One of the most dramatic events in Oregon state history took place on Oct. 11, 1923, in a railroad tunnel in southern Oregon.
It almost sounded like a Hollywood movie script. The train was the “No. 13 Gold Special,” heading from Seattle to San Francisco. In command was engineer Sidney Bates – and it was to be his last run. At the fateful hour, the train was just cresting the Siskiyou summit and testing its brakes, getting ready to go through Tunnel 13.
When the train slowed down to test the brakes, three men jumped aboard. They had been planning a train robbery for months, and they had heard a rumor that $500,000 worth of gold was aboard, so Train 13 seemed like a good one to hit. They had stolen some dynamite from a construction site and, of course, they were armed with pistols.
The train stopped at the end of Tunnel 13. The robbers killed many including the Engineer & the fireman. Realizing time was running out and there was no sign of money or gold, the brothers decided to get away while they could. So, they killed engineer Bates and the fireman, Marvin Seng, the only witnesses who had seen them; then they dipped their feet in creosote to throw the bloodhounds off the scent and fled.
They might have gotten away with the crime, except for Edward O. Heinrich, a detective brought in to work on the crime. He picked up a pair of overalls from the scene and that lead to trace all the three criminals!
One of the most dramatic events in Oregon state history took place on Oct. 11, 1923, in a railroad tunnel in southern Oregon.
It almost sounded like a Hollywood movie script. The train was the “No. 13 Gold Special,” heading from Seattle to San Francisco. In command was engineer Sidney Bates – and it was to be his last run. At the fateful hour, the train was just cresting the Siskiyou summit and testing its brakes, getting ready to go through Tunnel 13.
When the train slowed down to test the brakes, three men jumped aboard. They had been planning a train robbery for months, and they had heard a rumor that $500,000 worth of gold was aboard, so Train 13 seemed like a good one to hit. They had stolen some dynamite from a construction site and, of course, they were armed with pistols.
The train stopped at the end of Tunnel 13. The robbers killed many including the Engineer & the fireman. Realizing time was running out and there was no sign of money or gold, the brothers decided to get away while they could. So, they killed engineer Bates and the fireman, Marvin Seng, the only witnesses who had seen them; then they dipped their feet in creosote to throw the bloodhounds off the scent and fled.
They might have gotten away with the crime, except for Edward O. Heinrich, a detective brought in to work on the crime. He picked up a pair of overalls from the scene and that lead to trace all the three criminals!