Choo Choo in Kew Mystery Cache

The co-ordinates are for Kew Gardens Station. The station was opened by the London and South Western Railway in 1869 in an area of market gardens and orchards.

To this day the two storey yellow brick station buildings are lovely examples of mid-Victorian railway architecture and are protected as part of the Kew Gardens conservation area. The station is one of the few remaining 19th century stations on the North London Line.

The footbridge to the south of the station is also noteworthy and is Grade II listed in its own right. The railway line bisected Kew village, but it was not until 1912 that the bridge was provided to allow residents to cross the tracks safely. It is a rare surviving example of a reinforced concrete structure built using a pioneering technique devised by the French engineer François Hennebique. The bridge has a narrow deck and very high walls, designed to protect its users' clothing from the smoke of steam trains passing underneath. It also has protrusions on either side of the deck to deflect smoke away from the bridge structure.

Kew Gardens is the only station on the London Underground network that has a pub attached to it. The pub has a door (unfortunately now closed) which leads out onto Platform 1.

Now, onto the cache. It is located at N 51° (Edward)(Duck).(James)(Toby-Edward)(Gordon) W 000° (Thomas)(Toby).(Percy-Henry-Edward-Thomas)(Duck)(Thomas) and just along the road from here you have a lovely view of the aforementioned footbridge. Please be gentle with the cache and ensure it remains out of sight!