History Lesson:
In 1962 construction was being done on a 10 foot deep ditch for the
main sewer line on Esplanade Street. Ernie Morgan, an employee of
Flavelle Cedar, found a train bell 6 feet below the surface. There
were no identifiable marks on the bell.
It is thought that the bell may have been debris from a horrible
accident that took place in 1913. A cattle train heading east from
Vancouver was diverted through the Canadian Pacific Lumber Co. (now
the site of Flavelle Cedar) because a rail switch was accidentally
left open.
The train, moving at "full steam", smashed into box cars on the
mill railway where CPL employees were piling lumber inside the
cars. Fourteen of the workers were killed and many others were
injured.
It’s thought that the bell may have fallen off the engine when
it was being removed during clean up operations. The train bell is
on display at the Port Moody Station Museum.
Location:
This is an urban cache. Beware of muggles. Parking is available on
Esplanade although the best parking is at:
N 49 16.740'
W 122 50.980'
Cache Container:
1 L Lock & Lock painted green.
Original Cache Contents:
FTF prize $10.00 Tim Hortons gift certificate, 4 wooden train
whistles, 2 led train engine keychains, history information
card.
Works Consulted:
Al Sholund. The Mystery of The Train Bell. [Online] February 5,
2006. ( City of Port Moody Link
NOTE: Please re-hide the cache
carefully! It should be completely covered up and not be visible at
all after you have re-hidden it.