Williamstown-Delaware River R.R. Rails to Trails
In 1871 the Williamstown railroad was chartered at the urging of the Williamstown Glass Manufacturing Co. The line was operational by 1872, allowing the transport of finished glass goods from Williamstown to Atco where the tracks connected with an existing line from Camden. By 1883 the railroad was owned by the Reading R.R. and had been renamed and extended to Glassboro, home of the very productive Whitney Glass Works. By 1888, the line extended to Mullica Hill. Trains carried sand from nearby pits, including the Downer Silica works. Thus the line supplied raw materials to the glasshouses and carried their products to markets in Philadelphia and beyond. Fruit from hitherto remote orchards provided seasonal business and there was also some passenger service. Boom eventually turned to bust, however. Automation caused some of the glasshouses to close. Busses and automobiles diverted passenger traffic. Trucks competed for freight service. The Great Depression of the 1930's forced consolidation of the Reading holdings with the competing Pennsylvania R.R. to form the Pennsylvania Reading Seashore Lines. The Mullica Hill segment closed in the 1950's and by 1970 the entire line, having gone through multiple owners and multiple names, was no more. Time passed. In some places the right-of-way was obliterated by highways, buildings and parking lots. In other areas, nature started to reclaim domain. In the stretch east of Glassboro ATVs and 4WDS chewed great holes and left small mosquito infested lakes. Eventually, however, the Rails To Trails movement, the conversion of old right-of-ways to linear parks, came to Gloucester County. The section from Williamstown west to Downer was recovered and paved first and then in 2007 the trail was extended to Glassboro. Whether the trail can be further extended in either direction is an open question.
Finding this five part multicache will allow you to enjoy nearly the entire length of the completed trail. You will travel from a bustling community through parts of suburbia and into stands of Atlantic White Cedar, pine, maple, and oak. You will cross several small waterways before emerging in another town.
Before you begin the search for this cache a few safety points: There are multiple road crossings along the trail. Please obey all stop signs, yield to vehicles at every crossing and keep children well in hand. Several of the roads are quite busy. Several of the crossings have limited sightlines. However, none of the stages are within 100 feet of a crossing so there no reason not to pay attention!! The round trip is greater than 10 miles, less than 15 miles. Please bring water, cell phone and anything else you would normally need for a ride or hike of this distance as there is very little potential assistance along the route. The western part of the trip is along the border of a WMA, consider wearing orange during hunting season.
This is not a "C and D." Bring pencil and paper or other reliable way to save all data; you will need it as you travel along. Take your time and enjoy the journey. That is why we placed the cache.
Let's begin the journey: the posted coordinates will take you to the trailhead in Williamstown. Directly ahead of you is a marker that lists the year this part of the trail was dedicated. Call the numbers A B C D.
Stage 1 can be found at N39° 40.D54 W074° 5B.C04
At stage 1 is a company that used this rail line to move its goods. Find the year it was founded and call that date E F G H Caution: There is a truck entrance here!
To find stage 2 go to N39° 4A.E0H W075° 00.FE7
When the telegraph was invented lines were quickly erected along the railroads as minimal clearing needed to be done. At stage 2 find a four digit number (ignore the letters) on an element of the successor to the telegraph and call that I J K L Call I+L=M and I+J+K+L=N
Stage 3 is at N39° 41.M7M W075° 02.04N
Steam locomotives, of course, need two things to create steam. One is fuel and the other can be obtained from the structure at Stage 3. Find the six digit number on the front of this object that begins with 05. Call the last three digits O P Q
Stage 4 is located at N39° 4L.6QO W075° 04.00P
The earliest locomotives on this railroad burned either wood or coal to fire their boilers. At stage 4 you will find a structure made from one of these substances. Count the TOTAL number of horizontal elements of this structure (consider both sides as part of the same structure) and call that number R (NOTE: elements can go missing, count the number that OUGHT to be there)
Find stage 5 at N39° 4I.G(78-R) W075° 05.C(80+R)
At stage 5 there is a date. You have probably seen the date several during this journey but did not notice it. Find the date, call that
S T U V
The cache, a 700ml camo'd lock and lock can be found at N39° 41.NPT W075° (07-M).4VT
At GZ watch your footing! Beware of Muggles! Please rehide well using same technique we used, thanks!
FTF prize is a one year membership in the Rails to Trails Conservancy, an organization that since 1986 has been responsible for helping bring over 1000 rail trails into existence in the United States. I will contact the first to find to arrange the details. As always, please trade up or trade even if you trade.
There is no question that the best way to do this cache is by bicycle if you wish to do it all at once. The 'Cycles use their mountain bikes here in winter and road bikes in summer. If you want to through hike we recommend going with a friend and leaving a second car at the Glassboro end of the trail. This will result in a hike of between six and eight miles. On street parking in Williamstown is available on the west side of Virginia Ave. or in the eastern part of the adjacent municipal lot.
This is a planned, plotted (over a year due to multiple changes) and placed by bicycle cache!