Manawatu rail: Karere Traditional Cache
Hidden : 2/13/2013
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

One of a series of simple, easy to find, caches at railway stations around the Manawatu.

Welcome aboard the Foxton-Palmerston tram, service to Palmerston! Last stop Tiakitahuna, next stop Longburn.

This railway station loading platform is the only significant evidence remaining of the entire Foxton-Palmerston tramway and railway, being one of the very few small stations that had a concrete loading dock, rather than timber or a simple grass bank. In fact it is this remaining structure that got me to thinking about placing a cache here, and the subsequent research into this location fired off the entire railway series.

Karere station was placed to support the forestry lands of the bishop Ditlev Monrad, the exiled Premier of Denmark, Denmark having been defeated by Prussia in 1864. Timber was an essential part of the construction of the tramway, which began in 1871. The area was also known for the Karere stock sales, organised by G.M. Snelson, who became the first mayor of Palmerston in 1877. Despite this there was never more than a small goods shed here. It was a very small station and sometimes seemed to be ignored - some lands were advertised for sale in newspapers in 1898 as being close to Longburn and Jackeytown (Tiakitahuna) stations but Karere, which must have been closer, was not mentioned.
These two gentlemen have been memorialised in Palmerston, with Monrad and Snelson Streets named after them.

The railway station was eventually destroyed and not replaced when a cylone swept through the area on 2 February 1936. Here is just a part of an article in Tephra on the event:
"Palmerston North was hardest hit. Houses lost roofs, chimneys were blown over, and the grandstands of the A&P Association, the Awapuni Racecourse, and the sports grounds were demolished. A man was killed when he was blown off his roof as he was trying to repair it. Hoardings, fences, and brick walls were blown over. Twenty-eight trees came down over the main power lines in a 120 metre stretch of road. The Manawatu River rose five metres and flooded the Taonui Basin, turning it into an inland sea.
A train was derailed near Makerua, just south of Palmerston North (the Opiki turnoff just north of Shannon). The last two carriages and the guards van were caught by a gust of wind and thrown down a bank into the Makerua swamp. Empty railway wagons on sidings at Levin and Linton were blown over and the small railway station at Karere was destroyed. Fallen trees blocked the line between Levin and Otaki, and passengers had to cut through them with axes before trains could pass.
At Longburn, the Anglican church was demolished and scattered over the road and railway line. A horse on a nearby farm was cut in half by a flying sheet of corrugated iron. The Feilding Aero Club hanger was blown away and the two planes inside it destroyed."

You are looking for a camo 400ml container. FTF gets to FTF a new TB. Good luck!


Karere Station, February, 1936

References:
Cassells, K.R.: "The Foxton and Wanganui Railway", published by the New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society, 1984.
Evening Post, 1 October 1898.
Manawatu Standard, 6 November 1884.
Ministry of Civil Defense and Emergency Management: "Tephra" Vol. 20: "Wet and Wild", June 2003.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Pnyy orsber qvttvat

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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