The Great Train Robbery (1)

50 years ago to the day …

1963, at about 3:00 in the morning
The Night Flyer rolled to an unexpected stop.  The train was traveling from Glasgow, Scotland, to London, England, but had been halted by a red signal light. Seeking an emergency phone, a fireman stepped off the train only to be seized by robbers dressed as track workers. The men then entered the cab of the train and hit the driver over the head. Once they had unhooked the train's engine and first two cars from the rest, the Night Flyer moved on.

3:15 a.m.
It soon stopped at Bridego, where the thieves removed 120 mailbags from the High Value Package car. The driver and fireman were then tossed into the car with its five mail sorters and were told not to move.

By 3:45, the thieves' mission was complete, and all 15 of them made off with their goods without a trace. A stolen total of about 2.6 million pounds (US$50 million today) earned the crime its name - the Great Train Robbery. But though the robbery was successful, there are no clean getaways. ...


Grammar Gym
The Night Flyer rolled to an unexpected stop.
rolled
The ball rolled across the floor.
rolled
to move smoothly
- We jumped into our car and rolled down to the beach.
- The truck rolled into the parking lot.

Info Cloud

Hi friends.  When you look up a word in the dictionary, are you paying attention to all the definitions?

You should. Because a lot of times, the first definition is not the one you are looking for.

Let's take a look at three words in today's lesson: "car", "engine", and "cab."

Now, you probably think, they're so familiar that there is no need to look them up.

But, in the lesson, the word "car" is not referring to an automobile, which is the first definition of car in most dictionaries.

Instead, it's referring to a railway carriage, and that's the fourth definition of car in my dictionary.

Likewise, the word "engine" is not referring to a machine, which is the first definition of engine in most dictionaries.

The engine in our lesson today is actually the locomotive that pulls a train.

And finally, the word "cab" does not mean a taxi cab in the lesson.

But it's referring to the enclosed compartment of a locomotive.

So remember to always look though all definitions when looking up a word to make sure you grasp its real meaning.

Language Lab
halt v.
to prevent someone or something from continuing - used especially in news reports [= stop]
- A police officer halted the truck to check if there were any illegal immigrants.
- The government halted the construction of the highway due to environmental objections.

unhook v.
to unfasten or remove something from a hook
- The workers spent hours carefully unhooking the curtains before painting the room.
- The fisherman unhooked the fish from the net because the fish was too small.

goods n. [plural]
things that are produced in order to be sold
- The store sells a wide variety of leather goods.
- The goods in the warehouse were all damaged by the fire.
- The price of dry goods rises during the Chinese New Year holiday.

getaway n. [get away 離開]
an escape from a place or unpleasant situation, especially after committing a crime;
a short holiday away from home, or a place where people go for a short holiday
- Perfect getaways only happen in movies, not in real life.
- Patricia went to Miami for a weekend getaway.


mms://webvod.goodtv.tv/SC/20130808_f22a9.wmv