 | The search for a fabled Nazi gold train rumoured to be buried beneath mountains in Poland has ended in failure – but not for local residents, who have experienced an economic boom from treasure seekers. Last year Piotr Koper and Andreas Richter sparked a media frenzy after claiming they were close to finding the train. That claim was rebuked by Polish geologists, who re-scanned the area with magnetic field detectors, thermal imaging cameras and radar, and found nothing suspicious. Richter and Koper hired contractors and they found 'curious anomalies'. But the pair's search ended in failure with no trace of the train. |
 | Forest workers are clearing trees and shrubs from a site in southwestern Poland under which two explorers claim there is a secret tunnel and a Nazi train, possibly containing armaments and precious minerals. Workers were removing vegetation from the indicated site, after military experts said it had to be cleared before they could inspect it. The two explorers have identified themselves as Piotr Koper, a Pole, and German national Andreas Richter. |   |
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 Treasure hunters claim items were discovered around the site where the gold train is supposedly hidden - including this Nazi Eagle. | Gold fever has descended on southwestern Poland since a top culture official gave credence to the claim of two treasure hunters to have located a legendary Nazi train loaded with valuables in an abandoned mountain railroad tunnel. Locals and foreigners have arrived in droves with metal detectors to comb the forested area of the Owl Mountains in Lower Silesia where many believe an armored train is hidden in a buried tunnel.
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 | The mountainous area around the castle city of Walbrzych was honeycombed with underground rail passages and bunkers during World War II, when it was part of Germany and the Nazis created Project Riese, or Giant, for suspected weapons development and supply depots for the war effort. |  |
 | Poland's Deputy Minister of Culture, Piotr Zuchowski described the find as 'unprecedented', adding: 'We do not know what is inside the train. 'Probably military equipment but also possibly jewellery, works of art and archive documents. 'Armoured trains from this period were used to carry extremely valuable items and this is an armoured train, it is a big clue.' It sparked a frenzy with treasure hunters as far away as Japan descending on the area. With a fear that there are still booby-traps in the area left by the Nazis and that people may be tempted to start digging for the so-called treasures themselves, authorities have now closed off the 4km site. |
 The train - which legend says disappeared in 1945 as the Nazis tried to get their stolen treasure to safety - is said to be buried underneath this hill in Poland | It is well-known that the Nazis built a network of railway lines under the mountains. In May 1945 gold and other valuables from the city of Wroclaw were being transported to Walbrzych when they disappeared between the towns of Lubiechow and Swiebodzice. According to legend, the Nazis loaded all the valuables they had looted in Wroclaw - then called Breslau and part of Greater Germany - to escape the advancing Red Army. |   |
 |   The legend holds the Soviets were about to overrun Breslau and that the train was forced to hole up in one of the Riese tunnels before reaching better secured German territory. Some say there were three trains that went into a tunnel one night, never to be seen again. |
