One of a series of simple, easy to find, caches at railway stations in and around Nelson.
Welcome aboard New Zealand Railways service to Gowan Bridge! Last stop Wakefield, next stop Foxhill.
After eleven years of petitioning and three years of construction the Nelson to Foxhill line was finally completed, and Foxhill Station was opened here in January 1876, much to the annoyance of the residents of Foxhill. This area is actually Upper Wakefield, and the Foxhill community is on the far side of the adjacent Wai-iti River. The promise was for a rail line as far as Foxhill but in order to save cost and meet budget, New Zealand Railways decided not to build the bridge over the Wai-iti and instead have Foxhill Station on this side. In the Nelson Mail, in August 1875, it was even commented that Instead of the Nelson to Foxhill railway they had been given "the mudflat to nowhere line" which had very little to do with Nelson and nothing whatsoever to do with Foxhill. - Nelson Station also being not where the public wanted it. Although there was much protest, the vandalism that occured when Railways did the same thing in Blenheim a year earlier did not happen here. Compare this to the huge party that celebrated the start of construction - see Nelson rail: Stoke.
In neighbouring Picton and Blenheim there was a major celebration and public holiday at the completion and opening of their line just over a year earlier (this was before cars existed, remember. Trains offered high speed, comfortable travel compared to horse and cart). Five trains were laid on to accommodate the public's desire to try the new service. But in Nelson, the Nelson Mail stated that "People had been so deceived, misled and disappointed with regard to this line that its opening is not likely to call forth any display of enthusiasm". And, seemingly in spirit with this sentiment, the opening day was announced, then postponed. On the actual day, 31 January 1876, there were no bands, no processions, no rides for those interested. Just the official train with its dignitaries. The train arrived at Foxhill Station shortly before noon and the passengers then had to walk the last three kilometres to the real Foxhill for lunch. The Colonist wrote "By far the tamest event we have to report was the opening of the Foxhill railway". (For more on the trials and tribulations of the financing and building of this line, and the siting of the Nelson yards, see Nelson rail: Nelson).
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Although Foxhill was just a small shelter shed, and the nearby community was quite small, it had a stationmaster and stationmaster's house. This makes sense when you realise it was the end of the line and so absorbed all the freight from further afield.
Eventually the line was continued. When that happened this station was renamed Wai-iti (little river). The station master was no longer required and his house became home to one of the line maintenance crew. Wai-iti Station was eventually closed, with the rest of the line, in September of 1955.
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Foxhill Station, shortly after opening in 1876.
When it closed the only thing that had changed was the name.
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Foxhill / Wai-iti station was at the published coordinates, but as there is no evidence of the station or platforms left, and given that it is all private property now, there is no point even going there. Instead, project off the published coordinates at 247 degrees for 893 metres, and you will find the cache about 10m from the rail line, right beside the start of the next chapter in this story. If you have never done a projection before, have a look at Geocaching Toolbox.
I really had trouble trying to decided what to call this cache and the next. Normally I have used the first name that a station was known by. Should I call this Wai-iti and the next Foxhill? Should I call this Foxhill I and the next Foxhill II? Or call this one Foxhill (Wai-iti)? In the end I decided to call both Foxhill, to reflect the confusion and frustration the local residents had here. So if it confuses you too, complain to New Zealand Railways!
References:
Voller, L: "Rails to Nowhere: The History of the Nelson Railway", published by the Nikau Press, 1991
O'Donnell, B: "When Nelson had a Railway", published by Schematics, 2005
Scoble, J: "Names and Opening and Closing Dates of Railway Stations", published by the Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand, 2010.