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Mails to Ireland: Difference between revisions
→Chester Station
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Irish Mail boats at Holyhead post WW2- This picture shows The Irish Mail train at Chester, probably in the 1950’s. On the left can be seen part of the original No 3 signalbox and beyond it part of the former LNWR goods warehouse.
===Robbery===
On 20-02-1963 the evening train departed Euston on time at 8-40pm. The weather was not good, it was cold and it was snowing and consequently there were not many passengers aboard. Shortly after departure seven men in the coach next to the brake/guards coach attacked the guard and ticket collector and tied them up. Shortly after this one of the dining car staff arrived in the next coach serving teas and as he entered this last coach he too was attacked and tied up. The second dining car member soon became concerned about the whereabouts of his colleague and went towards the rear of the train. On reaching the brake coach he found the door locked and heard voices shouting it’s alright it’s the police. He immediately became suspicious and pulled the nearest communication cord.▼
▲On
Unaware of what was happening and and in view of the terrible weather the driver of the train decided not to to stop the train as soon as he could but eased it along to the next station, Hemel Hemstead, about a mile away. As soon as the train stopped at the platform the would be robbers fled the train taking a few packages with them from the mailbags they had cut open What they were after is speculation but reports at the time suggested that gems were being moved from Amsterdam to Dublin. It was also suggested that a consignment of new £5 notes had been moved on the train the previous night and the gang had got the wrong date. If they had been successful they had planned for the train to be halted by tampered signals near a bridge at Tring where two cars were waiting.
Later that year, on
At Chester there was a fenced off dedicated pathway from the new sorting office to the station and this can still be seen today. I believe that initial thoughts were for a bridge over Brook Street Bridge to the station, similar to those that existed at Shrewsbury and Bristol Temple Meads.
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