About ten o'clock at night
It was an inviting country to the robber . These mountains offered retreats that had never known the tread of human footsteps . Emboldened by the thought that pursuit would be almost a matter of impossibility , they laid their plans and executed them without a single hitch . About ten o'clock at night , as the train slowed up as usual to take water , the engineer and fireman were covered by two of the robbers . The other two -- there were only four -- cut the express car from the train , and the engineer and fireman were ordered to decamp . The robbers ran the engine and express car out nearly two miles , where , by the aid of dynamite , they made short work of a through safe that the messenger could not open . The express company concealed the amount of money lost to the robbers , but smelters , who were aware of certain retorts in transit by this train , were not so silent .