In 1856, the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad (M&C) forged its way through the Ohio wilderness and around it small villages like Ingham Station and Mineral began to pop up along its route in Vinton County. Another in the sparsely populated area near Zaleski would be Moonville, which had just a few families living in the town proper and was distinguished by the small tunnel running through a hillside. But mining, timbering, and the iron industry would bring more people to the surrounding region, and the mode of travel by foot was much easier along the railroad tracks, so many miners and their families would walk the tracks from town to town or hitch a ride on a train going from home to work-from Hope Furnace and Hope Furnace Station toward Ingham Station and Mineral. Moonville would have fallen into obscurity like many of the other towns in Appalachia if it wasn't for those folks on the railway because some of them haven't left even long after they have died. One such ghost is that of Engineer Theodore Lawhead, whose train collided with another on the track in 1880 and who was killed instantly. His ghost shows itself at the far end of the tunnel.
There are two routes you can find this geocache, but this one is not recommended:
1) Through the bottomlands and the old Coe/Ferguson property considered the town of Moonville: the first is a bit rugged and seasonally pooled with water at the entrance- 0.4 mile rugged path along Division of Forestry property to Rails to Trails hiking area at Moonville Tunnel. Along the way, geocachers can see old fieldstones on either side of the trail, the only remnants of an old farm. There were just a couple of families living in Moonville proper along with a gristmill and sawmill, but nearly 26 people have been killed at or near the tunnel in over 150 years, leading to the legend of ghosts haunting it.
2) Designated Parking Lot: Along the old Rail Trail: The second access with parking is easily ventured (even by wheelchair and stroller, although the tunnel area can seasonally have a pool of water) and can be identified by the Moonville Rail Trail railroad signs.
Both routes lead to the Moonville Tunnel (seasonally, this one is difficult) and its ghosts. These include an engineer killed in the 1880s, a woman who is identified by the scent of lavender and a brakeman who was crushed between two train cars.
Please do not allow anyone to see you finding the cache or replacing as this is an area of high vandalism.