Track a Track #1 The Railhead Traditional Cache
Track a Track #1 The Railhead
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(other)
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This cache is part of a series along the route of a railway laid for the construction of the Abertillery & District Water Board's reservoir at the head of the Grwyne Fawr valley. Five caches are placed along the road leading to Blaen y Cwm and are C&D's with room to stop nearby. Other caches can be found in the forest throughout the valley at sites of abandoned Farms and cottages. You will need to collect clues from some of the first five to work out the location of the bonus cache.
The Act of Parliament passed for the construction of the reservoir in 1910 did not authorise the laying of a railway. At first all construction materials were transported by horse and cart or traction engines from Llanfihangel station on the main railway line from Abergavenny to Hereford. On the narrow and steep lanes particularly in wet weather road surfaces soon became rutted and reduced to mud. Traction engines constantly "grounded" and drivers sometimes lost control on steep descents. As there was no vehicular access to the Grwyne Fawr valley, before any work could begin a new road had to be laid from the Llanthony road at Lower Cwmyoy to Fforest Coalpit and up the valley to Blaen y Cwm. Although no permission for a railway had been granted, when the roads proved unsatisfactory it was found to be legally possible to lay a railway on the roadbed.
The railhead here at Lower Cwmyoy became a depot for the trans-shipment of materials from road to rail. The road route from Llanfihangel station was down a narrow lane to Stanton farm where the rounded stone wall on the corner was erected to ease the turn for the traction engines. The wide lay-by on the road to Fforest Coalpit near this first cache and now used by the council for soil storage, was a 216ft. turn-round loop, with a 300ft. siding near the first bend and a shorter siding to a loco shed.
Placed with the kind permission of the landowner.
Clue for the Bonus cache:- The number of the cycle route is AB.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Jurer jbhyq lbh chg vg.