Highway Patrol: "Train Robbery" (Volume 1)

"Highway Patrol" spanned 4 seasons, and production ended in 1959. The part of Dan Mathews was played by Broderick Crawford, who ironically lost his driver's license after being arrested several times and convicted of DUI while "Highway Patrol" was in production.
The episode "Train Robbery" was produced in season 4.
During the first 2 seasons, the CHP (California Highway Patrol) offered technical assistance. The CHP withdrew its assistance because of unbelievable story lines, the lack of following standard police procedures, the fact that the show focused too heavily on violent crime instead of traffic enforcement, and Crawford's heavy drinking.
As an example of a ridiculously comical scene... note that after thwarting the train derailment and apparently killing one of the criminals, Mathews and Sgt. Williams simply walk away and leave with the uninjured criminal. No effort is made to secure the area, to perform an investigation, to check the deceased criminal's pulse, to take a statement from the victim, to gather evidence, to call an ambulance or the coroner, or to remove the deceased criminal's weapon.
Railroad enthusiasts will immediately notice that the Southern Pacific passenger train footage uses locomotives that switch from Alco PA's to GM F-Units.
The show's low budget ($25,000 per episode) meant that no vehicle crashes or wrecked cars would ever be shown.
Sources:
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en.wikipedia.or...