DONCASTER "LX"
SERIES
This cache is part of the 31-cache series "Doncaster LX" (LX is
standard railway terminology for "Level Crossing").
The great majority of the caches in this series are drive-by,
and most are not particularly challenging - although there are one
or two that may make you scratch your head a little ;-) The caches
are a variety made up of the following:
- Tupperware
- 35mm
- Nano
- Camo Tube
- and one or two others.........
With the odd exception, we aren't going to tell you which caches
are which - you can find that out for yourselves for the most part!
In addition, there won't be clues for a lot of the caches, but you
won't struggle to find them too much.
The final cache in the series is a BONUS cache, and the
co-ordinates for that cache are contained in one way or another in
fifteen of the caches in the series. Sometimes you will have to
answer a question to get part of the co-ordinate, at other times
the question and/or the answer will be in the cache container. It
will never be loose in the container, however - it will always be
taped to the inside of the container or be attached to the logsheet
when present.
The questions that you have to answer will be based around the
level crossings themselves - you might, for instance, be asked how
many flashing red road lights there are at a particular crossing.
And that is the whole point of this series - we would like to
impart a little extra knowledge about level crossings, and if you
come away from it knowing a little bit more than you did, that is a
good thing. Clues to the questions will always be found within the
text or at the crossing itself - you will never have to go away and
do research on the internet, for instance.
SAFETY INFORMATION
All of the caches are placed within about 300m of the associated
level crossings, but none are located in a position that will cause
any safety implications. Of the very few that are located closer
than the recommended 150 ft (46 m) of the railway, the railway is
completely fenced off from the cache location, and retrieval will
cause no safety issues. At only one cache (LX8) is the user
expected to cross the railway on foot to get to the cache location.
This traversal, however, can be accomodated easily by following the
signs at the level crossing (Booths No. 1). If any cacher feels
uncomfortable with using the crossing in the normal manner, please
contact us. It is not necessary to visit this cache to complete the
series.
Finally, we would ask that the following basic rules are adhered
to when completing this series:
- Never park at emergency parking sites at automatic
crossings
- Be aware of, and considerate to, local
residents
- If an alternative parking Waypoint is provided in the
cache listing, please use it
- Always observe any signs and/or notices detailing how
the crossing is to be used
We hope that you have fun with this series - we certainly had fun
setting it!
AUKLEY
AHB
Every level crossing has certain minimum requirements that must
be met - number of running lines, maximum permissible train speed,
number of road vehicles per day etc. It doesn't end when the
crossing is commissioned, however - over time things change, and
the applicability of the level crossing type may no longer be
appropriate.
This crossing is a very good example of how things might change
because you all might have noticed an international airport very
near to this crossing that wasn't there a few years ago, bringing
with it much more road traffic.
To mitigate these changes, Network Rail conduct very thorough
risk assesments on all of their level crossings on a bi-annual
basis to make sure that the crossing type is still appropriate. In
addition, as well as the normal maintenance that is conducted on a
regular basis, every crossing is subject to an annual test that
examines every part of crossing operation. So, even if a crossing
is a few years old, you can rest assured that it is still safe.
You are looking for a 35mm cache.