WHEN NSW Railways boilermaker Terry Slick and a couple of mates, Bill Bartlett and David Boyce, knocked off a train from Moree railway sheds, the intended joyride went off the rails when the engine, hauling two trucks, broke down near Gurley, blocking the line.

Late at night on Saturday, January 20, 1945, the men crept into Moree railway yards, fired up an engine, and headed south.

The caper turned serious when the boiler burned out, due to a lack of water, about 18 miles south of Moree.

Slick, 29, could not raise enough steam to work the injector and feared the engine would blow up.

The fun and games turned to desperation when they realised leaving a broken-down train hitched to two trucks on the line in the dead of night could cause a major accident and endanger lives.

Freight trains used the line regularly and the North West Mail passenger train would be through over the next day or two.

In desperation, Slick released the brakes on the stolen engine.

“If a train comes along and there’s a collision, both trains will slide along the rails,” he reasoned.

Bartlett, a 52-year-old carpenter from Ramsgate in Sydney, and Boyce, referred as ‘George Boyce’ in subsequent media reports, both worked at the Moree Wool Appraisement Building and knew very little about trains. They could only hope Slick’s theory was on the money.

The men abandoned the train two miles north of Gurley, and started the long walk back to Moree.

At 2.30am, a goods train was heading north from Narrabri. The alert driver spotted the abandoned train and quickly applied the brakes.

The north-bound train had almost crawled a complete stop when it struck the abandoned train. Damage was minimal and the crew escaped injury, thanks to the watchful driver.

Meanwhile, Slick, Bartlett and Boyce were on the edge of Moree, tired, footsore and scared.

They were quickly rounded up by police and taken to Moree lock-up. After questioning the men, Police Sergeant Albert Toone recorded “that they did, by an unlawful act, drive and leave unattended on a railway line, a locomotive engine and two trucks thereby endangering the lives of persons being conveyed upon a railway”.

Slick, Bartlett and Boyce fronted chamber magistrate Clifford English at Moree Court House the next day, charged with ‘leave unattended train, trucks on rail line danger’ and ‘maliciously injure property over £5 value’.

They were represented by Moree solicitor Federick Cassidy.

Magistrate English didn’t see the funny side of the caper, given the three men abandoned the train and recklessly endangered the crew of the north-bound goods train.

Slick admitted to investigating detective Edward Chamagne they saw the goods train coming and released the brakes on the stolen engine, hoping it might soften the impact.

Terence John Slick, William Bray Bartlett and David Edward Boyce were remanded until February 5, each on £50 bail, and ordered to report to Moree Police Station daily.

Two weeks later, Detective Chamagne, who transferred from Dubbo to Moree in 1941, told Moree court a serious accident could have occurred on the night of January 20.

“Had the boiler not burned out, there would have been a serious accident. Early the next morning, a goods train travelling from Narrabri collided with the stationery train. Slick admitted to me he knew the goods train was coming,” the detective said.

“Fortunately, the crew were uninjured and very little, if any, damage was done to the trains by the collision.”

Damage to both trains was later assessed at £189, or more than $15,000 in new millennium dollars.

Chamagne said the accused admitted failing to alert the driver of the goods train.

“They were there when the goods train came along and could see it in the distance, but did nothing. There was no attempt by the defendants to evade the truth of the matter,” he said.

“Slick said he released the brakes on the stolen engine so, if hit, it would be merely pushed along the line, which was straight for about half-a-mile.”

Slick, Bartlett and Boyce were committed to stand trial at Moree Quarter Sessions the following month.

The three men pleaded guilty to the charges.

On March 16 Slick was sentenced to 18 months’ gaol, and Bartlett and Boyce each copped 12 months.

Train and carriage thefts in Australia have been few and far between down through the decades.

Police officers, however, were left scratching their heads when investigating a brazen robbery from a goods train between Bogan Gate and Parkes in the 1950s.

The train left Parkes at 9.10pm on Saturday, June 20, 1953 pulling 31 trucks laden with general freight.

One hour and 20 minutes later, the engine pulled into Bogan Gate Station hitched to four trucks.

Somewhere along 25 miles of railway line, 27 trucks went missing.

The train crew told detectives they had “not noticed the loss”.

The missing trucks were found on the line between Parkes and Bogan Gate. At least six trucks were empty, with goods scattered along the tracks.

Police launched an investigation and discovered at least £1000 worth of goods were stolen, while goods found lying along the line was valued at more than £500.

The combined value was more than $60,000 in new millennium dollars.

Goods stolen included women’s lingerie, leather and sporting goods, hardware, foodstuffs and bedding, much of which was destined for Broken Hill, where about 14 firms were affected by the robbery.

Detective Alf Keeble alleged thieves boarded the trucks at Brolgan siding, about five miles from Parkes, and threw the cargo from the moving trucks to accomplices in a lorry travelling alongside the railway line.

Keeble said the thieves fled after uncoupling the trucks.

“We believe the trucks would have been travelling at about 25 miles per hour. Uncoupling the trucks and letting them roll to a stop meant the thieves could jump from the trucks safely,” Keeble said.

Railway officials found the missing trucks on a level stretch of line several miles from Bogan Gate.

Keeble was joined by CIB detective-sergeant Brian Doherty and detectives Oakman and Williams from the Railway Investigation Branch.

After discovering tyre marks next to the line, the suspects were tracked back to Parkes, where goods suspected of being stolen in the robbery were found in abandoned mineshafts.

Some theories suggest the heist was orchestrated from within.

“Unhitching trucks or carriages could only be done by someone who knew what they were doing and were familiar with trains – it’s not a simple task,” reasoned one NSW Railways train-driver when discussing the crime with Moree Online News.

On July 10, nearly three weeks after the audacious raid, The Scone Advocate hinted something was not quite right.

“Prize for most impudent – and successful – joke of the week goes to the three or four bandits who uncoupled and rifled 27 out of 31 trucks on a goods train travelling from Parkes to Bogan Gate – yet the stunt was not discovered till the train reached Bogan Gate!”

“Um?” the paper asked.

The daring heist was possibly inspired by a similar robbery about four months earlier in Victoria.

Victorian Railways Commissioner Robert Wishart said a gang of thieves used trucks and vehicles to collect parcels thrown from goods trains between Melbourne and Albury.

Railway detectives raided several suburban Melbourne homes and recovered property allegedly stolen from the heists, and six men were charged with larceny.

“The arrests follow a seven months’ investigation of shortages of goods along the line,” Mr Wishart said.

Train theft was reprised in the modern era when vandals forced entry into a railway station in Melbourne in 2015. They managed to get a train rolling at the Hurstbridge Railway Station and later caused a derailment after about 500 metres, and colliding with carriages, fencing and security boxes. About $2 million worth of damage was done.

Sergeant Mark Chetcuti said at the time, a rock was used to force a lever and put the train in motion and basically destroy everything in its path.

A security guard and cleaner were at the station, however no-one was injured.

“There was a cleaner and a night watchman who obviously saw the activities unfold, and just had to move away and put themselves in a safe position. There was not much they could do,” Sergeant Chetcuti said.

“However, they got onto triple-0 quickly and the response was pretty prompt.”