SideTracked - Meldon Viaduct Traditional Geocache
ynysva: Cache damaged and removed
SideTracked - Meldon Viaduct
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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DISCLAIMER: This geocache has been placed by ourselves with strict adherence to Geocaching guidelines, and is on private land (to which we have sought and obtained permission for cache placement and have adhered to the relative land owners agreement). The cache container is of a type which does not cause damage to the structure or environment in which it is placed, and is not placed in a restricted or inappropriate location.
SideTracked - Meldon Viaduct
| This cache has been placed with the permission of the local heritage railway, with whom the cache owner is an active volunteer. The cache is on the boundary between the railway and the footpath/cycleway and can be accessed from either side, so therefore you do not need to go onto the platform to retrieve this cache. |
GC5BNFB
SideTracked - Meldon Viaduct |
The station was originally constructed in the 1920s as Meldon Quarry Halt. It had no public access and functioned as a staff halt for quarry workers, their families and railway staff working at Meldon Quarry. The quarry originally had no metalled road access and some quarry workers and their families lived in cottages situated near the quarry. They used the halt for access to Okehampton. The halt was not shown in the public railway timetable and local passenger services would only call by special arrangement. A workmen's service from Okehampton also operated using a passenger coach attached to one of the ballast trains. The platforms of the halt were constructed using standard components manufactured at the Railway's own Concrete Works at Exmouth Junction. The platforms were very narrow and short, about the length of a single passenger coach. They were situated at the immediate east end of Meldon Viaduct, between the viaduct and Meldon Quarry signal box. The Beeching Report in 1963 recommended that the Exeter to Plymouth Line be cut back to Okehampton; and when services ceased between there and Bere Alston in 1968, the Halt became disused. Some time later both platforms were demolished during modifications to the rail layout and access at the western end of Meldon Quarry. Bow, North Tawton, Sampford Courtenay and Okehampton lost their passenger services from 1972. But freight traffic continued on the line thanks to the activities of the British Rail ballast quarry at Meldon, three miles from Okehampton, which had an output of 300,000 tons per year. The quarry survives to this day, although it is now owned by Aggregate Industries and currently mothballed. A new station at Meldon Quarry was opened during 2000 by the Dartmoor Railway to act as the terminus of a passenger service from Okehampton. It has a single platform adjacent to the former up line but situated slightly nearer to Okehampton than the former Staff Halt. It is an entirely new construction unrelated to the previous Halt. The station was further improved in 2002 with the installation of concrete platform walling and a wooden platform shelter in BR Southern Region style and colour scheme. It is the current western terminus of Dartmoor Railway heritage passenger services to Okehampton and Sampford Courtenay, and was renamed from Meldon Quarry o Meldon Viaduct with the start of the 2014 timetable. The station has no motor vehicle access but does have excellent pedestrian and cycle access via the "Granite Way" Cycleway (No. 27 route). It also has links to Dartmoor via the local footpath network |
| Cache Information |
This cache is a clear, square 870ml Lock & Lock Box which contains a log book, a pencil and room to hold trackables. This cache is situated adjacent to what now forms part of the Granite Way, and you DO NOT have to access railway land to obtain this cache |
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Orgjrra srapr naq zrgny ynzc fgnaqneq oenpxrg ba arnerfg ynzc gb jngre gnax.