The Great Train Robbery of Hillsboro
The phrase “train robbery” evokes an image of callous desperadoes raiding the midnight train for its valuables, perhaps stripping the riders of their money or holding up the conductor until the cash was gathered. John Barnes of Fairfax had a much different motive than greed. The infamous Highland County train robber stole the entire B&O passenger train to get to his date on time. In September 1919, 30-year-old Barnes had plans to meet a young lady in Newark, Ohio at her home for a Sunday evening rendezvous, and he had no intentions of being anything but punctual. Unfortunately, the B&O passenger train in Hillsboro was not running. All the train’s passengers and crew had taken off for lunch, and only the cleaning man was left to sweep up in the train cars. Barnes inquired when the locomotive would be running, and the man informed him that it would not move until 2:50 p.m. Barnes was frustrated, as he would be late for his date. Instead, he took matters into his own hands. When h
