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50-468: After the extremely successful Bezdany raid in 1908, Piłsudski decided to transform the Combat Organization into a newer, larger formation. The ZWC' s main purpose was to prepare Polish officer cadres for a future Polish army for likely hostilities with Russia , one of the three partitioners of Poland , seen by Piłsudski's faction as Poland's worst enemy. The goal of Piłsudski and his followers

100-610: A last will or obituary that he wrote to a friend before the raid: In September 1908, the Bojówki assaulted a Russian mail train travelling on the Saint Petersburg–Warsaw railway near Vilna (Vilnius). The train was carrying tax revenues from Warsaw to St. Petersburg . Piłsudski personally led the raid; it was the only one he personally took part in, the rule of the bojowka being that each member must take part in at least one armed attack. The group that took part in

150-470: A car has been breached, and packages may continue to fall from the train, causing more loss as cargo is damaged by the fall or the train's wheels. Train derailment, caused either directly or indirectly, is also frequent. One such derailment in China caused a pileup in a railway tunnel that cost ¥3 million to clear, and millions more in indirect costs and loss of income. Additionally, packages or debris falling from

200-692: A conflict between the powers who partitioned Poland in the late 18th century could restore Poland as a country; he also viewed the Russian Empire as the worst of Poland's occupiers. Therefore, he decided to temporarily support the Central Powers (the Austro-Hungarian and German Empires ). In 1906 Piłsudski, with the knowledge and support of the Austrian authorities, founded a military school in Kraków for

250-515: A fortune in contemporary Eastern Europe . The money was supposed to cover the costs of building a tram system in Vilnius. Piłsudski used those funds to aid his secret military organization. The raid become known in Eastern Europe as one of the most daring and successful train robberies. Train robbery Since the invention of locomotives in the early 19th century, trains have often been

300-516: A large explosion that destroyed the targeted goods; ultimately, four people died in the attack. Southern Pacific and the Pinkertons pursued the gang for years and distributed 3.5 million leaflets worldwide for information, eventually apprehending the members. Train robbery had become obsolete by the 1930s in the United States, and many criminals began instead targeting banks . The outlaw culture in

350-578: A single state, which at the time could be achieved only by the Russian Empire. Austrians also hoped that the organization would allow Poles to assist them militarily in the Austrian war with Russia. Pilsudski's plan was to first use the Austrian help to create the elite cadre for the future Polish military which would later fight Russia but not for the interests of the Austrian Habsburgs but for their own Polish state. Cooperation between Austro-Hungary,

400-587: A train can damage surrounding infrastructure. In one case in China, sheet metal being thrown from a train by robbers damaged nearby power lines, causing a blackout. Especially during the early decades of train robbery, violence against train staff and passengers, both directly and indirectly, was common. A 2017 review of 241 train robberies in the United States between 1866 and 1930 found that 91% were committed at gunpoint, 28% used dynamite, 29% resulted in shootings, 13.5% led to deaths, and 7.5% included derailments. One 1896 train derailment caused by robbers resulted in

450-505: A train. Some will obstruct or sabotage the railroad itself in an attempt to derail a moving train. Some use dynamite to damage the rails or train itself to gain entry. Before the invention of dynamite , it was almost impossible to break into safes. Criminals required the combination lock to open safes and often relied on the courier to provide it. Following its invention and widespread use, it became much easier to break into safes and rob trains. Criminals sometimes robbed passengers of

500-576: Is rare, and the majority of robberies on freight trains are nonviolent, as robbers prefer to avoid confrontation in most cases. However, passengers aboard carrier trains generally still fear being victimized. A 2024 study on Swedish rail safety reported 19% of surveyed passengers feared robbery while on or waiting for a train. Railroad companies have long hired private security agencies to protect cargo during transport, or even establish their own internal police forces to patrol railroads. They may also hire private detectives to investigate and deter theft. In

550-517: The Bristol and Exeter Railway , two passengers climbed from their carriage to the mail van and back. They were discovered at Bridgwater after the second robbery. One was Henry Poole, a former guard on the Great Western Railway , dismissed for misconduct (possibly on suspicion of another robbery); the other was Edward Nightingale, the son of George Nightingale, accused, but acquitted, of robbing

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600-928: The Canyon Diablo Train Robbery in 1889, the Fairbank Train Robbery in 1900, and the Baxter's Curve Train Robbery in 1912. Several factors contributed to the decline of train robberies around the turn of the 20th century and the decades following, although they did not stop entirely. Ruddell and Decker (2017) write, "train robberies were eliminated, in large part, due to making targets less attractive, increasing guardianship, and reducing offender motivation or in other words taking routine precaution". Law enforcement agencies and railroad companies, which once struggled to investigate crimes and arrest perpetrators, began creating or recruiting specialized task forces, such as

650-673: The Dover mail coach in 1826, when two thieves had dressed in identical clothes to gain an alibi for the other. They were transported for 15 years. Henry was sent to Bermuda on the Sir Robert Seppings (ship) in December 1850 whilst Edward was transported to Fremantle on the Sea Park in January 1854. On May 15, 1855, a train carrying gold departed London , England, for Boulogne , France, and

700-555: The Pinkerton National Detective Agency . These bodies relentlessly pursued offenders, often for years, and imposed harsher sentences, which deterred further crime. Railroad companies spent more than they lost from the robberies on investigating and preventing thefts; "that for every dollar that was stolen in a train robbery, five dollars were spent on apprehending offenders". Trains also became faster and thus more difficult to board. Wireless communications spread and

750-713: The American Old West became romanticized in Hollywood's Western films , such as The Great Train Robbery in 1903. Some serial train robbers, like William L. Carlisle , became folk heroes . Train robbery saw a marked decline as the 20th century progressed, although isolated incidents still occurred. Train robberies outside the United States were not as common before the mid-20th century; additionally, many robberies in Canada and Mexico during that time were perpetrated by American outlaws. Examples of 20th-century robberies outside of

800-663: The Mexican federal government made train robbery a federal crime. China has its own railway police force, which in 2013 employed approximately 80,000 officers. Chinese cargo trains transporting electronics are usually accompanied by armed guards. Several preventative measures are taken to deter and complicate robberies. These include increased security, target hardening , heavier punishments for convicted criminals, and collaboration with different law enforcement bodies. New technology, such as motion sensors, cameras, anti-theft doors, GPS, and smart seals are all used to deter theft. Some of

850-797: The Midwest and West. The first post-Civil War robberies occurred in Indiana ; Wells Fargo and American Express Company cars carrying money and other expensive materials were common targets. Initially, trains were perceived to be largely impenetrable—especially when compared with the earlier stagecoach—and were often unguarded or only lightly guarded. Early trains passed through large stretches of rural landscape with little to no communication available, leaving them vulnerable to attack and hindering investigation and response by law enforcement. Early bandits were rarely caught. The sensationalization of these crimes in newspapers, dime novels , and Wild West shows added to

900-452: The Poles took control of the station and the train, they put the money in bags and escaped. Piłsudski went with the group that carried the heaviest bags and escaped through the nearby river. The loot from that raid was about 200,000 Russian rubles (under the gold standard, equivalent to approximately 5,000 ounces of gold, worth $ 100,000 in 1908 or 8 million dollars at the price of gold in 2012),

950-592: The Train Burglary Task Force in response to the robberies. The nature of train robbery varies. Cargo can be stolen from either a moving or stationary train in a variety of ways. Perpetrators of train robberies may work alone or in groups and might be committed by gangs or other organized crime . Sometimes, gangs might recuit local residents to partake in the robbery. Goods are often stolen from unattended train cars and in transitional areas like rail yards, parking lots, and warehouses. Thieves might sabotage

1000-1349: The US include the 1906 Rogów raid in Poland; the 1908 Bezdany raid in Lithuania; the 1923 Lincheng Outrage in China; the 1925 Kakori Train Robbery in India; and the 1976 Sallins Train robbery in Ireland. Some countries were an exception to this rule. Egypt , then a British colony , struggled with an epidemic of train robberies during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At the time, Egypt had high rates of poverty and social inequality, leading some citizens to turn to crime; some of these were train employees who were underpaid. An unorganized and ill-equipped police force hampered efforts to resolve cases; during this time, only about 17% of train robbers were apprehended. Some gangs were sheltered by local residents, and in turn gangs often used their profits to support their communities. Most cases occurred in Gharbia Governorate , Beheira Governorate , and Cairo and Giza . Egypt established its Railway Police force in 1893, and this combined with new advances in security and forensic technology led to

1050-534: The appeal for copycat and repeat crimes. Infamous train robbers from this era include Butch Cassidy , Bill Miner , and Jesse James . Jesse James is mistakenly thought to have completed the first successful train robbery in the American West when on July 21, 1873, the James–Younger Gang took US$ 3,000 from a Rock Island Railroad train after derailing it southwest of the town of Adair, Iowa . However,

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1100-641: The basis of the Polish Legions in World War I . Bezdany raid The Bezdany raid was a train robbery carried out on the night of 26/27 September 1908 in the vicinity of Bezdany (since 1946 Bezdonys ) near Vilnius on a Russian Empire passenger and mail train by a group of the Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party led by Józef Piłsudski . Piłsudski expected that only

1150-412: The deaths of about 27 passengers. Such violence only added to the high mortality rate of railroad employees, which during the first decades of operation averaged about 12,000 deaths annually. Additionally, perpetrator death was high; in almost 10% of cases, robbers died at the scene or during apprehension. Others were later executed, lynched , or died by suicide. Today, violence against train employees

1200-573: The development of railroads , stagecoach robbery was common. Especially in Europe and North America, stagecoaches and mail couriers were frequently targeted for their cargo. As coaches and horses were phased out in favor of trains, which could haul far more freight and passengers, so too did robbers adjust their targets. Several major train robberies occurred in England in the mid-19th century. The Great Western Mail Robbery occurred in 1849. In two robberies on

1250-440: The early decades of train robbery, sheriffs would often recruit vigilante posses of citizens to apprehend perpetrators. Of the robberies during 1965–1930 studied by Ruddell and Decker, up to 90% of all train robbers were eventually caught. Those who survived the arrest—30% died during the confrontation—were sentenced to prison and sometimes faced capital punishment or were lynched . In response to increased cargo train traffic,

1300-508: The first peacetime train robbery in the United States occurred on October 6, 1866, when robbers boarded an Ohio & Mississippi train shortly after it left Seymour, Indiana . They broke into one safe and tipped the other off the train before jumping off. The Pinkerton National Detective Agency later traced the crime to the Reno Gang . There was one earlier train robbery in May 1865 , but because it

1350-568: The gradual decrease of train robberies after 1904. The Great Train Robbery of 1963, the UK's most infamous occurrence, occurred in Buckinghamshire in 1963. On April 8, a group of robbers targeted a Post Office train enroute from Glasgow to London and stole over £2.3 million in parcels. Apprehended members of the gang were sentenced to a collective total of 307 years imprisonment. Modern train robbery still exists, although it no longer resembles

1400-580: The highest circles of the Austrian Empire , which was preparing for war with Imperial Russia . As the Great War (World War I) loomed on the horizon, Austrian officials supported Polish organizations that favored an " Austro-Polish solution " and opposed the National Democrats and Roman Dmowski ) who, before reaching for Polish independence, wanted the Poles and all their territories to be placed under

1450-505: The most conservative regimes in Europe, which proved to be the most liberal of partitioned powers, and provided a great deal of autonomy and religious freedom to its Polish subjects, and Pilsudski, a Polish Socialist revolutionary, who was involved in the past in bank and postal robberies , sabotage and subversive destruction as means to achieve the political goals. As the Austro-Hungary government preferred to have more control over

1500-448: The most notable train robbers and gangs are: Train robberies are a common depiction in Western films and media. The first movie to depict a train robbery was the 1903 silent film The Great Train Robbery , produced by Edison Studios . This 11-minute film depicts a gang of outlaws who rob a train, only to later be hunted down by vigilantes and killed in a shootout. The Great Train Robbery

1550-582: The mythos set by Hollywood Westerns. Thieves often target train cars carrying cargo for large corporations, such as Walmart and Amazon ; and are most interested in commercial goods, particularly electronics, or raw industrial materials like metals and textiles. In the United States, the Los Angeles Basin is the most common spot for freight to be stolen en route. Other hotspots include areas near large depots, like Detroit , Chicago , and Memphis . In Mexico in 2011, train theft had increased by 120% from

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1600-757: The onset of the First World War it became no longer necessary. In 1912 the First Balkan War shook the politics of Europe and Piłsudski who expected that a greater war is coming reformed ZWC (also at that time, he became one of the creators of Provisional Commission of Confederated Independence Parties ( Komisja Tymczasowa Skonfederowanych Stronnictw Niepodległościowych )). It then become more autocratic, with Piłsudski (the Commandant) and his deputy, Sosnkowski (Chief of High Command) assuming most responsibilities and power. In 1914, ZWC had 7239 members, which would form

1650-515: The population and law enforcement presence in once-sparse areas grew, making crime reporting and response much faster. The first train robbery to be reported by telephone occurred in 1907. In 1923, what would later be dubbed the "Last Great Train Robbery", the DeAutremont Brothers targeted a Southern Pacific Railroad carrying mail. The would-be robbers attempted to breach the mail car using dynamite but accidentally used too much, causing

1700-401: The previous year. Railroads in the south-central part of the country, such as Zacatecas , Veracruz , Puebla , and Guanajuato , are at the highest risk. The area around Acultzingo has the highest rate of train robberies, recording 521 in 2017–2018 alone. A string of train robberies in India have targeted both cargo and passengers. On August 9, 2016, a group of robbers drilled a hole into

1750-551: The robbery numbered 20 people – 16 men and 4 women Among the members of the Bojówki who took part in that action was his lover and future wife, Aleksandra , and three future Polish Prime Ministers : Tomasz Arciszewski , Aleksander Prystor and Walery Sławek , and other notable politicians and activists of the Second Polish Republic era, like PSP activists Edward Gibalski (or Franciszek), Jerzy Sawicki , and W. Momentowicz . The Bojówki group had known about

1800-972: The roof of a secure car aboard the Chennai–Salem Express and stole ₹ 57.8 million ($ 860,000; £570,000). The train had been transporting ₹342 crore from the Indian Overseas Bank to the Reserve Bank of India in Chennai . The Indian media dubbed it "the great train robbery". Eight arrests were made in 2018 in connection with the heist. Since 2023, several instances of armed dacoits boarding trains and robbing money, mobile phones, and valuables from passengers have been reported aboard Indian passenger trains. Multiple people have been injured in these attacks. In 2021, train robberies in Los Angeles resulted in hundreds of discarded packages to be strewn about

1850-515: The secret paramilitary organizations, two legal organizations, subordinated to ZWC were created in 1910 with the approval of officials in Austro-Hungary , who would be able to supervise those legal organizations to a much larger extent then the secret ZWC. Those two organizations were Związek Strzelecki and Polskie Drużyny Strzeleckie , both of them acted to prepare Poles to serve in the military. ZWC nonetheless remained active until 1914, when with

1900-498: The size of trains has also increased. Ferromex , Mexico's largest railroad company, reported that its carload volume had increased by 6.6% in 2011. Financial losses to train robbery are difficult to calculate and vary from one crime to another. Robberies during the American Old West period resulted in an average loss of $ 9,980 per crime. In 2006, 11,711 train robberies in China were reported, with losses totalling ¥41.7 million ($ 6.8 million). Sometimes, train drivers do not realize

1950-476: The target of robbery , in which the goal is to steal money or other valuables. Train robbery was especially common during the 19th century and is commonly associated with gangs of outlaws in the American Old West . It has continued into the 21st century, with criminals usually targeting freight trains carrying commercial cargo, or targeting passengers of public transportation for their valuables. Prior to

2000-494: The tracks. Trains were targeted on a section of tracks that they must slow down on and that are easy to access. Thieves used bolt cutters to cut open the locks on shipping containers and took the packages inside. The dropped packages were then picked over by thieves as well as passerby. Union Pacific estimated that losses were in the millions from all the stolen merchandise. By late 2021, an average of 90 containers were broken into daily. The Los Angeles Police Department assembled

2050-421: The train for weeks and took that time to familiarize themselves with the area. On 26 September, six of them were on the train as passengers, the rest assembled at the little train station at Bezdany, in the presence of several guards unaware of their intent. When the train stopped at the station, the revolutionaries sprang into action, dividing into two groups: one assaulted the train, the other took control of

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2100-447: The train itself and bypass security measures, either causing it to drop cargo, creating a distraction, or triggering an emergency stop, thereby creating an easier method of boarding the train. Sometimes, thieves will climb onto the train and pass or spill cargo onto the ground below, where packages can be retrieved. However, as was much more common historically but is still done today, robbers sometimes use more violent means of breaching

2150-423: The train station offices, cutting the telephone and telegraph wires. The Poles had several bombs ; at least two were thrown into the carriage with the escort by Gibalski and Balaga. One Russian soldier was killed and five were wounded in the short firefight before the rest surrendered. Piłsudski with others prepared the final dynamite charge which opened the mail car and destroyed the iron boxes within. After

2200-634: The train's carriages at gunpoint , stealing their jewelry or currency . Contrary to the method romanticized by Hollywood , outlaws in the American Old West were never known to jump from horseback onto a moving train. Usually, they would either board the train normally and wait for a good time to initiate the heist , or they would stop or derail the train and then begin the holdup. Train theft results in significant financial and commercial losses. As e-commerce has increased demand for large quantities of goods to be transported even longer distances, and as trains create fewer emissions than cargo trucks,

2250-593: The training of Bojówki (Combat Teams), a military arm of the Polish Socialist Party (or, specifically, its Revolutionary Fraction). In 1906 alone, the 750-strong Bojówki , operating in five-man units in the former Congress Poland , killed or wounded some 1,000 Russian officials. Bojówki were certainly not above robbing Russian authorities to obtain funds for their operations, and by 1908 Piłsudski and his organization were desperately short on cash. Piłsudski expressed his thoughts about this violent action in

2300-545: Was committed by armed guerrillas and occurred shortly after the end of the Civil War, it is not considered to be the first train robbery in the United States. Train robberies peaked in the 1890s. Although they occurred in a wide variety of states, California , Missouri , Texas , and Oklahoma recorded the highest numbers. Notable robberies during this period include the Union Pacific Big Springs robbery in 1877,

2350-497: Was found upon arrival to be missing over £12,000 worth of gold and money. The incident became known as the Great Gold Robbery of 1855 . Four men were arrested in 1856 for the crime. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, train robberies were frequent in the American Old West , where trains carrying valuable cargo, like payroll shipments, were a frequent target. These shipments would be guarded by an expressman whose duty

2400-405: Was independence and liberation of Polish territories, and for that reason he became a temporary ally of the weakest of the partitioning powers, Austro-Hungary . Piłsudski was convinced that the Central Powers would first defeat Russia but that they, in turn, would be defeated by England and France. His documented prediction, in the event, proved correct. ZWC was led by Piłsudski, and below him

2450-459: Was the Main Council ( Rada Główna ) and Association Department ( Wydział Związku ) composed of four members: Kazimierz Sosnkowski , Władysław Jaxa-Rożen , Stefan Dąbkowski and Zygmunt Bohuszewicz . Many of ZWC members were students. ZWC had members in all three partitions, as well as in some larger academic Polonia centers outside Poland. From its inception, ZWC received crucial support in

2500-502: Was to protect the cargo of the " express car ". Changing social and economic situations after the American Civil War led to the development of gangs and individuals who took up train robbery as a means of income. After the war, many soldiers were faced with little economic opportunity upon returning home, and train robbing required little specialized skill. Other robbers held the railroad companies in contempt, particularly those from

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