The events in The Great Train Robbery are a fictionalized account of a historic gold heist known as the Great Gold Robbery that took place on May 15, 1855, in London. Many of the details of this robbery are consistent with the novelized version in The Great Train Robbery, although the names have been slightly changed. For instance, the mastermind of the real plot was William Pierce, whose name has been changed to Edward Pierce in the book, and the real safe cracker was Edward Agar, whose name is Richard Agar in the text. Many of the details of the plot are consistent as well; the historical Agar did indeed make wax casts of the keys he used to open the safes while they were en route to Folkestone, and the team did swap out the gold for lead shot. The trial was also just as much of a media circus as Crichton depicts it to be. However, there are key differences as well. In real life, the gold was unloaded at Dover, not thrown off the train between London and Folkestone. Also, unlike the fictional Edward Pierce, William Pierce served two years of hard labor for his crimes and did not escape.