Chatham, Virgina is a small town located between Lynchburg to the nortnh and Danville to the south. Once an industrial spot it now may gain a great deal of its icome from two boading prep schools, Hargrave Military Academy for boys and Chatham Hall for girls. These high school students in years past might well have come and gone to these schools by the Southern Railroad passenger trains that served the Town of Chatham.
But an evemt on September 27th, 1903 probably sent shock waves through both the town and the station. On that day further north in Monroe, Virginia, an engineere named Steve was called to crew the southbound mail trail pulled by number 97. He was told he was "way behind time" but had to "put her in Spenser (NC) on time. This was probably where as he roared past the Chatham station he told his fireman to "shovel on a little more coal" so he could crest ""White Oak Mountain" on his way to Danville. There he lost his air brakes and coming around a bend he jumped the rails on a trestle to crash into the gulley below .Eleven lost their lives, including the cab crew.
The station closed in 1965 and was to be torn down in 1998 but was saved and restored by 2012 with the help of local support and grants. It now houses the Pittsylvania County Historical Society. It is open to the public from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM Tuesday thru Saturday. There is a new platform for train watchers. Cache container is a magnetic hide-a-key.
I have had a nice chat with the library director. She knows about caching and is friendly o it. She will let he staff know about the cache.
High balls to you.
Congrats to Skyhawk 63 for a damp 1300 FTF, probably from NC. High balls to you and thanks for the positive commnents. Look for more Chatham area caches to come. So let it be written; so let it be done.