FTF johnnie!
The Nancy Hanks was a Central of Georgia Railway passenger train
running between Atlanta and Savannah. It was named after a race
horse who was named for Abraham Lincoln's mother. The name is from
a short-lived but famous steam special, the Nancy Hanks 1892 &
1893. Nancy Hanks II made her first trip on July 17, 1947.
"The Nancy," was an all-coach, reserved-seat train with grill
lounge service. It left Savannah daily at 7 a.m. for a six-hour run
via Macon to Atlanta and returned from Atlanta Terminal Station at
6 p.m. In the 1960's the Central leased a newly renovated 85 feet
long dome car for service on the Nancy Hanks II
that boosted ticket sales for a growing unpopular mode of
trasportation. April 30, 1971, saw the last run of the Nancy Hanks
II.
Atlanta Journal Constitution April 8
1957
Attempted Robbery!
Daring gunman robs the Nancy Hanks II
mail/baggage car.
Yesterday afternoon the Georgia State Police, along with three
county sheriff’s departments, were called out to track down a
lone gunman that robbed the mail/baggage car on the Nancy Hanks II
passenger train.
The train was southbound through an area where Maintenance of
Way employees were working. For safety, the section foreman had
issued a 20 mph slow order for several miles. Taking advantage of
the train’s limited speed, the gunman jumped from the Gorden
road bridge near Moreland onto the mail/baggage car. He then
entered the car, and at gunpoint, forced the conductor to give him
the metal strongbox that held large denomination interbank treasury
notes.
In his haste, much of the cash was strewn throughout the car.
However, police concluded the gunman was on the train long enough
to fill several bags with the money. Although much was recovered,
the Central of Georgia is currently keeping the missing amount
unknown.
Passengers in the dome car witnessed the gunman's bold leap at
11:53:02 AM, but thought it only to be a daredevil stunt by an
intoxicated hooligan. Little did they know of the events about to
unfold.
The C.O.G. security escort tried to halt the robbery, but was
killed instantly when he was shot by the gunman. The conductor
received grievous injury when he was shot as well and was
unconscious for an unknown amount of time. When the conductor
regained consciousness, it took him several minutes to get into a
position where he could pull the emergency lever to stop the
train.
The ticket master was in the next car back, and reported seeing
the gunman jump off the moving train into Walnut Creek at 12:25:05
PM. He witnessed the gunman struggling to the creek's bank, then
limping badly towards a truck stopped on nearby Hwy 27.
After a quick evaluation of the events, the engineer proceeded
to the next major crossing where medical aid and law enforcement
could be summoned quickly. With renewed speed, the train traveled
the 13.1 miles in a very brief time. The photograph below is where
the train had come to a stop and medical personal assisted the
wounded, Central of Georgia employees, and authorities conducted
their investigation.
Forty five minutes after the emergency call came through, a
Coweta County deputy stopped a black 1951 Chevy pickup truck near
Newnan, for speeding through Moreland. When the deputy approached
the truck and asked about the speeding, the driver stated that they
were on the way to the hospital to treat the passenger for a broken
leg, having been kicked by a stubborn mule. When the deputy spotted
a gun while the driver opened his glove box for the vehicle
registration, he put the two men in the sheriff’s car and did
a search and found homemade liquor and large denomination bills
behind the seat. The sheriff’s department is now holding the
two men for questioning. The deputy photographed the evidence
below.
Please respect this cache and others by;
* Retrieving the cache when mugglers are not watching.
* Trading with the cache with integrity, if you don’t
have any, stop at the SWAG & personal signature item store
before finding the cache.
* Completely covering and concealing the cache, it’s
at an obvious location for experienced cachers.
*Giving no clues or hints about this cache puzzle or its
geographical location in your log.
*** Be warned, hunters may hunt on this land during
hunting seasons. "Investigating the Nancy" is the key.
UPDATE!
The ticketmaster from the Nancy Hanks II has made a tentative
identification of the robber. Simply called “Johnnie”
by the local inhabitants, this man is frequently seen aimlessly
wandering the North Georgia mountains. Seemingly “bewildered
& lost” when in urban areas, he has been arrested several
times for common vagrancy. The Coweta County sheriff's department
has yet to make an official statement confirming or denying the
possible identification made by the ticketmaster.
Check out the
Man O' War train.
Caches are placed to be found so if you’re having troubles
with this puzzle feel free to contact me for a nudge.