CSI: Southern Pacific

Sidedoor

Smithsonian Institution

Zoo, National Museum, Postal Museum, Smithsonian, Society & Culture, Art19, National Zoo, Tony Cohn, Natural History, Dc, Exhibits, Museum, American History, Exhibit, History Of The World, African American History And Culture, History, Washington, Air And Space, Pop Culture, The Smithsonian, Sidedoor, Science

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 11 October 2023

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Looks like these criminals used correct postage, 'cause justice is about to be delivered. Okay, there are no snappy one-liners in this crime scene investigation, but there are explosions, collisions, manhunts and even a cow who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. On the centennial of "The Last Great Train Robbery," we re-examine the evidence to find out how U.S. Postal Inspectors tracked down a band of old school outlaws using cutting edge criminal forensics...and postmarked them for prison.

Guests:

Lynn Heidelbaugh, curator at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum

Chelsea Rose, Director of the Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology

Kate Winkler Dawson, author of American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics and the Birth of American CSI

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey there, side doorables.
0:01.3	Side door producer James Morrison here.
0:03.6	I'm usually behind the scenes working on episodes,
0:06.2	but let's see people out he's currently on vacation,
0:08.7	so I'll be guest hosting this episode.
0:10.8	Don't worry though,
0:11.9	she'll be back for the next one.
0:21.9	This is Side Door,
0:23.0	a podcast from the Smithsonian with support from PRX.
0:26.4	I'm James Morrison.
0:30.0	It was the fall of 1923,
0:40.0	when the sheriff of a small Oregon town got word of an explosion.
0:45.0	Something had gone wrong.
0:47.1	Very wrong.
0:48.3	With Southern Pacific train number 13,
0:51.2	just as it was going through tunnel, number 13.
0:55.5	Tunnel 13 in the Sisky Mountains is in a really rugged
0:59.0	and really beautiful part of the boundary between Oregon and California.
1:04.0	This is Chelsea Rose,
1:05.6	director of the Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology.
1:09.8	She says the tunnel is at the crest of the mountains,
1:12.4	right before a massive descent into California.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Smithsonian Institution, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Smithsonian Institution and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.