S.R. & R.L.R. Travel Bug Depot Traditional Cache
Whistlepost: Cache is missing. Owner is moving from the area rendering maintenance significantly more difficult.
S.R. & R.L.R. Travel Bug Depot
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
The cache is a regular sized lock-n-lock box with plenty of room for trade items and TBs.
The cache is dedicated to the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad, hence the “S.R.&R.L.R.” cache name. In 1879, there was a need for railroad service from Farmington to northern Franklin County. To answer that need, the Sandy River Railroad was established. The original line connected Farmington with Phillips, passing through Strong. A further need existed for public transportation to access the resort community of Rangeley, which had become the playground of the “high-class city folks”. So, in 1890 the Phillips and Rangeley Railroad’s, “Rangeley Express”, began running three round trips per day to the beautiful Rangeley Lakes region. The bustling lumber industry spurred the construction of several branch lines and other narrow gauge railroad companies, which serviced several surrounding towns. In 1908 all the small financially struggling narrow gauge rail companies were purchased by a Gardiner, ME banker and merged into one company, the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad. The railroad owned over 120 miles of track, making it the largest two-foot narrow gauge system in America. After loosing ground to the rapidly growing car and truck transportation boom of the 1930's, the S.R.& R.L.R. was shut down and the rail system was totally dismantled. It is through the efforts of the Phillips Historical Society’s, Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad, a non-profit organization, that the railroad’s glorious history is being preserved, restored and relived. For more information, including operational schedules, visit www.srrl-rr.org. After finding the cache, take a few minutes to look around at a few bits of history located within the park. And if you are lucky, as we were when we first visited the park, there may be a member of the organization present who will be more than willing to show you around and share some history. This cache is placed with the permission of the organization. There is a gate at the entrance of the drive, but it is rarely closed. If it is, it's okay to walk in and it's only a short distance to the cache site.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gurer bapr jnf n oevqtr npebff gur evire.
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures