The Great Train Robbery!

     It's not everyday you get to rob a
train! As a matter of fact the last
job my gang pulled off was over
40 years ago!
     I posted a photo of the "heist"
for Throwback Thursday yesterday
and it got a lot of attention.
     I thought some of you might
want to know more about this
crime of the century.
     I was the news director of
WILK at the time. The station
had just switched to a Top 40 music
format and we were looking for a
"different" way to promote the staff.
     At about the same time a station
in New York was billing itself as
the "Home of the Good Guys."
     We decided to turn that around.
     And so, with black hats, 6 guns,
and rifles in hand we traveled to a
old time Railroad attraction in
Columbia County and talked the
operator into allowing us to "rob"
his train!
     Of course we needed a good guy
to hold up. And we got a great one!
Long before he became famous for
his "Uncle Ted's Ghoul School, Ted
Raub volunteered to play the train
Conductor.
     We also had a lot of good guys
playing the "Bad Guys."
      A few of you may remember
some of them:  Tommy Sommers,
Mike Kay, Don Bruce, Guy Randall,
Dan Stenger, Frank Ceretta, Larry
Wallison, and Jim McCarthy Sr.
       Wallison and I grabbed the
Wells Fargo Box. But after they
took the pictures we had to give it
back!
       They say crime doesn't pay
but we got a lot of mileage out of
those photos and some good press
for "The Bad Guys!"
       Some of our Hole in the Wall
Gang are gone now. The railroad
is just a memory too.  And all of us
have gone our separate ways.
        But I get a smile whenever I
remember the day we held up the
CP&W Railroad! It really was a
great train robbery!
       Hope the statute of limitations
has expired and that all your NEWS
is good.