These caches were placed by LGVHB – Last Green Valley Hiker Brothers, consisting of CacheDweeb & KochMedic. We’ve been hiking the Airline Trail, Tri-State Marker, and Southern New England Trunkline Trail for years and decided to bring our fellow geocachers to experience this wonderful area.
A bit of history of the area:
The Great East Thompson Train Wreck was a large rail disaster which occurred in East Thompson, Connecticut, on December 4, 1891. It happened on the New York and New England Railroad, which provided a shortcut from New York City to Boston by making a diagonal across Connecticut. That railroad is now abandoned, and most of its tracks removed. It was one of the most extensive train wrecks in American history, to date the only one to involve four trains.
On the morning of December 4, 1891, four trains were scheduled to pass through East Thompson, in the far northeast corner of Connecticut; the Long Island & Eastern States Express from New York to Boston via a ferry across Long Island Sound; the Norwich Steamboat Express from New London also to Boston, the Southbridge Local freight to the town of that name just over the Massachusetts border, and freight train No. 212. To keep the slower No. 212 from impeding the approaching Eastern States Express, the local dispatcher allowed 212 to run on the left-hand track ahead of the express. Unfortunately both the dispatcher and 212's crew had forgotten about the oncoming Southbridge Local freight. At 6:40 AM, just before the East Thompson station, the two freight trains collided head-on violently, jacknifing several cars and tossing one across both eastbound and westbound tracks.
Meanwhile, the Eastern States Express approached at 50 mph, unaware of the disaster. It crashed into the car across the other track, causing the engine to derail and strike a telephone pole, killing engineer Harry Taber and fireman Gerry Fitzgerald. (Fitzgerald was actually substituting for Mike Flynn, who had been scheduled but was marked off the roster since he had had a premonition of disaster the night before.) Steam from the ruptured engine destroyed a nearby home.
Then the uninjured crewmen remembered the Norwich Steamboat Train. A flagman was sent out, but was too late to get the speeding express to stop. At 6:45 AM, it plowed eight feet into the rear of the Eastern States Express, setting the rear sleeping car on fire as well as the engine cab. Fortunately the crew suffered only cuts and scrapes.
Miraculously, even though all four engines, the sleeper, and a baggage car were destroyed, the track was torn up for about 500 yards east of the passenger station, and hundreds of people were injured in the wreck, only two people were confirmed dead; Harry Taber and Gerry Fitzgerald of the Eastern States Express. A third man, R.H. Rath of New York, was presumed dead, but his body was never found.
The station has since been torn down, and the former New York & New England Railroad through this area is now an rail trail for non motorized travel.As you walk about the trail you can not help but notice remnent of the by gone era when this place was much different than it is today.
Hunting in CT:
No person shall hunt any wildlife from September 1 through the last day of February without wearing at least a total of 400 square inches of fluorescent orange clothing above the waist visible from all sides. Recommended that walkers stay safe by wearing the same amount of fluorescent orange clothing during hunting season. Hunting on Sunday is allowed within certain areas, shooting preserves, and regulated dog training areas when the operator has permission from the town.