In this gripping final installment of History for Cocktail Parties’ series on the Great Locomotive Chase, hosts James Ottley and Thornton Kennedy follow the story to its breathtaking climax. Picking up at full speed, the episode tracks James J. Andrews and his Union raiders as they attempt one of the boldest acts of espionage in Civil War history — stealing a Confederate train and tearing up the railroad behind them to choke off supply lines to Chattanooga. Ottley and Kennedy break down the razor-thin moments that defined the chase: Andrews’ smooth-talking cover story with station agents, the stolen switch key that saved the mission from an early collapse, and the relentless pursuit by Captain William Fuller, who hopped from foot to handcar to locomotive in an unbreakable chase across Georgia. As the raid barrels toward its final showdown at a half-burned bridge, listeners will feel the tension, ingenuity, and high-stakes gamble of a mission hanging by a thread. Though Andrews’ Raiders were ultimately captured — with some escaping and others becoming heroes — their daring operation left a legacy that reshaped America’s understanding of wartime courage and railroad strategy.