Editing Great Train Robbery (1963) (section)

===Stopping the train===
The robbers tampered with a signal light on the [[West Coast Main Line]] at Sears Crossing, Ledburn, between [[Leighton Buzzard railway station|Leighton Buzzard]] and [[Cheddington railway station|Cheddington]], covering the green light with a glove and using a battery to power the red light. Just after 03:00 on 8 August, the driver, 58-year-old Jack Mills from [[Crewe]], duly stopped the train at the signal. As a signal stop was unexpected at this time and place, the locomotive's second crew member, known as the second man, 26-year-old David Whitby, also from Crewe, climbed down from the cab to call the signalman from a line-side telephone, only to find the cables had been cut. As he returned to the train he was overpowered by one of the robbers. Meanwhile, gang members entered the engine cabin from both sides. As Mills grappled with one robber he was struck from behind by another with a [[club (weapon)|cosh]] and rendered semi-conscious.

The robbers now had to move the train to Bridego Bridge (now known as Mentmore<ref>''[[The Railway Magazine]]'' November 2013 p. 3</ref> Bridge), approximately half a mile (800 m) further along the track, where they planned to unload the money.
One of the robbers had spent months befriending railway staff and familiarising himself with the layout and operation of trains and carriages. Ultimately though, it was decided that it would be better to use an experienced train driver to move the locomotive and the first two carriages from the signals to the bridge after uncoupling the carriages containing the rest of the sorters and the ordinary mail.

On that night, the gang's hired train driver (an acquaintance of Ronnie Biggs, later referred to as "Stan Agate" or "Peter") was unable to operate this newer type of locomotive; having driven trains for many years, he was by then retired and was experienced only on [[Shunting (rail)|shunting]] locomotives on the [[Southern Region of British Railways|Southern Region]]. With no alternative available to them, it was quickly decided that Mills would have to move the train to the stopping point near the bridge, which was indicated by a white sheet stretched between poles on the track. Biggs's only task was to supervise Agate's participation in the robbery, and when it became obvious that Agate was not able to drive the train, he and Biggs were sent to the waiting truck to help load the mail bags.