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Great Train Robber
The Great Train Robbery was the robbery of £2.61 million (worth about £ million in ) from a Royal Mail train travelling 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 to bring the train to a halt, a gang of 15, 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"; two were later identified as Harry Smith and Danny Pembroke. 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", whose real identity has never been established, the robbers escaped with over £2.61 million. The bulk of the stolen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ronnie Biggs
Ronald Arthur Biggs (8 August 1929 – 18 December 2013) was an English criminal who helped plan and carry out the Great Train Robbery of 1963. He subsequently became notorious for his escape from prison in 1965, living as a fugitive for 36 years, and for his various publicity stunts while in exile. In 2001, Biggs returned to the United Kingdom and spent several years in prison, where his health rapidly declined. He was released from prison on compassionate grounds in August 2009 and died in a nursing home in December 2013. Early life Biggs was born in Stockwell, London, on 8 August 1929. As a child during the Second World War, he was evacuated to Flitwick, Bedfordshire, and then Delabole, Cornwall. Career In 1947, at age 18, Biggs enlisted in the Royal Air Force. He was dishonourably discharged for desertion two years later after breaking into a local chemist shop. One month after that, he was convicted of stealing a car and sentenced to prison. On his release, Biggs to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ledburn
Ledburn is a hamlet (place), hamlet in the parish of Mentmore, in Buckinghamshire, England. History The name Ledburn is Old English language, Anglo Saxon in origin, and means "stream with a conduit". In Manorialism, manorial records of 1212 it was recorded as "Leteburn". The hamlet consists of two roads with a mixture of Victorian era, Victorian cottages and modern houses, a public house (The Hare) which was converted to private dwellings in 2016, two 16th century farm houses and a manor house. Ledburn Manor was built in the 16th century, and in the early 18th century it was given a new front facade in the classical style. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the hamlet was owned by Mayer Amschel de Rothschild, Baron Mayer de Rothschild and, by inheritance, became part of the Earl of Rosebery's Mentmore estate. The manor house at that time served as the estate office and home of the resident Land Agent. A tiny Methodist chapel in the hamlet has recently been converted to a private ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glasgow Central Station
Glasgow Central (), usually referred to in Scotland as just Central or Central Station, is one of two principal mainline rail terminals in Glasgow, Scotland. The railway station was opened by the Caledonian Railway on 1 August 1879 and is one of 20 managed by Network Rail. It is the northern terminus of the West Coast Main Line ( north of London Euston).Thomas (1971); Chapter VIII – Glasgow As well as being Glasgow's principal inter-city terminus for services to England, Central also serves the southern suburbs of the Greater Glasgow conurbation, as well as the Ayrshire and Clyde coasts. The other main station in Glasgow is , which primarily serves regional and intercity services to the north of Glasgow. The three letter station code is GLC. With 25 million passengers in 2023–2024, Glasgow Central is the fifteenth-busiest railway station in Britain and the busiest in Scotland, as well as the third busiest station in the UK outside of London, behind and . The statio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shunting (rail)
Shunting, in railway operations, is the process of sorting items of rolling stock into complete trains, or the reverse. In the United States this activity is known as switching. Motive power Motive power is normally provided by a locomotive known as a ''shunter locomotive'' (in the UK) or switcher locomotive (in the US). Most shunter/switchers are now diesel-powered but steam and even electric locomotives have been used. Where locomotives could not be used (e.g. because of weight restrictions) shunting operations have in the past been effected by horses or capstans. Hazards Coupling The terms "shunter" and "switcher" are not only applied to locomotives but also to employees engaged on the ground with shunting/switching operations. The task of such personnel is particularly dangerous because not only is there the risk of being run over, but on some railway systems—particularly ones that use buffer-and-chain/screw coupling systems—the shunters have to get between the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Railway Magazine
''The Railway Magazine'' is a monthly United Kingdom, British railway magazine, aimed at the Railfan, railway enthusiast market, that has been published in London since July 1897. it was, for three years running, the railway magazine with the largest circulation in the United Kingdom, having a monthly average sale during 2009 of 34,715 (the figure for 2007 being 34,661). It was published by IPC Media until October 2010, and in 2007 won IPC's 'Magazine of the Year' award. Since November 2010, ''The Railway Magazine'' has been published by Mortons of Horncastle. History ''The Railway Magazine'' was launched by Joseph Lawrence (British politician), Joseph Lawrence and ex-railwayman Frank E. Cornwall of Railway Publishing Ltd, who thought there would be an amateur enthusiast market for some of the material they were then publishing in a railway staff magazine, the ''Railway Herald''. They appointed as its first editor a former auctioneer, George Augustus Nokes (1867–1948), who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Club (weapon)
A club (also known as a cudgel, baton, bludgeon, truncheon, cosh, nightstick, or impact weapon) is a short staff or stick, usually made of wood, wielded as a weapon or tool since prehistory. There are several examples of blunt trauma, blunt-force trauma caused by clubs in the past, including at the site of Nataruk in Turkana County, Turkana, Kenya, described as the scene of a prehistoric conflict between bands of hunter-gatherers 10,000 years ago. Most clubs are small enough to be swung with one hand, although larger clubs may require the use of two to be effective. Various specialized clubs are used in martial arts and other fields, including the Baton (law enforcement), law-enforcement baton. The military Mace (bludgeon), mace is a more sophisticated descendant of the club, typically made of metal and featuring a spiked, knobbed, or flanged head attached to a shaft. Examples of cultural depictions of clubs may be found in mythology, where they are associated with strong figure ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crewe
Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. Crewe is perhaps best known as a large Crewe railway station, railway junction and home to Crewe Works; for many years, it was a major railway engineering facility for manufacturing and overhauling locomotives, but is now much reduced in size. From 1946 until 2002, it was also the home of Rolls-Royce Motors, Rolls-Royce motor car production. The Pyms Lane factory on the west of the town now exclusively produces Bentley motor cars. Crewe is north-west of London, south of Manchester city centre and south-east of Liverpool city centre. History Medieval The name derives from an Old Welsh word ''criu'', meaning 'weir' or 'crossing'. The earliest record is in the Domesday Book, where it is written as ''Creu''. The original settlement of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cheddington Railway Station
Cheddington railway station serves the village of Cheddington, in Buckinghamshire, England, and the surrounding town of Ivinghoe and the village of Mentmore. The station is north west of London Euston on the West Coast Main Line.Engineer's Line References: Euston to Crewe RailwayCodes.org It is operated by , 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leighton Buzzard Railway Station
Leighton Buzzard railway station serves the towns of Leighton Buzzard and Linslade in the county of Bedfordshire and nearby areas of Buckinghamshire. Actually situated in Linslade, the station is north west of London Euston (40 miles and 14 chains = ) to be precise. and is served by London Northwestern Railway services on the West Coast Main Line. Until the 1960s the station was the start of a branch to Dunstable and Luton, with a junction just north of the present station. The station has four platforms. Platforms 3 & 4 are served by London Northwestern Railway's services to/from London Euston. History The first station simply known as 'Leighton' was opened by the London and Birmingham Railway on 9 April 1838, as part of the first section of its line from to Denbigh Hall. The line had originally been planned to pass through Buckingham but opposition from the Duke of Buckingham ensured that it was forced east along the Ouzel valley. Local opposition in Leighton Buzzard ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Postal Museum And Archive
The Postal Museum (formerly the British Postal Museum & Archive) is a postal museum run by the Postal Heritage Trust. It began in 2004 as The British Postal Museum & Archive and opened in Central London as The Postal Museum on 28 July 2017. Sites The Postal Museum operates three sites: The museum at Phoenix Place, London near the Mount Pleasant sorting office in Clerkenwell, a museum store in Loughton, Essex and The Museum of the Post Office in the Community, located about the post office in Blists Hill Victorian Town, Shropshire. Origins The Public Records Act 1838 was the first step in organizing government archives, including the civil service department known then as ‘the Post Office’. This represents the beginnings of what is now The Royal Mail Archive. By 1896 a report concerning the maintenance of Post Office records had been produced and the first archivist was appointed. The Public Records Acts of 1958 and 1967 reinforced the need for the Post Office to keep, c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nene Valley Railway
The Nene Valley Railway (NVR) is a Heritage railway, preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between and Yarwell Junction. The line is in length. There are stations at each terminus, and three stops en route: , and . History Origins In 1845, the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) company was given parliamentary assent to construct a line from Blisworth in Northamptonshire to Peterborough. Completed in 1847, it was Peterborough's first railway line. It terminated at Peterborough, later Peterborough East railway station, 'Peterborough East' station. The line was of little significance until the late 19th century, when the London & North Western Railway (L&NWR), which had absorbed the L&BR, constructed a line via Nassington and King's Cliffe to Seaton, Rutland, Seaton, below Welland Viaduct. This turned Wansford, Cambridgeshire, Wansford, previously an unimportant village station, into a major junction. Its importance increased a few years later when the Grea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
