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We Didn't Start the Fire Multi-Cache

Hidden : 4/12/2013
Difficulty:
4.5 out of 5
Terrain:
4.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Cheektowaga was sorely missing a high difficulty level cache.  This area of town was a natural pick, as it's seculed, has no caches in it yet and is so close to Stiglmeier Park, which has many caches.

We passed this area many times wondering why there are no caches back there.  After lots of work, we are finally posting a 4.5/4.5 multicache here.  We wanted to share some history about this area.  Many years ago, this area was part of the Gardenville Line, a very busy railroad line.  This particular part of the line included a roundhouse, which is a structure that was used to repair locomotives.   Here is a picture of the area back in the day: http://www.erie.gov/aerials/1951/photos/51_6H52.jpg Of course, all of this repair work took place during a time when businesses didn't consider the environmental impact of their operations.  Hence the large fenced off portion of this area.  That part of the yard was remediated and capped.  The railroad that last owned the land has gone bankrupt, therefore and no one wants to claim ownership of the area.  Hopefully completing this cache will give you a short tour of the history in this cool part of Cheektowaga.  
As far as this cache is concerned, it is named after a Billy Joel song, that also aims to teach some history.  This name came to us after we hid one of the legs.  Two hours later, we saw the fire department in the area.  A large area of brush was on fire.  Since the area is so deserted, there was no damage, but the fire was in the same area of one of this cache's legs.  If you find it soon enough, you will most likely see the remnants of the fire.  We swear that we had nothing to do with the fire.   This cache contains 4 legs and a final.  I wouldn't even think of attempting when there is snow on the ground.  And if the small creeks are flowing from recent rain fall, your difficulty will be increased.  If you don't like tight, dark spaces, skip this one.  The legs are very well hidden.  Your feet will most likely get wet, unless you have the right footwear.  A flashlight is recommended, even on a sunny day.  You will not need any special safety equipment to reach any of the legs.  There are two special prizes for the first to find and second to find.  If you find this with a partner or a team, please take only one.  Enjoy the search!!
****Special note: after one DNF, I walked the entire cache again today. This was the first day that was not rainy and overcast. We used two GPS devices and averaged at least 4 sets of coordinates for each leg while creating this cache. I made one correction as Cayuga Crew relayed important information to me (thanks again, so sorry). Keep in mind the level of accuracy of your device as there are areas of this cache that seem to prevent the GPS from being dead on, especially the final, part of what makes this a 4.5 difficulty. That is all, happy hunting****

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Or fher gb ybbx hc naq qbja.

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)