Egham GeoCache Series 

After our recently placed GeoCache Series at Great Western Park, Didcot, we decide to place a few more caches in other parts of Didcot and surrounding villages, or duing our trips to other towns and cities, in order to honour local heros, and to reflect our rich local history, stories and heritage. We hope you will enjoy these new caches and may also learn something new when you are caching, thank you!

All our placed caches can be viewed at this public bookmark list: https://coord.info/BMFEC4E

Egham #263 - Egham Railway Station (Officially Known as SideTracked - Egham)

Source: Wikimedia

Egham railway station is a two-platform National Rail station located in the town of Egham, Surrey. Managed and operated entirely by South Western Railway, the station handles frequent commuter services connecting South West London and the southern counties. Its station signs uniquely display "Egham, for Royal Holloway, University of London," making it a primary transit point for thousands of local students and staff.

1. Essential Station Information

• Station Code: EGH
• Address: Station Road, Egham, Surrey, TW20 9LB
• Ticket Office Hours: Monday to Saturday from 06:15 to 19:55, and Sunday from 08:10 to 19:40.
• Self-Service Options: Accessible ticket machines are available on-site for both purchases and ticket collections.
• Oyster Cards: London Oyster cards are not accepted here because Egham sits outside the Transport for London (TfL) travel zones. However, contactless bank cards and standard tickets can be used.

2. Route Connections & Services

The station sits directly on the Waterloo to Reading line.

• To London Waterloo: Direct trains head eastbound via Staines and Richmond.
• To Reading & Weybridge: Westbound services travel onward via Virginia Water. 

3. History

Egham railway station officially opened on 4 June 1856, fundamentally transforming the local area from a rural horse-coaching village into a vital London commuter suburb. 

a. Planning and Construction Obstacles

• First Proposals: Initial blueprints connecting Egham to London Waterloo were drafted as early as 1846.
• The Railway Bill: Parliament approved the Staines, Wokingham & Woking Junction Railway bill in 1853, prompting celebratory church bell ringing across the town.
• Local Backlash: Significant local opposition arose because the tracks were planned to dissect 12 local roads. Landowners also held out for higher property compensation.

b. Opening and Early Operations

• The Launch: Services finally launched on 4 June 1856 under the operation of the London & South Western Railway (LSWR).
• First Station Master: A Kingston resident, Mr. Rutter, was appointed as Egham's first station master.
• The 1859 Timetable: Records from the Egham Museum reveal that only six trains ran on weekdays and two on Sundays. A first-class single ticket to London cost 3 shillings and 8 pence.

c. Modern Transformations

• Electrification: The entire line was fully electrified in 1939, immediately prior to the outbreak of World War II.
• Wartime Deployment: During World War II, the station served as a high-security transit point moving military forces and heavy hardware toward the southern coast.
• Privatisation Era: The station transferred to British Railways during the 1948 nationalisation. It later fell under Network SouthEast in the 1980s before evolving into its current operational structure under South Western Railway.

About this Multi-cache:

To find this geocache, please visit both stages and find the answers for the following questions. The cache is not located at the published coordinates.

At the published coordinates, you will be looking for a defibrillator. The location code of this defib has several letters and numbers in it. The number of letters in the first word is A, and the number of letters in the second word is B. Finally, what are the 3 digits shown in this location code? Let them be CDE.

Now please move to Stage 2, where you will be looking for a yellow sign. The total number of lines of words on the sign is F, and the number of letters in the fourth word on the second line G. Finally, the last 3 digits of the telephone number on this sign is HJK.

The final coordinates are a short distance away at:

N51 ( E - B )  ( B - C ) . ( E - C )  ( D + F )  ( K - D )

W000 ( H / C )  ( F - G ) . ( C + H )  ( J - C )  ( C + G )

The checksum of all the digits in the final coordinates is 52.

Please also note: 

To celebrate the coming 19th SideTracked Day (10 August 2026), we are reviving the SideTracked cache GC90CCC at Egham Railway Station, which was initially placed on 1 October 2020 by TheHarleyRebel but archived recently on 28 May 2026.

Please take extra care when collecting the information around the Egham station, especially when passing the level crossing.

Please bring your own pen, and open & close the cache lid carefully so the cache and log book can survive longer. You might need a tweezer to help retrieve the log paper.

Please also replace exactly as found due to obvious reason, and please be careful with the possible thorns, stinging nettles, and overhead tree branches! Long sleeves, trousers, and gloves are recommended.

You do not need to enter any private land.

Thank you and enjoy GeoCaching!

FTF: Congratulations to VR7 for their FTF on 2 August 2026.

About SideTracked Caches
This cache belongs to the SideTracked series. It is not designed to take you to a magical place with a breath taking view. It's a distraction for the weary traveller, but anyone else can go and find it too. More Information can be found on the SideTracked Series website at www.sidetrackedseries.info https://www.sidetrackedseries.info