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British Rail 1947 - 1997 |
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The Great Train Robbery | |
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On Thursday 8th August 1963 at approximately 3am, a post office train known as the "Up Special" went through Leighton Buzzard Station on its way to London Euston from Glasgow. | |
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Diesel Locomotive involved in the great train robbery | |
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The train was a mail train, it carried no fare paying passengers. Post Office staff were sorting letters and parcels ready for their arrival in London.
The two most important carriages on the train were behind the diesel engine. The second of these two carriages was called the HPV Coach (High Value Package Coach). It contained all the most valuable items on the train - registered mail, parcels and lots of money; (there were more valuables than usual in the coach because there had been a bank holiday in Scotland that week). Staff in the carriage were sorting items into special compartments and storing them in huge mail sacks. |
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