The Heart Of Plymouth County Traditional Cache
Dutchman-IA: Due to the widening of US Hwy 75 the sign has been taken down and we hope to replace the cache at a later date.
The Heart Of Plymouth County
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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If it was not for the railroad Merrill would probably not be here today.
Railroads made the United States of America. When railroads were first planned, the idea was to follow the paths that stage coaches took. Soon it was discovered that as far as stage coaches were concerned, a few hills here and there were not a problem. Hills are a problem for trains. In fact, if the railroads had stuck with following the old stage coach routes, Merrill would have never been.
Building a railroad was no simple task. Quite ofter there were 1,000 men working in one crew. These workers not only leveled the dirt and laid the rail, they also built bridges across rivers that would carry the weight of a train.
This construction was all before common use of hydraulics and diesel equipment. The work was alldone by hand or by horse.
"There used to be 60 trains a day that passed through Merrill". Presently we average about 18 which are Union Pacific and Illinois Central. The Merrill Ethanol Plant and Hinton Elevator are both big rail users for shipping Plymouth goods.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Yvbaf Vagreangvbany.
Treasures
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