Gillitts Railway Station
The Gillitts Railway Station is a beautiful example of 1900-era architecture.
History of the Area
Gillitts Park is situated on what was previously known as the Emberton and the Dovehouse farms.
Owned by William Gillitt at the turn of the 20th century, his descendants still live on at the original farmhouse in the Emberton Driving Range. The last of the farm still exists zoned as Agricultural land at the Hillcrest end of Ashley Drive and the majority of Gillitts Park was only surveyed as residential in the early 1980’s.
The original train line from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, built in the late 1800’s, winds through the residential areas. This train line is no longer in regular use, and is only used by the Umgeni Steam Railway, who run a tourist service of carriages through from Kloof to Inchanga on the last Sunday of every month.
This train is pulled by 'Maureen', a restored Class 3BR No. 1486 steam engine built in 1912 and the sound of the train whistle echoing through the neighbourhood on a Sunday morning is a reminder of a quieter time of life.
The Gillitts Train Station on the line in the middle of Gillitts is derelict and currently not used, but is a beautiful example of 1900-era architecture.
Dating back to the Boer War in the first decade of the 20th century, the train station was a stop for British soldiers transiting from Durban through to the Midland battlefields as well as returning wounded soldiers. During the Boer War, the Gillitts family farm held a garrison of British troops, who built a small dam for water and a camp in what is now Camp Road. The dam still exists in a picturesque natural park amongst the houses on what is now Ashley Drive and contains bass, barbel and other fish species as well as supporting a variety of other waterfowl.
Wounded soldier and his wounded horse.
The Cache
The location of the cache is S29 47.ABC E30 48.XYZ.
1. Convert the height of the station (in feet) to meters. This is LMN meters.
2. Convert the distance to Durban (in miles) to kilometers. This is PQ km.
3. Read the inscription below the photograph on the information plaque at WP2 - you need the alphabet position of:
3a 2nd line of inscription, 5th word, last letter. This is R
3b. 1st line of inscription, 2nd word, last letter. This is S
3c. 4th line of inscription, 1st word, 2nd letter. This is T
3d. 3rd line of inscription, 6th word, 1st letter. This is V
A = R
B = S
C = L
X = T
Y = Q - R
Z = (P + S) - (T + V)
The final container is a (biggish) nano and is a short walk (or drive) away.
NOTE: Vagrants have been noticed in the area of the station building at night. It is therefore recommended that this cache NOT be done during darkness hours unless in a safe-sized group.