It was supposed to be a relaxing afternoon aboard the Brackenridge Eagle train spent chugging along the San Antonio River and winding through Brackenridge Park.

Glenn Falcon, his mother and Falcon’s two sons, Mike and Doug, were enjoying a ride aboard the iconic miniature train in summer 1970 when two masked men brandishing a revolver jumped from the high brush in Brackenridge Park and ordered the train’s 75 passengers to hand over their valuables.

“We knew this was real,” recalled Falcon, now 81. “They had pillow cases and you were supposed to throw your stuff in them. I threw my camera into the bushes to save it, but they took my billfold.”

At the time, Falcon didn’t realize how historically significant the day’s events were. But soon, he learned the robbery — which became known as “the Great (Little) Train Robbery” — was the first train robbery in the Wild West in nearly 47 years.

Today, it’s also recognized as the last known train robbery in Texas.

“It stayed with me for a while,” Falcon said. “But eventually it faded away. People didn’t want to hear about it anymore.”

The two robbers got away with about $500, car keys, checkbooks and credit cards. It later was revealed the culprits were soldiers stationed at Fort Sam Houston, according to the San Antonio Public Library. They were sentenced to 10 and 20 years in prison.

John Polich was a young reporter covering cops on the weekend for the Express and News, when he heard the call over the police scanner around 1 p.m. that the train in Brackenridge Park had been robbed.

“The incident was quite a break from my usual weekend police beat stories — shooting and fires,” Polich wrote in an email. “As soon as the radio call was broadcast, I realized that history might be being made.”

In fact, it was so unusual that as Polich drove to the park, he wondered if it was a legitimate call.

When Polich arrived, he found several passengers shocked by the crime, especially because it was supposed to be “a leisurely ride through the public park that was deemed safe, at least in daytime,” Polich said.

Polich talked to other passengers who told him they thought the robbery was a staged skit or a prank.

“I laughed at the man with the pistol,” said C.A. Berndt, according to San Antonio Express-News archives. “The robber had just grabbed the man in front of me by the back when he refused to turn over his wallet, but nobody took him seriously. When he pushed me down the seat and held the gun against my head, I still laughed.”

Berndt didn’t realize the drama was real until the robber grabbed his wife’s purse and moved down the train. Another woman realized it wasn’t a prank when the robber pointed the revolver at her and said, “Lady, this is no joke.”

Polich suspected that it might be the first train robbery in a number of years and began scrambling to learn more. It was a Saturday afternoon, in the days before a simple Internet search could confirm his suspicions.

Finally, he was able to reach Charles Mizell, a former president of the Southwest Railroad Historical Society, who confirmed that it was the first train robbery in 47 years.

Polich’s front-page story was published on July 18, 1970, in the Sunday edition of the Express and News. The San Antonio Light also featured the story on its front page.

Falcon, the passenger, was able to salvage his camera, but he did lose his driver’s license and credit cards that were inside his wallet. Afterward, Falcon and his sons traveled to Mexico for a vacation, but he had trouble getting across the border with only a copy of his driver’s license that was sent to him after the robbery.

He told the border patrol agent that it was stolen during a train robbery in San Antonio.

“The border patrol agent just rolled his eyes,” Falcon said. “Obviously, he didn’t believe me. But we did get through and we had a good visit for three to four days before we came back.”

Soon, news of the robbery spread. Falcon received letters from strangers, even some from other countries, who offered their support, or suggested he was to blame. His high school sweetheart from Michigan also called him.

Today, the train robbery is still well-known. Between 2011 and 2013, Garl Latham was a train engineer at the San Antonio Zoo, which still operates the train — now called the San Antonio Zoo Eagle — for millions of visitors every year.

Latham, who has worked in the railway industry for 50 years, was familiar with the story of “the Great Little Train Robbery.” In fact, he had ridden the train as a kid with his parents in 1968, two years before the robbery.

“It’s one of those stories that gets around, especially if you like trains,” Latham said.

When Latham began working at the zoo, he decided not to mention the robbery because he wanted to keep his narration fun and uplifting. Still, he was often approached by passengers who asked about the robbery, or told him they knew someone who was aboard the train on that summer day in 1970.

“It was so profound,” Latham said. “You hear about train robberies, but they’re always in the Wild West. They’re not in 1970. It was at an amusement park … You don’t expect something like this to happen.”

eeaton@express-news.net

COMING TOMORROW: A crime of passion stops work on the Alamo’s construction in the 1700s.