Watch The Great Train Robbery

This robbery of a British Royal Mail train that was traveling between Glasgow, Scotland and London, England happened on the 8th of August 1963. The target was not the mail, though. It was the over 2.6 million British pounds of cash on board, equivalent to 46 million today. The knowledge of the money on board the train came from an inside man who had connections with the General Post Office.

A gang of 17 men plotted the heist. The key was to stop the train. This was accomplished by one of the gang members who was a specialist in the track side signal lights. He rigged them thus signaling the train to stop. The train was then boarded, the crew members overpowered and the loot taken.