Great East Thompson Train Wreck Traditional Cache

This cache is located on the Airline State Park Trail parking lot. You are looking for a small cache.

These caches were placed by LGVHB – Last Green Valley Hiker Brothers, consisting of CacheDweeb & KochMedic. We’ve been hiking the Airline Trail, Tri-State Marker, and Southern New England Trunkline Trail for years and decided to bring our fellow geocachers to experience this wonderful area.

Air Line Trail State Park

The Air Line State Park Trail is a rail trail and linear state park located in Connecticut. The trail is divided into sections designated South (23 miles: East Hampton to Windham), North (21 miles: Windham to Putnam), and the Thompson addition (6.6 miles: Thompson to the Massachusetts state line).

 Thompson section Trail description

Entire Section: Major work to upgrade this section of trail is mostly completed. The rails and ties have been removed, and the surface of the trail has been graded and drainage has improved. Surface of the trail when complete will be hard packed stone dust. The trail is clear of major obstructions, save for one missing bridge over a creek that requires a short detour on a parallel single track trail. New parking areas with signage and information kiosks have been constructed where the trail crosses East Thompson Road, Sand Dam Road, Lowell Davis Road, and the trail terminus at Route 12. Not far from the cache is a loop trail to the Tri-State Marker.

The cache is located at the spot of the Great East Thompson Train Wreck. The wreck was a large rail disaster which occurred in East Thompson, Connecticut, on December 4, 1891. It was one of the most extensive train wrecks in American history, and the only one to involve four trains. It happened on the New York and New England Railroad, which provided a shortcut from New York City to Boston by making a diagonal across Connecticut (Airline Trail). The railroad is now abandoned, and most of its tracks removed.