SideTracked - Carlisle 'Undercroft'
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(micro)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
This is the 5th SideTracked Carlisle cache I've set, so thought I'd make this one a bit more interesting as a multi, taking you to 2 places that even many locals may not have been to before, including a venture into the 'Undercroft'. If you've got half an hour to kill before catching a train, you'll have time to do this simple multi which is only a few minutes walk away once you've found the required info for the co-ords of the final cache....
The first stage is a virtual, where you have to find the information to then work out the co-ords for the final. Its in the middle of the station, but not in an obvious place to find, in fact in all the years of using the station, I never knew this place existed! Theres a handy place to sit down on the grass close by to do the maths, then a short stroll to a forgotten corner of Carlisle to find the cache, where you can still just see part of the station.
Firstly, you have to find GZ of stage one which is not so straight forward even though its right in the middle of the station. You can easily get to what may appear to be GZ, with a good GPS signal even under the grand roof above the platforms, but at the real GZ, you will NOT be able to get any signal at all. You are looking for 2 signs, among the multitude of signs all over the station. So to make it easy and obvious once you've found them, one sign is GREEN WITH WHITE WRITING on it, with just two words on it, both four letters long, the other sign is BLUE WITH WHITE WRITING on it, with two words on it, four and five letters long.
The final co-ords are:
N 54.53.ABC
W 002 55.DEF
To work out the North co-ords, ONLY use the GREEN AND WHITE sign
To work out the West co-ords, ONLY use the BLUE AND WHITE sign
For all calculations, you will need to give the letters on the signs a number value in the usual method where a = 1, b = 2 etc.... z = 26, then work out A, B, C, D, E, F in the following way:
USING GREEN & WHITE SIGN
A = value of 2nd letter minus value of 1st letter
B = value of 6th letter minus value of 3rd letter
C = value of 8th letter minus value of 3rd letter
USING BLUE & WHITE SIGN
D = value of 3rd letter minus value of 2nd letter
E = value of 6th letter minus value of 1st letter
F = value of 9th letter minus value of 8th letter
Confusing? To help, CHECKSUM: A+B+C+D+E+F=31
CARLISLE STATION & UNDERCROFT: A HISTORY
The station was built in 1847, and is a Grade II listed building in the neo-Tudor style. It was one of 3 stations in the city, and became the main one in 1851. But theres another side to the station, underground and usually unseen - called the 'Undercroft'. Underneath the station there are a series of tunnels and rooms including a butchers room, a cold store, and a foot warmer room. Census records show that the station was residential, with people listed as born, living and dying there. Which might explain ghost stories such as the headless man wandering platform 8!
Carlisle is an open station, 24/7, there is no ticket barrier, so anyone can access the first virtual stage, with permission being kindly granted to have a virtual stage of this multi inside the station premises by the staff there.
Container at Final Stage is a small micro, but bigger than a nano, and if you approach GZ from the wrong side, you won't be able to grab it!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Stage 1: fhogreenarna
Final Stage: zntargvp, nobir tenir fgbar