Free Republic

California Gov. Gavin Newsom clarified this week that when he called criminals accused of stealing packages from cargo trains in the state "gangs of people" he wasn’t implying the thefts were gang-related. This is not one-off," Newsom said in a news conference near Union Pacific Railroad tracks in Los Angeles on Thursday, according to the Washington Times. "This is organized theft. These are organized gangs of people that are coming out." "Forgive me for saying ‘gangs,’ that’s not a pejorative," he clarified. "They’re organized groups of folks that move from site to site."

Today is Dealer's Choice where we go off script to share something different than our normal fare. Today we move ahead 50 years and have some fun with Shel Silverstein's 1980 recording of The Great Conch Train Robbery. This is the guy who wrote A Boy Named Sue. THE WESTERNER https://thewesterner.blogspot.com/

This week's film is an underrated little gem of a heist flick from the late 1950s. A gang of robbers pull off a daring train robbery, and now must figure out how to smuggle several million dollars worth of gold out of the country before the law catches up with them. Starring Jeanne Cooper, Gene Raymond, and Elisha Cook, Jr.

The engineer of an Amtrak Capitol Corridor train was seriously injured Monday night in West Sacramento after a group of people forced the train to stop, dragged the engineer from the train and assaulted him with rocks and bottles, according to Capitol Corridor officials. The attack occurred as the train from the Bay Area neared the I Street Bridge to Sacramento's rail station and slowed for a signal, said Eugene Skoropowski, managing director of the Capitol Corridor, said. A group of people stood on the tracks to block the train, which stopped. When the engineer went downstairs and opened the...

Wild Bunch rides no more, but gangs still are raiding trains By Alex Branch FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM Monday, November 3, 2003 FORT WORTH -- Like modern-day Butch Cassidys, they crouch in the dust and weeds, awaiting the screech of a slow moving train. Instead of dynamite, they carry tool bags. Instead of gold, they seek DVD players, computers and auto parts. And instead of desolate stretches of prairie, these railroad bandits wait behind the lounges and used-car lots of East Lancaster Avenue, near downtown Fort Worth. More than a century after Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and their gang, the...