Railroad Criminals

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The rail yard can be a dangerous place. These or just a small fraction of the weapons that have been taken off of hobos, transients, and other criminals caught trespassing on railroad property.

(Courtesy of Paul Miller)


Mugshot of Angel Resendez Mugshot photo of Angel Maturino Resendez, AKA: Rafeal Ramirez or The Railroad Killer.

Caught in 1999, Resendez killed 9 people. Tracked down and arrested by Texas Ranger Drew Carter, Angel M. Resendez surrendered himself to Ranger Carter on the US/Mexico border in El Paso, TX.

Resendez was executed in Huntsville, TX in July of 2006 after being found guilty and sentenced to death.


A Railroad Special Agent conducts a high-risk arrest on a suspect found in a "hobo camp" on railroad property. Often times, the individuals found in these camps have warrants and are running from the law.

June 9, 1999

$60,000 Cash Reward for information leading to the arrest of Rafael Resendez-Ramriz

 Flight to avoid prosecution, Burglary- forced entry, and is a suspect wanted for questioning in several homicides    

Investigating Agencies, FBI and the Harris County Sheriff's  Department   


$15,900 Reward for information leading to the arrest of guilty men who robbed train in Sisklyou Mountains of Oregon and murdered three trainmen

No date on poster

Southern Pacific Railroad Chief Special Agent D.O'Connell


$1000 Reward

For information leading to the arrest of each person participating in the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe train robbery

 September 28, 1921 near Edmond, Oklahoma


Well Fargo Wanted Poster

 For the arrest and conviction of George Gates, Edward Vernon Gates, and James Arnet who are responsible for the robbery of the Southern Pacific No.5 Oregon Express in Copley Station, Shasta County, California on April 5, 1904 and for the murder of the messenger clerk

Reward is $850 on each man.  $300 from the State of California, $300 from Wells Fargo, and $250 from the Southern Pacific Railroad.


$1000 Reward

For information leading to the arrest and conviction of parties responsible for the disconnecting and derailment of The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Train No. Six between Oklahoma City and Britton, Oklahoma

 June 2, 1925


$200 Reward

For the arrest and detention of former employee Paul Eugene Stufflebeam who absconded with funds from the American Railway Express Company in Foyil, Oklahoma

Reward offered from Kansas City, Missouri on February 18, 1919


$9900 Reward

For information leading to the arrest and conviction of the three men responsible for taking $16,000 from the Southern Pacific Mail and Express Train No. 36 near McAvoy, Contra Costa County, California

$2000 from the United States Post Office, $1000 from the Southern Pacific Railroad, and $300 from the Railway Express Agency.  If all are convicted the reward is $9900

Dated

June 29, 1929


November 11, 2008,

Subject entered a Union Pacific engine in Donaldsonville, LA and  tried to rob the engineer. When told he did not have any money this subject started striking the engineer in the face, head, and shoulders.

The engineer picked up an air hose wrench to fight off this subject.

Suspect has not been identified and investigation is continuing.

Sketch completed by internationally known Forensic Artist Lois Gibson


 Two Major Derailments Still Unsolved! 

by Matthew West

  On August 12, 1939 unknown individual(s) deliberately cut a rail joint at a bridge over the Humboldt River near Harney, Nevada. The signal wires on the tracks were tampered with to indicate no track problems. This deadly criminal act caused the passenger train named The City of San Francisco to derail into the dry riverbed. The crash resulted in the death of 24 people and 115 injuries.

 Jointly operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway, the Southern Pacific Railroad, and the Union Pacific Railroad, the $2 million streamlined passenger train symbolized the speed, power, and technology of the American railroad. While an in-depth investigation was initiated by the Southern Pacific Railroad, to this date no suspects were ever found and a $10,000 reward remains in place for the information leading to the arrest of the suspects.6

In recent history, AMTRAK’s Sunset Limited was sabotaged and derailed over a dry creek bed on October 9, 1995, outside of Palo Verde, Arizona. The cause of the derailment was identical to the City of San Francisco’s derailment 56 years prior. A joint block from the rail had been removed, causing a large gap for the wheels of the train to run off of. A wire was used to allow the transmission of the electrical current to continue through the rail once it was broken. The wire once again prevented train control signals from alerting trains that a track problem lay ahead.

Unlike the San Francisco’s derailment, where absolutely no leads were found, those responsible for the derailment of the Sunset left several notes at the scene declaring themselves as the “Sons of the Gastapo” and ranted about the government’s involvement in the Waco, Texas siege of the Branch Davidian compound and the Ruby Ridge shootout. To date, the FBI has had no leads in the case and has declared it an act of domestic terrorism.

 


George "Big Nose" Parrott.

In 1878, Parrot and his gang murdered two law enforcement officers—Wyoming Deputy Sheriff Robert Widdowfield and Union Pacific Detective Tip Vincent after a botched train robbery.

 The officers were shot and killed after they followed the outlaws into their camp at Rattlesnake Canyon, near Elk Mountain.

   
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