AllMovie

In the first episode of a two-part story, Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) is convinced that Al Capone (Neville Brand) is receiving prefential treatment while serving a sentence for tax evasion at the Federal prison in Atlanta. Pulling a few strings, Ness arranges for Big Al to be transferred to a newer, tougher penal institution called Alcatraz. While several of Capone's flunkeys take financial advantage of his absence, there are others who find it advantageous to cook up a scheme to spring "Scarface" from the prison train that is transporting him to "The Rock." The opening scenes in which Capone is seen being pampered by corrupt penitentiary officials resulted in a protest from the Bureau of Prisons, who demanded that the episode be preceded with a disclaimer insisting that it was complete work of fiction. Parts One and Two of "The Big Train" were lated combined into a feature film and released theatrically as Alcatraz Express.