Manawatu rail: Terrace End Traditional Geocache
Manawatu rail: Terrace End
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Difficulty:
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Size: 
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One of a series of simple, easy to find, caches at railway stations in and around the Manawatu.
***If you are searching for this cache on a weekend, please be nice to the man selling letterboxes and bird houses. He knows of the geocache (and where it is hidden), you don't need to treat him as a muggle!***
Welcome aboard the Foxton-Palmerston tram service to Palmerston! End of the line! Last stop Palmerston. Government Railways' service to Wanganui continues through here, next stop Mugby Junction. Also the Government Railways' service to Napier, next stop Whakarongo.
The town of Terrace End was named for its location at the end of the Manawatu River terraces, and the rail stop was placed here, not only to serve the little township, but also to access the government gravel pit, opened especially to provide ballast (foundation) for the wooden-railed Palmerston-Foxton line, which started construction in Palmerston in 1871 and crept its way to Foxton, being completed in 1873. However much of the way was swampland, and steam engines proved too heavy for the line, so the line reverted to a horse-drawn tramway. In 1876 the line was upgraded with more ballast and steel rail, allowing the use of steam engines. The pit was also used to provide material for the later rail line to Feilding, as well as local roading.
The rail service meant that Terrace End could grow, and rail expansion to Wanganui and the Hawkes Bay resulted in enough traffic that in 1895 Terrace End station received a new building and platform. In 1937 the pit was sold to the city council and remade into Fitzroy Park. The park was opened on Arbor day, 1938, with tree planting by Hokowhitu and Terrace End school children. The railways continued intermittent quarrying at the eastern end until 1942. In 1952 Fitzroy Park was renamed to Memorial Park. A skating rink was built, also a cycle track and athletic field on the quarry remnant at the eastern end. As well as the Memorial Gate, a memorial obelisk was built beside the pond where the flagpole now stands.
Terrace End railway station was pulled out when the lines through Palmerston North were removed in 1964. Terrace End township itself had long since been subsumed and is now a suburb of Palmerston North.
The cache is located about 80m from the site of the railway station. You are looking for a bison tube, so no room for swaps. BYOP. Good luck!
Fitzroy Park paddling pool, 1950
Memorial Park with gate and obelisk, 1960. Terrace End Station is on the left edge.
References:
Cassells, K.R.: "The Foxton and Wanganui Railway", published by the New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society, 1984.
O'Neill, Garry: "Terrace End", published by The Palmerston North Historical Society, 2009.
Palmerston North City Council: www.pncc.govt.nz/about/history/
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Uvtu ebnq, fubhyqre urvtug