NKP-Nickel Plate Road Letterbox Letterbox Hybrid
NKP-Nickel Plate Road Letterbox
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(large)
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As we spend time with this new hobby of geocaching, we find many new and interesting places that we never knew existed. We especially enjoy some of the bike riding trails used for caching and the efforts to organize these former transportation Right-of-Ways into public access recreational areas. Some are former canal towpaths (Miami/Erie Canal). Others are former railroad Right-of-Ways such as the Wabash Cannonball Trail that runs from Liberty Center to Maumee, and back west to Wauseon and on to Bryan. Another is the Slippery Elm Trail that runs south out of Bowling Green. These Right-of-Ways have become wonderful trails that geocachers can enjoy. Another not so well known former rail is the old "Nickel Plate Road"(NKP). This section of the Nickel Plate that ran directly from Toledo to St Louis was known as the Cloverleaf District. A small part of this line is used by the old "Bluebird Train Ride" that runs from Grand Rapids to Waterville, however most of the old Right-of-Way from the New York Central/Chicago/St. Louis (NKP) was given back to the landowners along the Right-of-Way. Although the remainder of the old road bed can be seen using Google Earth, the ability of geocachers to enjoy this former rail-trail has been lost.
Mr Parkctnut(PKN) is saddened by the fact that this trail has been lost to the geocaching experience especially since he enjoyed playing, hiking, hunting, and horseback riding along this trail when he was a kid. Fortunately, Mr. PKN has owned some land adjacent to the Nickel Plate Road(NKP) for almost 20 years and has decided to place a letterbox hybrid on the way back where the old Nickel Plate Road crossed the Little Turkeyfoot Creek in Henry County Ohio. Unfortunately, all that remains here are the concrete bridge piers from the old train trussle that crossed the Little Turkeyfoot. When Mr. PKN was young he remembers riding horseback along the Nickel Plate and crossing the bridge that once stood here. But enough of the past already, Let's go find that letterbox.
The reason this cache was created as a letterbox is Mr. PKN has only a 20 ft. wide walk-in easement from this starting point, so don’t stray from the instructions of how to find the cache. Mr. PKN does not own any of the house lots in the area so parking is limited only along the road. The road is not busy, it is only 1 mile long and dead ends on both ends. At the listed coordinates, you will find a survey pin in the middle of the road (this is the exact center of the mile section) along with a large painted mark on the road. This PIN marks the beginning of Mr. PKN's deed description. From here walk 10 ft. due west (you are now in the center of the walk-in easement). Now walk 400 ft down the grassy lane between the 2 house lots, in the SAME direction that the mark on the road is pointing.
After 400 feet, the grassy lane will end. You will see crop fields to your left and ahead of you, and a house lot corner line fence to your right. Continue to walk in the same direction as before, thru the crop field ahead of you another 200 feet. The crops may change, depending on the year; take care to do minimal damage. You will come to a small grass area that crosses over a small creek. As soon as you cross the creek, look down and to the right. You are very close to the entrance of the letterbox cache.
Once you have found the box, sign the log, feel free to trade trackables or swag, but don't take the letterbox stamp or the inkpad. Then if you feel ambitious enough, you can take a walk back to where the old Nickel Plate crossed the Little Turkeyfoot Creek. Once you are on the south side of the creek, head west 200 feet until you run into a larger creek. This is the Little Turkeyfoot creek and it drains about 20% of southern Henry County. If you are here in the summer, it may be completely dry, but if you come here after a fresh spring thawing rain, this creek will be completely full of water and moving very fast. However the fields around here never flood because this creek is part of a controlled flood zone. From the intersection of these two creeks, follow the Little Turkeyfoot to the SSE about 200 yards. Here you will find what remains of the NKP trussle and the junction of manmade drainage ditches and the beginning headwater of the Little Turkeyfoot Creek. It still amazes me today how people of the 1800's managed to dig such deep ditches by hand thru massive tree roots and drain this great black swamp. The coordinate of the concrete structure is marked as an additional waypoint for the cache. Enjoy the walk and enjoy the lettterbox cache.
There are neighboring houses in the area where the cache begins. I spoke personally with each one of them and handed them a letter explaining the sport of geocaching. The response from each was very favorable and they thanked me for clueing them in on the sport. One neighbor said they were thinking about starting a geocache account and this would probably be the first cache they visit.
Here is a photo of Mrs. PKN riding the rails on the NKP 765 Steam Locomotive. She says, "Everything is good to go as far as the neighbors are concerned so go get that LETTERBOX Cache."
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Qba'g or nsenvq. Tb ba vafvqr gur terra ghaary naq svaq gur yrggreobk ba gur bgure fvqr.