Please follow the "related link" for the full history and amazing story of this rail line. I will attempt to give you some highlights from the page, in case you don't have time or energy (or data plan on your phone/gps) but still want to learn something today! :)
- formed in 1831 to compete against the 'new' Welland Canal (the one that William Merritt built).
- July 3, 1845 the railroad operated from Chippawa to Niagara (know known as Queenston)(I think kirley227 walks more than this regularly).
- originally carriages were pulled by horses, could hold 20 ppl each and went 13 km/hr.
- the railroad could not operate during the winter, which was ok since that is when the steamboats stopped too.
- in 1854 the rail service was extended to Niagara on the Lake.
- other names - Fort Erie Railroad Company, Canadian Southern Railway and Erie & Niagara Railroad as well as others.
- rail service discontinued from Fort Erie to Chippawa in 1925.
- the NOTL service finished in 1926 but freight still used it for a time after.
- in 2001 a 10.6 km x 30 metres section of the rail line across the tourist district of Niagara Falls was purchased from the then owners, the Canadian Pacific Railway by the City of Niagara Falls, the Province of Ontario and Casino Niagara.
- this cairn is to mark the first railroad in Upper Canada and the third in the Province of Ontario.
TO FIND FINAL LOCATION:
assume - N 43 06.abc W 079 04.def
a - the third number (the tens column) in the year that the cairn was erected.
bc - count the number slats in the bench beside the cairn (try googling that!!) - *UPDATE JULY 2 , 2016. BENCH REMOVED! NUMBER OF SLATS = 40 - the number you come up with needs to be reduced by 2. That two digit number is now "bc".
d - convert the THIRD letter in the first word on the bottom line of the plaque to a number.
ef - count the number of rocks that compose the northwest corner of the cairn. If you can't manage to do that, try the southwest corner - they both give you the same number!
Happy caching!