Start of the Line – Or End of It!!! Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia
By
Smergol on 27-Sep-13. Waypoint GA6445
Cache Details
Difficulty: | |
Terrain: | |
Type: | Traditional |
Container: | Micro |
Coordinates: | S38° 23.134' E142° 28.512' (WGS 84) |
54H 628840E 5750374N (UTM) | |
Elevation: | 7 m |
Local Government Area: | Warrnambool |
Description
Start of the Warrnambool – Pt Fairy Rail Trail (Phonetically Bull Fart series).
The railway line from Warrnambool to Melbourne was opened in 1887. The construction of the line to Port Fairy, via Koroit, started in late 1888 and it was completed in 1890.
Between Warrnambool and Belfast (Port Fairy) there were 12 gate keepers’ cottages. Stations were situated at, Warrnambool, Illowa, Koroit, Crossley Kirkstall, Moyne, Rosebrook and Port Fairy where farmers shipped their produce directly to Geelong and Melbourne.
Koroit became an important hub with the line to the north (Hamilton Spur – “Spur of the Moment” GCA cache there) joining the Port Fairy to Warrnambool line some 300 yards to the west of the station. Remnants of the cattle loading yards can be seen near North Street. The goods shed, one of the largest in the area is opposite the station. Also, remnants of the sidings and goods sheds at Port Fairy, Koroit and Illowa can be seen along the trail.
Some thought the line so beneficial that they felt the farmers should not require compensation for it passing through their property. For a time, the soon to decline ports, handled large quantities of railway materials. J Wilson and Company supplied 5,100 tons of equipment to the project.
The line came to provide an important recreational aspect to the area. Special pleasure trains ran to the seaside towns for Sunday school picnics, school excursions and social gatherings.
The line closed in September 1977 by the Hamer government to save some money!! The Rail Trail was completed earlier this year - 2012.
This part is originally part of the Spur going down to the Breakwater and Woollen Mill – but is the Start of the Warrnambool – Pt Fairy Rail Trail (Phonetically Bull Fart series).
“FTF” GCA Pathtag in cache.
Hints
Guvax Zntargvp naq gur Anzr bs gur pnpur.
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Decode |
Logs
Think I covered all things that fit the clue but lots of it was under thick scrub and after two lots of blood from scratches I gave up.
Maybe next time we are in the area we'll check on this one again and if it has had a find we'll try again.
A tricky find as the location did not seem quite right, but came up with the goods in the end.
Took nothing, left nothing.
Thanks for this geocache hide for us to find on our long weekend away in Warnambool, checking out the sites, the geocaches and the local TrigPoints.
*Overall Experience: 3*
GAFF 1
BUT! Having rechecked on Google Earth – the given coordinates are way out.
Sorry Bucketeer for the run around.
2TF over 2 years since the FTF and cache still in good condition.