This cache is not at the posted coordinates. To locate it, solve the simple puzzle below using the history lesson provided on the cache page. This cache is a replacement for the traditional cache, GC51KKN, which was a frequent target for muggles.
Photo courtesy of the Edmore Pine Forest Historical Museum, Sloan & Hunt Family Collection.
First Elmdale Passenger and Freight Station with a hotel in the background, taken 8/7/1920.
Elmdale
The village of Elmdale is not much more than a gathering of several houses today, but at one time was a stop on the Lowell and Hastings Railroad and the Grand Rapids, Lansing and Detroit. Elmdale was first named Richardson's Crossing by land owner Charles Richardson. When the second rail line crossed and interchanged with the first, a depot was constructed at the junction. A post office opened there on January 28th, 1889, with Leonard E. Lott as postmaster. The little town grew and soon included a fourteen room hotel, a grain elevator, a general store and an apple packer.
The demise of the town was a result of the Depression of 1929 and early 30s and fires that destroyed both the original depot and the elevator. The post office operated until 1940. The last station there, on the east-west line, never had a passenger waiting room, or a freight room. It was built as an interlocking station between the east-west line, which was the main line between Grand Rapids and Detroit, and the north-south line, which became the Grand Rapids to Saginaw main line. Still, one could get on or off the train at Elmdale until the end of passenger service in the 1960s. The second station at Elmdale still stands, but is in bad disrepair.
Railroads
Two rail lines crossed at Elmdale. The first to arrive was the Lowell and Hastings Railroad (L&H) (north-south) in 1887. The second line to arrive in Elmdale was the Grand Rapids, Lansing & Detroit (GRL&D) (east-west), a paper subsidiary of the Detroit, Lansing and Northern Railroad (DL&N), in 1888. The Detroit, Grand Rapids and Western Railroad Company (DGR&W) was incorporated on November 30th, 1896, to reorganize the DL&N, completing the purchase on January 1st, 1897.
Lowell and Hastings Railroad
The Lowell and Hastings Railroad has roots that go back to 1883 when the Kalamazoo, Lowell and North Michigan Railroad (KL&NM) was incorporated as a 3' gauge line to build a 68 mile long line from Kalamazoo, via Hastings and Lowell to Smyrna. The line was never constructed. A second corporation, the Hastings, Lowell and Northern Michigan Railroad Company (HL&NM), was incorporated on May 18th, 1883 with the intent to build the 32 miles from Hastings to Smyrna, as a standard gauge (4' 8½") line. The HL&NM purchased the rights of the KL&NM north of Hastings on August 29th, 1883. It isn't known if the HL&NM ever started construction, but no service was ever started.
The Lowell and Hastings was incorporated on May 6th, 1887, with the purpose of constructing a line from Lowell south to Hastings. The L&H bought the HL&NM on May 28th of that year. Construction was completed and service began between Freeport and Lowell in December, 1887. The line was graded to the south edge of Freeport but was never extended to Hastings The line operated between the two towns under the L&H flag for 12 years.
As was common in the day, a new company was incorporated to complete or modify the goals of existing corporations rather than modifying the original articles of incorporation. To that end, the Grand Rapids, Belding and Saginaw Railroad (GRB&S) was incorporated September 26th, 1898, with the initial purpose of constructing and operating a 44 mile line from Greenville to Hastings. The portion from Greenville to Belding was already existing and being operated by the Detroit, Grand Rapids and Western. The GRB&S purchased the L&H on April 20th, 1899. The purchase was apparetly completed on May 1st. The GRB&S completed construction of the line from Lowell to Belding in late 1899. Under the control of the new Pere Marquette Railroad (PM), which also controlled the DGR&W, GRB&S began operating between Hastings, Belding and Greenville on January 1st, 1900. The PM purchased the GRB&S outright in 1903.
The line north of Elmdale, to Belding, Greenville, Stanton, Edmore, and points east became part of the PM main line between Grand Rapids and Saginaw, as the Elmdale Subdivision. It saw heavy traffic for several decades. The portion of the original L&H between Elmdale and Freeport was abandoned by the PM in 1935. The Pere Marquette became part of the Chesepeake and Ohio Railroad (C&O) in 1947. The C&O became part of CSX in 1987.
The portion of the Elmdale Subdivision line between Greenville, through Edmore to Elwell in 1988 (and Alma shortly after). It has become the Fred Meijer Heartland Trail. The remainder, Elmdale to Greenville was sold to the Mid-Michigan Railroad (MMR). The MMR operated the line until 2007, when the Fridgedaire plant in Greenville closed. All but the segment from Malta (across the Grand River from Lowell) to Lowell was abandoned and sold to the Fred Meijer Flat River Valley Trail (not yet improved). The east-west line through Elmdale is still in daily use.
Photo by aghudley taken 2014
Elmdale Station, boarded up. Do not enter!
The grade of the abandoned L&H north-south line can be clearly seen coming from the north on the east side of Montcalm Avenue (the county line) north of the crossing (reference point). The former interchange with the existing line can be clearly seen turning to the west off Montcalm Avenue behind the boarded up station there. Much of the grade between Elmdale and Lowell is owned by the state but don't attempt to walk it as portions are private property. There is a proposal in the works to turn this grade into a rail trail as far south as Elmdale.
Cache
This cache is not at the posted coordinates. To find the coordinates, answer the questions below. Use the checker to get an additional hint.
The cache is located at N42o 50.ABC' W85o 18.DEF'
- A = Fourth digit of the year the post office opened at Elmdale.
- B = Fourth digit of the year the GRL&D arrived in Elmdale.
- C = Second digit of the length in miles of the proposed narrow gauge line.
- D = Day of the month the L&H was incorporated.
- E = Second digit of the day of the month the HL&NM purchased the rights of the KL&NM.
- F = Second digit of the day of the month the L&H bought the HL&NM.
- Check your solution and get a hint.
Sources:
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