Ghost Rails #007 Get Off & Push--Armstead Traditional Cache
rendez-vous: It is with regret that we archive this cache. The person we were using to help us is unavailable. Hopefully in the future, we will be able to replace it.
Thank you all who had fun finding it.
Rendez-vous
Ghost Rails #007 Get Off & Push--Armstead
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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Ghost Rails is an on-going series of caches dedicated to a time gone by, a time when the railroads were a major part of the lives of the people and communities of this great country. In many places, the railroads have disappeared. No longer needed, the tracks were removed, and the remnants neglected and forgotten. Ghost Rails will attempt to show you some of these places for a short history lesson and your caching enjoyment.
The Gilmore and Pittsburgh Railroad was a railroad that never should have been built. Running west from Armstead in Montana along Horse Prairie Creek, it crossed the Continental Divide at Bannock Pass into Idaho to Leadore, and then north to Salmon. A branch line ran south from Leadore to the mining town of Gilmore. The steep grades, rivers, and severe winters made the line both expensive to construct and maintain. From the time the first train ran in 1910, until it ceased operations in 1939, the G&P was constantly struggling to remain in operation and make money. Because it ran through sparsely settled areas of two states, there was never enough passenger and freight business to make it profitable. Even though it was an essential form of transportation for many years, the G&P was never fast, which is why the locals gave it the nickname of “Get Off and Push,” or, on occasion, “Grunt & Puff.”
The line began in Armstead, Montana, the current site of today’s Clark Canyon Reservoir located off Interstate 15, five miles north of Red Rock. Armstead was located at the junction of Horse Prairie Creek and Red Rock River, which joined here to form the Beaverhead River. The town was named for Harry Armstead, a miner who developed the Polaris Mine, 40 miles from the town. Armstead was located at milepost 307 on the Union Pacific’s Pocatello-Silver Bow/Butte main line. It was the only interchange point for the G&P, although the G&P was owned and controlled by the Northern Pacific. The G&P and NP lines never connected with each other.
Today, Armstead lies beneath the waters of the Clark Canyon Reservoir. When the water level behind Clark Canyon Dam is low, it is possible to see the railroad bed and the Armstead townsite to the southeast of “Armstead Island” in the middle of the reservoir. The G&P roadbed can also still be seen exiting the reservoir to the west.
The cache site is at a point where a person can look to the west and see the Armstead Townsite in the waters below. It can be accessed through the park located just south of the Clark Canyon Dam, although it is not in the park. Please do not park along the freeway while attempting to find the cache.
Cache on, dudes!!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Va gur ebpxf !
Treasures
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