Legendary Nazi Gold Train May Be Just a Legend

Explorers' great hopes for finding a legendary Nazi gold train in Poland appeared dashed Wednesday when, after digging extensively, they admitted they have found "no train, no tunnel" at the site, the AP reports. The legend has sparked a gold rush, drawing in treasure hunters from across Europe to Walbrzych in Poland. Local legend says in 1945, the Nazi Germans hid a train laden with gold and valuables in a secret tunnel nearby as they were fleeing the advancing Soviet army at the end of WWII. Last week two explorers—Andreas Richter and Piotr Koper—moved in with heavy equipment and dug deep at a site near rail tracks in Walbrzych, following comments by residents who said they had knowledge of the train's existence.

Richter and Koper said last year that their own tests using earth-penetrating radar confirmed a train was at the site. But the explorers' spokesperson said Wednesday that they found "no train, no tunnel" there and that the machines were covering over the three pits that cost $37,000 to dig. Saying "hope dies last," the spokesperson said a smaller-scale search using probes will resume at a nearby site in September. The dig confirmed findings by experts from a university in Krakow last year who used magnetic equipment but found no trace of train or tunnel. (More Nazi gold train stories.)