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CNJ Barnegat Branch Traditional Geocache

This cache has been archived.

flamingo23: I'm going to have to let this one go. Someone keeps grabbing trackables and not moving them on. I'll work on a replacement. Thanks to all who visited.

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Hidden : 8/14/2008
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

A easy cache near the CNJ Barnegat Branch trailhead.

***NOTE*** Cache replaced in a new position

N 39 45.331
W 074 13.407

The hint remains the same.

Barnegat was once a two railroad town. The Central Railroad of New Jersey’s Barnegat Branch and the Tuckerton Railroad both had stations here. Near this spot the rails of the CNJ and the Tuckerton emerged from the pines after paralleling each other from Waretown Junction. The Barnegat Branch started in Lakehurst and ran through Toms River, South Toms River, Bayville, Forked River, and Waretown before terminating in Barnegat at the corner of Memorial Drive and West Bay Avenue.

As late as the 1930s, you could board a Jersey Central train and travel to North Jersey and New York, or you could board a Tuckerton RR train and connect to the Pennsylvania Railroad in Whiting. Into the 1950s, CNJ passenger and freight trains regularly made the trip on the Barnegat Branch.

Eventually, passenger traffic declined, and passenger service ended. Freight service on the branch continued through the 1960s, when the branch was used to haul construction supplies for the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station. Once the plant was completed, however, the traffic on the line dropped, and the branch was abandoned below Toms River.

Long portions of the branch still exist. Train tracks still run into Toms River along Route 37, formerly servicing the now closed Ciba-Geigy plant, but now only serving a few local businesses. There is an underpass on the Garden State Parkway near the bus station in Toms River where the trains could cross under the highway. In Lacey Township there is both a low-water bridge and a trestle. Both locations are cache sites.

The Ocean County government has owned much of the old right-of-way below Toms River for many years, and is in the process of converting the roadbed into a rail trail. As of this writing, the trail is complete from Barnegat to Waretown Junction. The cache is near the Barnegat trailhead.

You seek a small camouflaged lock and lock container. I averaged the readings for a while and the coordinates will get you very close. Your caching senses will get you right to GZ.

Parking is available very close to the cache. Watch out for ticks and other bugs.

Other CNJ Barnegat Branch-related caches include Away From The Bay, GC10MHP; 1st Lake Micro, GC1B3K7; and Duke’s Trestle, GC1B7R4.

This Cache is dedicated to my grandfather, Anthony C. Dunay, who was a 45-year Master Machinist with the Central Railroad of New Jersey at the Elizabethport shops.

Congratulations to Teachr4life and the Randall Crew for the FTF.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Gvr bar ba

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)