This is a chronological list of train robberies that occurred in the United States from the 1860s to 2025.
1800s + Location Date Culprits DescriptionWestern and Atlantic Railroad, GeorgiaApril 12, 18622nd, 21st, and 33rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment led by James J. AndrewsDuring the American Civil War, James J. Andrews and his men commandeered a Confederate train called The General.Baltimore and Ohio Railroad October 14, 1864Confederate GuerrillasA party of Confederate guerrillas robbed a train and burned the cars. Also known as "Moseby's "Greenback Raid", occurred October 16, 1864, just east of Duffield's Station (W.Va) on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Moseby and his Raiders stopped a westbound B&O Passenger train hauling a Union Army payroll, and they also held up the passengers. The locomotive was derailed and damaged. later salvaged by the B&O, headlight and cow catcher remnants were found by CSX Railroad crews in the 1990s when ditching the track at the site of the Raid. See:https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=238787 See also: Duffield's Station: Duffields station See: Photo: Old Duffield's Station. See also: https://gallivantingthroughvirginia.com/2023/03/26/mosbys-greenback-raid-duffields-bo-railroad-depot/West of Cincinnati, Ohio May 5, 1865possibly Confederate GuerrillasA group of armed men boarded a train and robbed it of all its valuables, it is suspected the men were Confederates angered by the south's surrender.Seymour, IndianaOctober 6, 1866John and Simeon Reno John and Simeon Reno of the Reno gang robbed an Ohio and Mississippi Railway passenger train. The men boarded the train, entered the Adam Express Co. car, and intimidated employee Elem Miller into giving them the keys, the men then emptied the safe and left the train once it stopped.Marshfield, Scott County, IndianaMay 22, 1868Reno GangThe Reno gang held up a Jeffersonville, Madison and Indianapolis Railroad and stole $90,000 ($2 million in 2024). Verdi, NevadaNovember 4, 1870a gang of five men A gang of five men stopped a Central Pacific Railroad train in Verdi and forced the train engineer, Henry Smalls, to stop the train and stole $41,600 [equivalent to $1,001,261 in 2024] only $3,000 was returned.Moscow, KentuckyJuly 1871Farrington BrothersLevi and Hillary Farrington, William Taylor, George Bertine, and William Barton, a former railroad brakeman, robbed a Southern Express car on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad at Moscow, Kentucky. They successfully made off with $1600.Union City, TennesseeOctober 21, 1871Farrington BrothersThe group robbed another Mobile & Ohio Railroad and made off with about $6000.Adir, IowaJuly 21, 1873 James–Younger GangJesse James and the gang robbed a derailed Rock Island Line train and stole $3,000 (equivalent to $76,000 in 2023), the gang wore Ku Klux Klan mask in protest of President Grant's Enforcement Acts.Gads Hill, MissouriJanuary 31, 1874 James–Younger GangThe gang entered and robbed a small general store, they then stopped and boarded a train at 4:45 PM and stole $12,000 (equivalent to $290,000 in 2023) from rich men (they avoided robbing working-class men and women.)Big Springs, Nebraska September 18, 1877Sam Bass, Joel Collins, Jack Davis, Tom Nixon, Bill Heffridge, and Jim BerryThe Black Hills gang led by Sam Bass boarded Union Pacific express train No. 4 at 10:48 PM and proceeded to rob the passengers and pistol-whip an employee, the men stole $60,000 [equivalent to $1,716,750 in 2023] worth of gold.Medicine Bow, Wyoming August 16, 1878Big Nose George, Frank McKinney, Joe Manuse, Jack Campbell, John Wells, Tom Reed, Frank Tole, and Dutch “Charley” Burress.The group of 7 men planned to rob a Union Pacific train by derailing the train but were stopped by the trains crew and gang received a $10,000 bounty.Winston, Montana July 21, 1881James-Younger Gang Jesse James and his gang boarded a train leaving the town of Winston, Montana and proceeded to rob the express car and kill two men and the conductor.Glendale, MissouriSeptember 7, 1881Jesse and Frank James The brothers committed their last robbery and stole $1,000 - $3,000 from the train.Bellevue, TexasDecember 11, 1886Rube Burrow, Jim Burrow, W.L. Brock, Leonard Brock, Henderson Brumley, and Nep ThorntonRube and the men robbed a Denver & Fort Worth Express train in Bellevue, Texas. The gang boarded the train and held everyone at gun point, the men got about $300 from the passengers and Sgt. Chase Conner of the 24th Infantry Regiment, nearly shot the men but was persuaded not to.Unknown May 1887Bill Whitley Gang and Brack CornettBrack Cornett with the newly formed Bill Whitely Gang attempted to rob a train but it was unsuccessful.San Antonio, TexasMay 18, 1887Bill Whitley GangThe gang robbed a Missouri-Pacific train and stole $4,000.Benbrook, Texas June 9, 1887Rube Burrow and his gangRube Burrow and his gang boarded a Texas & Pacific Express and held the train engineer at gunpoint and stole $1,350.00 from the mail car.Near Fort Worth, TexasSeptember 20, 1887Rube Burrow and his gangRube Burrow robbed another Texas & Pacific Express in a manner very similar to the robbery in Benbrook.Genoa, ArkansasDecember 9, 1887Rube Burrow and Jim BrockThe men stopped a St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas Railroad express train in Genoa, Arkansas. The train was protected by Pinkerton agents from the Southern Express Company and stole money from a Louisiana lottery payoff estimated to be between $10,000 and $40,000.Canyon Diablo, ArizonaMarch 20, 1889Dan Harvick, John Halford, William Stiren, and J. J. Smith A group of four cowboys and drifters robbed an Atlantic and Pacific train and stole $1,300.Canyon Diablo, ArizonaApril 1889James LeeJames Lee robbed a train in Canyon Diablo and went on the run until his capture in January 1890.Arkansas River's Royal GorgeAugust 31, 1891Peg Leg Watson and Bert CurtisThe men halted a Denver & Rio Grande train and stole thousands of dollars and gold.Monroe Junction, FloridaMay 11, 18924 unknown men A train belonging to The West Indian Fast Mail was stopped north of Monroe Junction, two of the men forced the fireman and train engineer, a man known only as Dumas, to stop the train. The other men attempted to enter the express car but were stopped by two men W. N. Saunders and I. M. Cox, Saunders was shot in the breast and later died. The men fled into the woods fearing the possibility of being lynched by a mob. Minnesota River, MinnesotaJuly 1, 1892George, John Sontag, and Chris EvansThe trio attempted to rob a train traveling between St. Peter and Kasota but where stopped by the arrival of Pinkerton agents.Frenso, California August 1, 1892George, John Sontag, and Chris EvansThe trio robbed a train leaving Frenso and got $500 worth of Mexican and Peruvian currency.Huntington, West Virginia before December 16, 18924 unknown men Around 11 o'clock, a train on the Chesapeake and Ohio road was held up by four robbers, two of the passengers, an unknown German immigrants and Peter Drake of Cincinnati tackled the robbers and both men were shot but not killed, the robbers fled into the dark when the ticket collector named Zingley opened fire unto the men.Between Houghton and Calumet, MichiganSeptember 15, 1893The LaLiberty Gang The gang stopped a Adams Express Company train and stole $65 but were stopped and arrested by the Pinkerton Agency.Jackson County, Arkansas November 7, 1893The Oliphant Train Robbers (presumed to be Dalton Gang)The gang robbed a St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway, the men stole $6,000 and were briefly stopped by the Irish conductor William P. McNally who shot at them with a pistol he received from a passenger named Charles Lamb, they shot him and left the train.Fort Gibson, OklahomaJuly 18, 1894Crawford Goldsby and his gang Goldsby and his gang held up a Frisco train Wells-Fargo Express Company and the St Louis and San Francisco railroad train at Red Fork.Correatta, OklahomaOctober 20, 1894Crawford Goldsby and his gang Crawford Goldsby and his gang robbed a train.[The Coffeyville Daily Journal Feb 19, 1913 .p.8] San Antonio, TexasMay 14th, 1897Twin Mountain, Colorado September 9, 1897"Black Jack" Ketchum and his brother Black Jack and his brother boarded a passenger train and stole $10,000.Glyndon, MinnesotaSeptember 26, 18972 men Two men boarded the train and detached the Wells Fargo express car and ordered the conductor to continue driving, the men then looted it and planned to blow it up but were scared off by the law.Wilcox, Wisconsin June 2, 1899Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch.A Union Pacific train was flagged down over a wooden bridge and the Wild Bunch boarded it and blew up the safe with dynamite and stole $36,000.Cochise, Arizona September 9, 1899Alvord-Stiles GangThe gang led by Bill Downing held up the train crew and detached the Wells Fargo express car from the train and stole $10,000.
1900s