This series of caches has been placed with cyclists in mind. There is no need to leave the trail or climb over any fences to retrieve any of the HRT series.
The Hauraki Rail Trail is suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs but barriers preventing motorcycle access to the trail limit access in some sections for wheelchairs and recumbent bikes. The majority of the trail is 2.5metres wide and runs through farmland; it is fenced on both sides and bridges are 1.5m wide.
The Thames Branch railway line connected Thames with Hamilton and was originally part of the East Coast Main Trunk Railway.
Gold was discovered in the Thames area in 1852 and soon there were problems barging enough coal from the Auckland area to meet the demands of the gold mining industry
In 1872 the Auckland Provincial Council recommended a rail connection to Thames. Surveys were completed in 1878, despite opposition from local Maori, putting the cost of the 54km line at £178,000
The railway from Hamilton to Te Aroha was opened on 1st March 1886. The Te Aroha to Paeroa section opened on 20th December 1895, and the Paeroa to Thames section was opened three years later on 19th December 1898. The Minister of Railways, Alfred Cadman, drove the first train into Thames, using an F class locomotive.
This railway line would go onto to prove to be a vital link for Thames businesses, specifically A & G Price Ltd who manufactured many Steam engines for NZGR from 1904. In later years the railway was used extensively for transport by the Toyota car assembly plant.
Work began in 1911 on a link from Paeroa through the Karangahake Gorge to Waihi. From this stage the Thames Branch was defined as Paeroa to Thames, with the Te Aroah to Paeroa section being designated as part of the East Coast Main Trunk.
The opening of the Kaimai Tunnel in 1979 and the closure of the Paeroa to Katikati section of the East Coast Main Trunk led to the re-designation of the Morrinsville to Thames section as the Thames Branch.
Scheduled trains to Thames ceased in 1985. The line closed on 28th June 1991. The track was lifted during May 1995, between Thames and the dairy factory at Waitoa. In 2004 the section of the line as far as Waitoa (still in place) was re-opened for dairy traffic, as part of Fonterra's policy of moving more freight by rail.
In 2011 the local councils secured a 20 year lease from KiwiRail, who still own the track bed, to create the Hauraki Rail Trail which follows most of the former rail alignment and is part of the New Zealand Cycle Trail network.
Thank you to the Hauraki Rail Trail Trust for giving permission to lay this series of caches along the trail.