Great Gerlach Train Robbery
Onlinenevada.org mentions "The Greate Gerlach Train Robbery". Apparently, in the 1970's a train wrecked in town. The residents picked up items that were thrown from the train, such as curtain rods and sheets. The FBI became interested when it was found that someone took cigarettes. The FBI came to town to look into the issue. The townspeople hid the white sheets by dyeing them different colors.[1]
This probably occurred after about 1977, because there is no mention of this in Newspapersarchive.com which has material from 1870-1977.[2]