I cannot find an image of the Rotorua turntable, so the image above is that taken by Mark Stout of J1211 being turned at Taihape on July 5th, 2010 (ref: Mainline Steam Heritage Trust).
The Rotorua turntable was recycled by being moved (see p18) to Whangarei and is currently in active use there.
The cache is designed to be simple, an introduction to puzzle caches, with a handy link and, like all (or most) of my caches, actually introduces a topic or location of interest, being not just another micro in a bus stop or a magnetic under a bridge. The key to ensuring that you are on the right track to this cache may be verified by viewing the contents of this cache page very carefully.
The Rotorua Express was a passenger express train operated by the New Zealand Railways Department between Auckland and Rotorua. It operated from 1894. From May 1930 through November 1937 the service was known as the Rotorua Limited, with newly constructed carriages and less stops, leading to a faster service. The Express's final run was on 6 February 1959 to Auckland.
Three days later, a replacement railcar service began, utilising 88 seater railcars and this continued until 11 November 1968. Plagued by mechanical issues, a replacement train was considered to be an unprofitable option and NZR Road Services buses took over all passenger traffic.
It was not until 1991 that a regular passenger train service returned to Rotorua, when the Geyserland Express commenced operating.
Here is a 1990 video of the abandoned Rotorua station, prior to the locations development as a mall. The video is taken from somewhere near the current site of the Westpac Bank.
And another of a late 1990's Silver Fern Railcar trip from Auckland to Rotorua. Ending at the small temporary passenger station (opened in 1995 by the Second Chance Train Trust) on the northern side of the Lake Rd overbridge. The overbridge was lowered in 2012 and Lake Rd widened to 4-lanes. The Silver Fern Railcars were used on the Geyserland Express service from 1991 to 2001.
The last train to arrive and depart Rotorua was a special, in 2002, some 6 months after the Rotorua Branch was finally mothballed. Although of poor quality, viewing this video may be of some interest to you.
The cache is at the stated coordinates.
Your mission is to determine the key to open it by solving the Sudoku below. But there is a twist. Or two. One of them being the 3,984 possible solutions. You could use an online solver such as that found at the puzzle maestros' favourite toolbox. Or print and bring with you the Sudoku. Or maybe look at and think about it for a minute. Just saying... Which leaves you with several potential results. And I've already stated how to verify the key.
*** Cache cannot hold anything apart from the included log sheet. ***
Please bring a pen for the waterproof paper log.
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You can validate your key to the puzzle with certitude.
*** Congratulations to squirrel nutcase for FTF. ***
And kudos to him for acknowledging kiwicouple as FTS (not on certitude).
