This cache is part of a series of caches that attempts to follow the abandoned Moe-Walhalla rail line, through what is now the Moondarra State Park. While there is no rail line to follow any more - it and the station buildings were removed in 1960 - there is plenty of evidence as to where this line used to be.
Parts of the track are pretty overgrown and others are subject to some pretty severe flooding, especially in the winter. In the summer, do not attempt on days of extreme bush fire and watch out for snakes!
The Moe-Walhalla was the last of the narrow gauge rail lines constructed in Victoria. Narrow gauge railroads were seen as a cheap way of linking remote communities, especially in hilly country. This particular line was commissioned to open up traffic to the township of Walhalla which, at the time, was one of the largest towns in Gippsland. Prior to this, the only way of getting stock to Walhalla was by bullock cart.
The rail line opened in 1910, but unfortunately the Walhalla Gold Mine closed in 1914. The residents began moving out of Walhalla in droves. The line picked up a bit of traffic from the local sawmills and a couple of local mines, but ultimately the usefulness of the line had finished and it was closed at Erica station in 1952, and the whole line was closed in 1954. The section from Walhalla to the old Thompson station has been re-opened as a tourist railway, and there are plans to open the line all the way down to the old Erica station.
This cache is placed at the site of what is thought to be a temporary siding that was set up during the construction of the railway. According to Peter Medlin, the author of "Steam on the two foot six", the siding consisted of "the main line and two loop lines, with a possible dead-end siding for ballast loading" The siding only operated from 1905-1906 and was never officially named. It most probably was used after the track had been laid 8 or more miles into the bush as a place for goods to be unloaded from the train and stored. It could also possibly been used as a camp site for the men who were constructing the line. The problem I have with this is that everything I have read puts the site of the old siding at the listed co-ordinates, however the reality on the ground is that the train line ran approximately 50m east of here. Also, at the point 50m east, it appears that there may have once been another clearing, so it is my estimation that the position where this cache is placed is not where this siding was. The place where this cache is placed is significant in that there is a large water pipe running underground here, which is probably the reason why this area was also cleared. If you want, see if you can find the tracks 50 meters east of here and any evidence of the correct co-ordinartes of the siding.