The first railroad in the Astoria area ran from the west side of Youngs Bay to Seaside in 1892. By 1896 a bridge was built over the bay to link it to Astoria. In 1898 rains ran from Astoria along the Columbia River to the then Northern Pacific ferry terminal at Goble. This opened up Astoria to Portland. By 1911 operation of the line to Astoria was transitioned to the Spokane, Portland & Seattle (SP&S) Railway. At it height the SP&S had up to 8 passenger trains a day running between Astoria and Portland.
Passenger service ended in 1952. Freight service continued. SP&S was absorbed by the Burlington Northern in the early 1970's. The line to Seaside was closed in the 1970's. Freight service dried up by the 1990's in Astoria. The BN sold the line to Portland and Western, except for the few miles between Astoria and Tongue Point, which the City of Astoria now owns.
Just to the east of the cache site is the former Astoria Train Station. It was built in 1925 by the SP&S railway. BN gave the depot to the Maritime Museum in 1987. The station building was recently restored by the museum as a research center. Today the only train that actively goes by the station is the Astoria Riverfront Trolley.
Cache is a nano, please don't drop it.