Choo Choo Multi-Cache
DiePienaars: Final cache missing.
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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All aboard the steam train. Everyone knows and loves our local Umgeni steam railway train, but what many don’t realize is how historic it is.
In the early 1980s local railway enthusiasts became concerned about the fact that much of the country’s rich railway heritage was being lost, as the then South African Railways (SAR) preservation policy encompassed only the sterile, static display of certain steam locomotives on station platforms around the country, and the development of a so-called national collection, near Johannesburg. Virtually nothing was being considered in the other centers and much of Nata’s valuable railway heritage was either being moved to the Witwatersrand or scrapped on site. It was up to enthusiasts to try to save at least some of Kwazulu-Natal’s railway history before it all disappeared. With the donation of a small standard locomotive by Illovo Suger Mill, a group of volunteer enthusiasts from the Natal branch of the Railway Society of Southern Africa formed Umgeni Steam Railway (USR) in September 1982.
Umgeni Steam Railway’s first public train ride was on Sunday January 29 1984. It ran from the Umgeni Power Station at New Germany on the 3km privately owned service line to Sarnia.
In June 1985, Umgeni Steam Railway form part of the 125th anniversary of railways in South Africa. The train ran between Durban and Point.
Also the popular Harbour Wanderer trains which began running 1989. This unique operation involved the running of a steam train from the Point end of the harbour, right around Durban Bay to West’s at the of the Bluff. Passengers then transferred to a ferry to cross the harbour mouth before completing their circular journey on Londen-style double-decker busses. Nowhere else in the world was such a ride possible.
Today USR is still run by volunteers but has had to move base to Inchanga and Mason’s Mill outside Pietermaritzburg.
Public trains run from Kloof Station (Stoker’s Arms) to Inchanga Station on the last Sunday of each month, a distance of 25km.
Here the local conservancy also Country Fair on these days. Inchanga has a colonial station (build in the 1890s) a 45 min ride along the picturesque Old Main Line, as it winds its way through the Valley of 1000 Hills. The line was completed in 1880 to Pietermaritzburg and is one of the oldest active lines in South Africa today.
Maureen, the 3BR loco was built in 1912 and will be 100 years old in 2012. It also is the oldest operational locomotive in South Africa.
Coach 500 (Ethekwini) a balcony observation coach, was built in 1908 and is the oldest operational coach in SA.
Dummond Tunnel is the oldest operational tunnel in SA opened in 1879.
The Inchanga Station opened in 1892.
The Inchanga Viaduct officially opened in 1880, was disused in 1892 and dismantled in 1896.
The Natal Old Main Line, from Rossburgh through Pinetown and going to Cato Ridge is the oldest railway line in SA still in use.
Inchanga Station was the half way station between Durban and Pietermaritzburg.
The Cache consists of two waypoints and a Small final cache.
The first micro (given Co-Ords) will lead you to the second waypoint.
At the second waypoint calculate the final Co-Ords;
S 29 44.ABC
E 30 39.DEF
ABC = Hoogte vt minus 269 divide by 4
DEF = Myle na Durban times 28 plus 15
For the cachers that can not do simple multiplication use the calculator on your cell phone.
(Just be on the lookout at the final cache as there is sometimes a security guard in the area)
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gur svany pnpur vf vafvqr n ubyybj guvat.