The Great Train Robbery

Come on!

Go!

Go, Weasel, go! Don't call me Weasel!

That don't look like 400,000.

That's cos it bloody ain't.

62 grand.

That's it? It ain't enough. No. It ain't enough.

You said there'd be 400 grand! I know! Check it again, Bruce.

I've counted it twice.

What d'you think, I've got some up my bloody sleeves?

All right, all right. How much we getting?

Minus costs, minus drinks for the chaps who helped us,

minus 22 grand for the next job's setup...

equal shares, about four grand each.

Four grand! All that risk, all that planning, for four poxy grand?

Ain't a lot, is it?

This was supposed to be the big one. Look at it.

How long's that going to last us? We'll do better next time.

What've we got now, huh?

All those stupid bloody expenses - I mean, the costumes,

the wheels, the stupid bloody moustaches.

It went to plan. Four grand each, Bruce!

It was your tip-off, Charlie. Yeah. Well, someone's grassed then.

Stop looking for shadows.

We did our job, we were just unlucky.

Every time.

No, mate. Not every time.

I won't let it.

Right you lot, look classy! Three, two, one...!

I'm hungry for the next job, Chas.

You're always bloody hungry.

We need to lie low for a bit, let things cool off.

We were so close. Next job, we go bigger.

Not if it's going to alert the Old Bill, right?

What d'you want to be, mate? A low-level thief all your life?

I'm a reputable greengrocer.

You gotta dream, Chas. Dream big.

My dad always said, whatever you do, make sure you're the best.

Next one, we make our mark.

You don't half think a lot of yourself, Bruce.

Look around this place. Most people here, they were born to this.

Money on tap, place in the Establishment.

We're as good as anyone here.

Better. We grafted our way here tonight, Chas.

Don't get a taste for it.

This airport cash... it ain't going to last long.

What about that airport raid, then?

Yeah, think I read about that. Good luck to 'em, I suppose.

Mind. They barely got away with loose change...

Must've been sick when they opened up the box. Imagine their faces.

Well, 60,000, though. For 20 minutes' work.

Whoever planned it didn't get it quite right, though, did he?

Beyond his capabilities, I'd say. Couple of schoolboy mistakes.

Is that right?

So now... we'll be on him like a shadow.

"We"?

Rude of me. Frank Williams, Detective Inspector, Five Squad.

You having a good night?

Celebration. Good week in the antiques game. Treating my wife.

Good man, family's important.

Seen too many family men end up in Wandsworth or Parkhurst.

Even put some of them there myself.

You were in Wandsworth, weren't you, Reynolds?

Mistaken identity. Twice.

Enjoy your night. But don't get carried away, eh?

Give my regards to your boss at the Flying Squad. Mr Butler, isn't it?

Tommy Butler doesn't even know who you are, son.

Not yet.

You're not Raffles, lad. You never will be.

Stay in your box.

They make me laugh, your mates. They are funny.

That's one word for 'em.

I never felt like I belonged anywhere till I met them.

Tried the church, the army...

When I met them, it was like finding a family.

We're your family. Right here.

Brothers in arms, then. That's what they are.

Must have been expensive tonight. For you and your brothers.

Don't you worry about that.

You'd tell me if we ever got in trouble, wouldn't you?

We're not in trouble.

You would though, wouldn't you? You're a dad, now.

Nick's going to need you around.

I want to make him proud of his old man.

Don't do anything daft. You tell your mates and all.

They'll do what I say.

Chaps... Brian Field, Charlie Wilson. Pleasure.

Brian's a solicitor's clerk. His firm's been very helpful to me.

It's good to meet you. Likewise. And this here, this is Roy James.

I've seen you drive, Mr James, out on the racing circuit.

Rising star, you are, very impressive.

It's an honour to shake you by the hand.

Don't go overboard, he won't get his head through the door.

I can see why you like him. Good judgment.

What was it you wanted to talk about, Mr Field?

Well, not to assume anything, gentlemen, but...

I've got a business acquaintance who might like a little chat with you.

He's looking for a group of professionals.

What kind of business acquaintance?

There's an overnight mail train from Glasgow to London Euston.

At the front is the HVP coach.

HVP? High Value Package.

And what's in a High Value Package?

Used banknotes. Surplus cash from the Scottish banks.

Keep going.

The Scottish banks send all the cash that's surplus

to their requirements back down to London, on the train.

Along the way,

any surplus cash from towns on the train's route is also collected.

What, every night?

Mm-hm. It leaves Glasgow at 6:50pm. Seven stops along the way.

Gets in to Euston at 4am.

The HVP coach is the second coach from the diesel engine.

How many men on board?

In the HVP coach, five post office workers, sorting the mail.

What about the rest of the train?

70 or so. But no-one in the first carriage, that's just parcels.

How many bags on board the HVP coach?

By the time it leaves Rugby, which is the last stop before it

gets to Euston, around 60 or 70 bags.

How much?

I don't know. Rough guess? It could be a million.

After a bank holiday... maybe more.

See what I mean?

Bloody hell!

It's been running 125 years.

No-one's thought of knocking it off before now?

They didn't have the Ulsterman, did they? How many coppers?

That's the beauty. None. No transport police.

No security guards. You're kidding me. Nobody?

There you are, now he's getting the glint.

What? Nobody at all? It's Her Majesty's mail, mate.

Nobody'd have the nerve, that's how they all see it.

Even without police, still 75 men on board.

Only five on the HVP coach.

Yeah, but the other 70 aren't going to just sit there

twiddling their thumbs while we have it away with these notes.

We fix it so they don't notice, Charlie.

What? Won't notice?! All they gotta do is look out the window.

No, Gordon's right. We can sort that.

Don't say you're on the hook.

Big dreams, Chas. You've gotta fancy it, haven't ya?

The Post Office -

one in the eye for all the old duffers running this country.

Is that what you think this is about?

It's about getting the life you want - no, not want... deserve!

Setting yourself up for good.

House where you like, private schools for your girls.

No more fruit and veg at five in the morning.

You'd never have to look a potato in the eye again, mate.

First up. Where can we best get at these bags of cash?

Can't be Euston - there's Old Bill, railway and post office workers.

The Ulsterman said we could set up an ambush

at one of the stations earlier on the route.

What, and miss out on half the bread? I don't think so.

We go all in on this.

What about as it's slowing down on its way into Euston?

Won't work. Houses overlooking the track.

All it takes is someone looking out a window and phoning the Old Bill.

It needs to be before the city,

but after the final stop, so all the bags are on.

What, so a stretch of track, somewhere between Rugby

and Central London?

Yeah, but deserted, so we've got room to work.

Say we find that, hmm? How do we stop the train?

Communication cord.

It's not a passenger train, Buster. How do we get on it to pull it?

Sleeper, then. Anyone with half a bit of sense

can lay a sleeper across the line. Too obvious.

We don't want the driver and the crew latching on too quick.

It's got to be subtler than that.

How does a train stop normally? At a station. Or a signal.

Signal! Anyone know how to fix a signal?

I'm all for dreaming, big chaps,

but we ain't got the expertise.

What, so we fall at the first? Best tip in years?

If we can't do it, we find a feller who can.

Someone must have the know-how.

There is a florist in Brighton.

Word is you're part of the firm doing the Brighton line.

Tommy?

Gentleman here saying something about us

knocking off the Brighton line.

Did he? Now, I wonder why he'd say something like that?

Everyone is, mate. You want to watch it - loose lips sink ships.

Point is, do you know how to stop a train on a track?

And why would you be asking?

Friend of mine had a little tip-off. Money-spinner maybe.

Tip from where?

Inside information. Train with sacks of cash on it, in the hundreds.

What's that got do with us?

We're looking for an expert train stopper. Heard maybe that was you.

Your feller on the inside,

did he say how much there was in each of the sacks?

Said he didn't know.

Good sign. Might be genuine.

The fakers promise exact amounts.

What do you think? Just stop the train.

There'd be a drink in it for you.

I could certainly stop it for you.