GC2D6V8 Bygone Rail: Norton-Chipman, Belleisle #5 (Unknown Cache) in New Brunswick, Canada created by ZeMartelo

GC2D6V8 ▼

A cache by ZeMartelo Message this owner

Hidden : 8/10/2010

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Bygone Railways: Norton - Chipman, an era long gone!

Cache Details

Belleisle Creek Bridge.

The cache is not at the posted coordinates, but you need to visit them to find the correct coordinates.
The cache is a small black container located on the old railbed of the Norton-Chipman Railway now used as an atv trail near Belleisle Creek.
It is winter friendly.
Located in the nw side of the bridge there are still some traces of the bridge. Its in very precarious condition so please very careful.
** DO NOT GO DOWN THE GULLEY, IT CAN BE DANGEROUS. **

++Post pictures to help preserve the memory of the line++

* Please help maintain this cache *

Take some containers and logbooks and replace as necessary.

To find the cache go to the posted coordinates.
You will find a guardrail fence to protect distracted atv'rs going down the gully.
Look at the guardrail and take note of the number of nails on the guardrails only.
Looking behind the fence you will see the remnants of the bridge. Count the number of visible bolts/nails on the wood structures that are facing the fence.

To find the cache just
- Multiply by two the number of nails from the guard rail fence and then subtract the result of multiplying by two the bolts/nails from the wood structure minus five and add to the posted NORTH cords.

- ADD to the posted WEST coordinates the result of the guard rail nails times 4 minus the bolts/nails from the wood structure + 2.

Checksum N:22 W:34
Good luck.

History

For years the residents of Grand Lake, Chipman, Cumberland Bay and other surrounding areas had hoped that the Intercolonial Railway would be built along the proposed "Central Line". It would have cut diagonally across the middle of the Province and thus provide them with direct access to markets in Central Canada. However, the Intercolonial Railway was instead built along the "Robinson Route" in 1872 and it would not be until 1912 that the National Transcontinental Railway line, built along the "Central Line", would be officially opened. So in 1873 a group of local investors incorporated the Central Railway Company to build a line from Fredericton to connect with the Intercolonial Railway line somewhere between Sussex and Moncton. A final decision on the route that the line would take was not made until 1886. The final route which passed by the head of Grand Lake also went through the coal rich areas around Minto and Chipman before heading south towards Norton. That same year work began on the 80 mile long track and in 1888 the line from Norton, on the Intercolonial line, to Chipman was completed and opened for business. The section of track from Gibson near Fredericton, the terminus of the New Brunswick Railway line, to Chipman was not completed until 1913. This section of track was built by a separate company the New Brunswick Coal and Railway Company, which later became the Fredericton and Grand Lake Coal and Railway Company. In 1913 Canadian Pacific took control of the line by taking out long-term leases on the line. One interesting note is that due to the fact that the bridges on the line could not accommodate the heavier diesel engines, Canadian Pacific had to run steam engines on the line into the 1960's. Abandonment of the line began in 1961 when the section from Norton to Pennlyn was abandoned and by the 1990's the entire line had been abandoned.