10. McCurdy’s First Train Robbery Was Not Explosively Successful
After he was honorably discharged from the United States Army, McCurdy felt he knew everything he needed to about explosives. Even though Elmer McCurdy had a reputation of being inept when it came to bombs while in the army, he felt confident in his abilities. It was not long after McCurdy was discharged when he got an idea. McCurdy planned to use nitroglycerin during a robbery. McCurdy believed that with the use of nitroglycerin, he could easily and quickly get into a safe.
McCurdy and his partners then decided to rob a Pacific Express Company train. The men agreed on this train because they learned there were thousands of dollars worth of silver on the train. At first, their plan was working like a charm. However, McCurdy used the nitroglycerin he brought to open the safe on the train. Unfortunately, for McCurdy, he was still inept with explosives, and he used too much. McCurdy ended up blowing off the hinges off of the safe and created a hole on the side of the rail car. Because he ended up melting all the silver all over the rail car, McCurdy and his partners only got away with $450 worth of silver.