Passed Berks’ Past #8 Traditional Cache
OReviewer: As there's been no cache to find for a long time or has had no owner response for at least 30 days, I'm archiving it to keep it from showing up in search lists, and to prevent it from blocking other cache placements.
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Wernersville Train Station
My wife and I grew up in the Berks County and have very fond memories of extinct sites around the county. This is the first in a series of traditional caches that might bring back fond memories of long gone sites around our county. Many of us have passed these locations from the past with little regard to the lost local commercial history.
In the era before the introduction of the automobile, the mountain resorts of South Heidelberg Township were served by a very busy Wernersville train station, bringing 13 trains per day to enjoy such destinations as Grand View, Walter's Park, and The Mountain Sunset House. South Mountain was a destination for the monied elite; a place to take the waters, seek health minded recreation, and be waited upon hand and foot.
Most of the health resorts of the local area, known as sanatoriums, were located in the segment of South Mountain which lies within what is now South Heidelberg Township, Berks County. Wernersville was the nearest community that had the advantage of frequent passenger railway service and, in earlier days, rail transportation was the chief means of travel between distant points. From the first year of the opening of the Wernersville Station of the Lebanon Valley branch of the Reading Railroad (1857) until the automobile came into general use, all patients, guests and freight destined for the South Mountain resorts arrived at the Wernersville station. Several hundred guests, arriving or leaving on any train, was a common sight.
The three acre complex across from the old train station in Wernersville harbored businesses owned by a Wertz family descendant since George W. Wertz relocated his grist mill there in 1892. Beginning in 2007 when the property went up for sale, the now famous “Cone” moved across Penn Avenue to a new location on an old used car lot. Now you can hear the trains while at the Cone, but you can no longer sit with your ice cream and watch the trains go by.
My mother’s father worked on the railroad most of his adult life, beginning in the 1930’s. I learned to appreciate the trains and the purpose they served both for freight and passenger service. Many a time we would sit and count the train cars until we got to the caboose. Alas, I doubt my kids will ever see a caboose on a train other than at a museum.
My first experience with the Wernersville train station was as a cub scout. My father and I went to Philadelphia with the scout troop to visit Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. The trip was around 1976, before the Liberty Bell moved to its current location. This was also the era when you could touch, yes I did touch, the Liberty Bell.
Will mass transit ever cause the Wernersville train station to be revived? I doubt it, which is unfortunate. Currently, the property is owned by the Heidelberg Heritage Society and it is posted with no trespassing signs. For this reason, the cache is located within walking distance of the train station.
Permission was received from A&M Pizza to place this cache in their parking lot. This is accessible from the parking lot. The difficulty is 2.5 due to muggles. Use your car to your advantage. No need to cross the fence.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Arbqlzvhz vf n snibevgr gbby bs zvar.
Treasures
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