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Altitude: m. ASL.
Region:
United States > West Virginia
Cache type: Traditional
Size: Small
Status:
Ready for Search
Date hidden: 2015-01-20
Date created: 2020-03-01
Date published: 2020-03-04
Last modification: 2020-03-16 
463 visitors 
0 x rated 
Rated as: n/a
Description
EN
Near the location of this cache was once the Warm Spring Road Crossing of the B&O Railroad. Here Rt. 9 crossed the mainline at grade before the early 1960's Interstate 81 construction. The old right of way is evident for a short way on both sides of the cache. On the southwest corner of the crossing was the Clover Rail Club, a beer joint-dive of interesting character. It was notorious enough before the Last Train Robbery in the United States occurred right at this crossing on March 10, 1949. Train number 19, the Ambassador, was westbound for Detroit when it was commandeered by two men riding the train, stopped at the crossing, and the passengers robbed. They then proceeded to the Clover Rail Club and robbed it, as the patrons hid under tables or wherever they could find. After carjacking a vehicle stopped at the crossing by the train, the thugs abandoned the car and fled into Martinsburg where they boarded a bus bound for Washington DC. The bus driver was suspicious and knew of the robbery. He informed the sheriff at Leesburg who then notified the DC police who met the bus in DC only to find they had gotten off a couple of blocks back to drop their ill-gotten gains at a local pawn shop. They were arrested and served time for making a contribution to history as the last train robbers in the country! Fawver's yard trackage was to the south of this location (eastbound) and Cumbo yard was to the northwest (westbound). No photo of the Clover Rail has surfaced or any photos of just the crossing to this point. One interesting story that is told is how the police cars, dispatched to the scene ran out of gas on the way to the crossing, delaying their arrival and aiding the thieves in their escape.
Placement is normal for this type of location, no trespassing on private ground is needed. Be careful of traffic - very busy spot. Pull well off the road. It is best to park on the same side of the road as the cache approaching from the south. Drive-by muggling is likely to be intense. Changed this to D3. Couldn't figure the difficulty with number of DNFs, then noticed a neat "decoy" very nearby!
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