N6. Great Train Robbery (1963) – $74 Million
In 1963, the operation orchestrated to intercept a Royal Mail trail full of high-value packages involved 16 robbers.
They stopped the train called The Night Flyer which was in route from Glasgow. The plan involved rigging the trackside signals to stop the train in a remote location, where the conductor was overpowered.
The thieves then attacked the staff in the High Value carriage and collected their loot. The men in other parts of the train didn’t even realize that the heist had taken place until they found the engine was missing as well as two carriages.
120 of the 128 mailbags were removed and they robbers made off with $74 million. Even though most of them left the country, the team was eventually tracked down.
Unsurprisingly, it’s served as the inspiration for a whole crop of films and books since.
