Ghost Train #3 - Willington Station (Revisited) Traditional Cache
BellisClan: no longer able to maintain my Geocaches.
Ghost Train #3 - Willington Station (Revisited)
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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This is a replacement for the third in a series of caches placed near to old Railway Stations in County Durham. The original cache kept getting nabbed bythe locals so we have moved this one quite a way. Unfortunately Willington has undergone an extensive rebuild over the years and there is little sign of railway or station ever existing. To this end the cache is hidden quite away from the original station site but still within the town itself (just!!).
The first railway to Bishop Auckland opened in 1843 as an extension of The Stockton & Darlington Railway from South Church to The Wear Valley and the town eventually developed into an important interchange point with lines radiating to all parts of the railway network including Darlington, Crook, Shotley Bridge, the Derwent Valley & Weardale, Spennymoor, Barnard Castle and Durham. The station was unusual in shape being triangular, it was no problem if a locomotive needed turning.
The line between Bishop Auckland and Durham opened to freight in August 1856 and to passengers in July 1857 with three intermediate stations at Hunwick, Willington and Brancepeth. A fourth station serving Brandon Colliery was added in 1861. The Bishop Auckland line was a three way junction with the Waterhouses branch trailing in from the west and a spur to Lanchester Valley and Consett leaving to the North-West.
The line also served a number of collieries including Hunwick Colliery with a line to Newfield Colliery and Brickworks from Hunwick Station, West Hunwick Colliery, Rough Lea Colliery, Willington and Sunnybrow Collieries via a link to The West Durham Railway, Brancepeth Colliery (with a colliery line to Oakenshaw Colliery) and Brandon Colliery (with a colliery line to Brandon Pit House Colliery). The line was occasionally used by diverted mainline express traffic to avoid engineering works between Darlington and Durham.
The Durham - Bishop Auckland passenger service ceased in May 1964 although it was re-opened for one day in July 1964 for a Miners Gala train from Brandon, Waterhouses, Ushaw Moor and Fencehouses and a few other stations. Freight facilities were withdrawn from Brancepeth, Willington & Brandon Colliery from August 1964 (Hunwick lost its freight service in 1958) although the line remained in use for freight for a further four years.
Much of the remainder of the line has now been converted into the 9.5 mile Brandon - Bishop Auckland Railway Path. The path begins at Broompark Picnic Area. It passes through the villages of Brandon, Brancepeth, Willington and Hunwick before reaching its end at the Newton Cap Viaduct, outside Bishop Auckland.
The original Cache was FTF'd by Jerryo on April 3, 2007
"The first of three nocturnal ones in the series. Got the FTF at about 10:50 when the lager louts had gone beddy-byes and it was nice and quiet. TFTC"
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Haqre fgbar ng onfr bs gerr [please rehide carefully as high Muggle area]
Treasures
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