Stone underpass series #1 Traditional Cache
OReviewer: As there's been no cache to find for a long time, 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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Stone underpass series #1
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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This is the first in a series of caches to draw attention to the magnificently build stone arches in Pennsylvania.
This is the first of a series of caches that seeing the location is more important than finding the cache.
Built before 1885 these stone railroad underpasses are outstanding examples of the workmanship of our forefathers. This structure still carries trains today, more than 125 years later.
The line was originally chartered on April 8, 1826 as the Danville and Pottsville Railroad, making it the third oldest line in the United States. It was to run from the Ferry House opposite Danville, Pa. to the Schuylkill Canal at Pottsville, Pa. Before construction began, the terminus was changed from Danville to Sunbury.
Construction began in July 1834 on the 20 mile section between Sunbury and Shamokin and was completed in the summer of 1835. The line was soon extended to Mt. Carmel, Pa.
The transportation of Anthracite Coal was the principal business of the rail road. Coal was brought from the mines in two ton dump cars pulled by horses or mules. The road entered Sunbury through Raspberry Alley, out to the river front to wharves, where the coal was dumped into canal boats to be taken across the river to the canal and then to market. However, with the collapse of the Canal System, the line was never extended to Pottsville!
The railroads of the day were very different from what we usually think. The rails were wooden stringers topped with flat iron bars, and the motive power was horses and mules! The first passenger cars were the "Shamokin" and the "Mahonoy" and were each pulled by two horses. In 1837, 3 small steam engines, the "North Star", "the Mountaineer", and the "Pioneer", were purchased and put to work on the road. In 1839, the road went back to using 'Horse Power" because the weight of the steam engines proved to be too heavy for the track. In 1852 the line became the first rail line in the world to use iron T rails made by the nearby Danville Iron Company, and the line secured six more steam engines. It was over these tracks, that in 1861, the first troops from this area left for service in the Civil War. The Line went through several name changes before becoming the Shamokin Valley Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Passenger service on this line continued until 1938.
The Shamokin, Sunbury, and Lewisburg Railroad was chartered in 1882, and was absorbed by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad in 1883. This line was built on the opposite shore of the Susquehanna River and followed the route of the old canal system to Sunbury. It then crossed over the River and paralleled the Shamokin Valley Branch through our area. In Shamokin, the two Railroad Stations were only one block apart and the tracks were within several yards of each Passenger service on this line continued until Friday, June 28, 1963, when No. 863, the "King Coal" made the final run of her daily passenger service between Shamokin and Philadelphia.
Completed on August 6, 1911, the Northumberland Classification Yard contained an area of 700 acres and 70 miles of track, round house, and shops. During it's 1950's, over 1500 railroad cars passed through the yard each day for receiving, dispatching, or reclassifying!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Oruvaq naq hc.
Treasures
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