Above The Tracks (Auckland) Traditional Geocache
status quo: As this cache has been out of action for too long and the non-active cache owner has not performed any maintenance, I'm archiving it to keep it from continually showing up in search lists, and to prevent it from blocking other cache placements. If you wish to repair/replace the cache sometime in the future, just contact us (by email), and assuming it meets the guidelines, we'll be happy to un-archive it.
Regards,
Status Quo
Geocaching.com Volunteer Cache Reviewer.
Above The Tracks (Auckland)
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(micro)
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An easy micro at Aucklands new railway station. The area is flat and suitable for strollers and wheelchairs.
Theres no excuse for not being able to reach this cache via public transport!
Britomart Transport Centre is Aucklands transport hub, combining a bus interchange and railway station in an Edwardian former post office building. Britomart is on reclaimed land in the middle of what was once Commercial Bay. It is named after Point Britomart, a former headland at Commercial Bay's eastern end. In the 1870s and 1880s the headland was levelled in order to extend the railway line to the bottom of Queen Street, and was used to fill in Commercial Bay.
The original railway station moved west to the Britomart site in 1885, and remained there after the Post Office was built on the Queen St frontage in 1911. In 1930 it was relocated 1.2 km east to Beach Road, to the Auckland Railway Station, and for the rest of the 20th century the Britomart site was a bus terminal (from 1937) and carpark (from 1958).
Many proposals were made to relocate the station back to the CBD, most notably in 1973 and 1987. In 1995, Auckland City Council purchased the old Post Office (which had closed in 1988) and proposed to develop the area as a transit centre. Early designs called for both the bus terminal and the railway to be underground, but these plans were scrapped as projected costs soared into the billions.
In 1998 a more cost-effective solution was found that used part of Queen Elizabeth II Square and surrounding streets as a bus terminal, with the existing dilapidated bus terminal redeveloped to incorporate both bus services and a pedestrianised area. When nearby Quay St was realigned in the late 1990s, a tunnel was built (completed in 2000) to provide the underground railway link to Britomart.
Designed by Jasmax and Mario Madayag Limited, construction of Britomart commenced in October 2001. It involved 14 km of piling, some of the piles being as long as 40 m and driven as far as 16 m into the underlying bedrock, mainly to provide good earthquake protection, and to futureproof the area for potential later construction of buildings on top of the station. 200,000 cubic metres were excavated for the station, and 40,000 cubic metres of concrete poured.
In its early days Britomart received a lot of criticism due to its being built on a scale that was well in excess of the capacity and patronage of the rail network in Auckland at the time. However, in recent years patronage has increased greatly and more frequent services have been introduced to accommodate the increased number of passengers, and this has led to concerns that the station will soon be at maximum capacity. During the peak only 18 suburban trains an hour can enter and exit.
With the announcement on May 17th, 2007, that electrification of Auckland's rail network would proceed, further changes will be seen at Britomart to cater for the neccesary overhead wires that will be part of the electrification project. The project timeframe is from May 2007 with a projected completion in 2013. With this announcement, the diesel trains which currently have adverse effects on the air quality in the Britomart station will eventually be phased out, being replaced by the expected new electric trains that ARTA will purchase in the near future.
When you get to GZ, look through the large round windows down to the rail tracks below. Then after you have found the cache, take a walk down and through the station itself, to look up at the same round windows. It is a very impressive railway station and well worth walking though. Enter at S 36 50.689 E 174 46.193 go down the stairs and walk along the platforms to the main entrance.
The cache has been replaced and is now a magnetic mint container. Please bring you own writing implement.
*** Please beware*****
There are LOTS of muggles around this cache. Please make sure that no one sees you when you retrieve it. Thanks
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Zntargvp. Uvqqra ng obggbz, vafvqr FR pbeare. Vs lbh fvg snpvat Tnyjnl Fgerrg, gura gur pnpur vf oruvaq lbh.