staff rotas and who knew when the bullion shipments were to be made. It was at this stage that Pierce recruited Burgess and Tester to join the group. In May 1854 Pierce and Agar travelled to Folkestone to watch the process involved at that end of the line, particularly the location and security surrounding the keys. They spent so long, and were so obvious, in their surveillance that they came to

8181-479: The theft. Pierce received a sentence of two years' hard labour in England; Tester and Burgess were sentenced to penal transportation for 14 years. The crime was the subject of a television play in 1960, with Colin Blakely as Pierce. The Great Train Robbery , a novel by the writer and director Michael Crichton , was published in 1975. Crichton adapted his work into a feature film, The First Great Train Robbery , with Sean Connery portraying Pierce. In 1855

8282-601: The times and cultures of which he writes. He wrote a number of books, mostly novels, on a variety of subjects predominantly set in Victorian England. He also wrote a small number of non-fiction works dealing with similar subjects/settings, among them a study of the Victorian underworld, and biographies of Robert Browning , the Marquis de Sade , Henry Fielding , and Lewis Carroll . His 1978 (rev. ed. 2001) biography of Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald highlights

8383-453: The train arrived at Redhill, which was a 35-minute journey from London Bridge. When it arrived at Redhill, Agar again hid, while Tester was handed the bag containing some of the gold. He returned to the SER offices in London, as arranged, so that he could be seen by colleagues and give himself an alibi for later. Pierce took the opportunity to leave his carriage and join his confederates in the guard's van. The other two boxes were examined after

8484-423: The train left Redhill. The box from Adam Spielmann & Co contained hundreds of American gold eagles worth $ 10 each; these were weighed and lead shot was again left in their place before the box was resealed. The final box, from Messrs Bult & Co, contained more gold bars. These weighed more than the remaining lead they had left and many of the ingots were left behind to ensure there were no major differences in

8585-402: The two men purchased first-class tickets for the journey to Folkestone. They gave their bags to Burgess for storage in the guard's van during the journey and, just before the train was due to leave, Pierce took his seat in the cabin, and Agar slipped into the guard's van and hid in the corner, covered by Burgess's overalls. As soon as the train departed the station, Agar began work. Only one of

8686-479: The two men returned to London on the 2:00 am train, which arrived at around 5:00 am. In total they had stolen 224 pounds (102 kg) of gold, valued at the time at £12,000. When the steamer carrying the gold arrived in Boulogne, one of the crew saw that the bullion boxes were damaged, but, as staff at Folkestone had not mentioned it, saw no cause for concern. The boxes were weighed on arrival at Boulogne where

8787-456: The van while the safes were removed by staff. They then left the van and entered the main part of the train, passing through until they reached first class, where they sat until it arrived in Dover. When the train reached Dover, Pierce and Agar alighted, collected their carpet bags full of gold from the guard's van, then went to a nearby hotel for supper. Agar threw the keys and tools into the sea before

8888-438: The weights of the boxes when they were later weighed. When they replaced the bands on the final box, it was damaged, but they repaired it as best they could and replaced it in the safe. The three men then cleared away the mess they had made—mostly splinters and drops of wax—and prepared themselves by strapping on the courier bags beneath their cloaks. When the train arrived in Folkestone at about 10:30 pm, Pierce and Agar hid in

8989-534: The £3,000 Agar had in his bank account, and give it to Pierce with instructions that it should be used to support Kay and their child. Pierce agreed, then reneged around mid-1856. Desperate for money, Kay went to see John Weatherhead, the governor of Newgate Prison , and told him that she knew who was involved in the SER bullion robbery. An investigation was undertaken at Cambridge Villa; the Metropolitan Police found evidence that corroborated her story, including

9090-628: Was a married, thrifty and respectable man who had worked at the SER since it had started running the Folkestone line in 1843. He worked for the company as a guard, and was often in charge of the trains that carried the bullion. As with many railwaymen of the time, Burgess's wages had been reduced as the railway boom had passed. Fanny Kay, aged 23 in 1855, was Agar's partner and lived with him at his house, Cambridge Villa, in Shepherd's Bush. She had previously been an attendant at Tunbridge railway station and had been introduced to Agar by Burgess in 1853. She had

9191-497: Was also an overnight mail service that left at 8:30 pm and a tidal ferry service. Periodically the line would carry shipments of gold from bullion merchants in London to their counterparts in Paris; these could be several hundredweights at a time. The bullion would be packed into wooden boxes, bound with iron hoops and with a wax seal bearing the coat of arms of the bullion dealers in question: Abell & Co, Adam Spielmann & Co and Messrs Bult & Co. The agents who arranged

9292-420: Was altering the colour of illumination lamps. Because the red indication was provided by a removable filter, a white light could be shown to the rear of the train when needed. This could be used to indicate to a train on a parallel faster line that the slower freight train showing the white light was travelling in the same direction but on another line, presenting no danger of a collision. The white lamp would be on

9393-650: Was born in Weston-super-Mare , Somerset on 18 July 1934. He was educated at Queen's College, Taunton , before completing his National Service in the Royal Air Force (1953–1955) and then going up to Balliol College , Oxford (1955–1958). He held a personal chair as Professor Emeritus of English Literature at Cardiff University . Thomas's earliest works seem to have been in the area of legal and historical fact, notably revised texts of Thomas Bayly Howell 's collection of state trials, originally collected at

9494-628: Was charged accordingly; Agar stated he knew nothing of the fraud, and he was trying to collect the money he had lent. Appearing at the Old Bailey in September 1855 on the charge of "feloniously forging and uttering an order for the payment of 700 L [£700], with intend to defraud", Agar was found guilty and sentenced to penal transportation for life. Awaiting transportation in Pentonville Prison , Agar arranged for his solicitor, Thomas Wontner, to use

9595-557: Was given his ticket of leave in September 1860, and a conditional pardon in September 1867. He left Australia to travel to Colombo, in British Ceylon , in 1869. An account of the trial was published in 1857, with illustrations by Percy Cruikshank, the eldest son of the caricaturist Isaac Robert Cruikshank . The history of the robbery can be found in The First Great Train Robbery , written by David C. Hanrahan in 2011. In

9696-467: Was just under 40 at the time of the robbery and had been a professional thief since he was 18. He returned to the UK in 1853 after ten years spent in Australia and the US. He had £3,000 in government consol bonds and lived in the fashionable area of Shepherd's Bush , London. According to Thomas, the robbery "grew almost entirely from the absolute self-confidence and mental ability" of Agar. James Burgess

9797-444: Was on guard duty, and Agar hid in the guard's van. They emptied the safes of 224 pounds (102 kg) of gold, valued at the time at £12,000 (approximately equivalent to £1,416,000 in 2023), then left the train at Dover . The theft was not discovered until the safes arrived in Paris. The police and railway authorities had no clues as to who had undertaken the theft, and arguments ensued as to whether it had been stolen in England, on

9898-447: Was particularly a problem as locomotives became more powerful. Because coupling failures were a fairly common occurrence when starting an unfitted train, train crews were given specific instruction upon starting a freight train that the footplate crew look back towards the brake van for a signal from the guard (by flag or lamp) that the entire train was moving and all couplings were taut, before accelerating to higher speeds. A later job of

9999-428: Was provided at the end of this bench locker where there was a small desk for the guard to perform whatever written work was necessary. In 1968, the requirement for fully fitted freight trains to end with a guard's van was lifted. By this time, nearly all steam locomotives had been withdrawn and most of the standard-design British Railways diesel and electric locomotives which replaced them had cabs at both ends. The guard

10100-460: Was still complete, whilst the provision of extra red lights to the rear was an additional safety measure. Due to the very low chance of all three lights being out at once, it was stipulated that a freight train passing without any lamps on the rear had split and that the rear portion was potentially running away. These side lamps were used on passenger trains before the adoption of continuous brakes on such trains. A further purpose for these side lamps

10201-468: Was therefore allowed to ride in the rearmost locomotive cab, which gave a good view of the whole train. There being in consequence no operational need for so many brake vans, many types were withdrawn. In 1985, the rail unions agreed to single-man operation of some freight services, and for the first time in over 150 years trains were operated without a guard on board. Brake vans continued to be required, nevertheless, on trains carrying dangerous chemicals until

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