One of a series of simple, easy to find, caches at railway stations in and around Marlborough.
Welcome aboard the Picton-Blenheim train service to Blenheim! Last stop Tua Marina, next stop Grovetown.
Spring Creek Station was opened, like the others along this line, in November of 1875, to service the Spring Creek district, and its principal town, Marlboroughtown. It closed in June 1990 and the site was taken over as the Blenheim Freight Centre.
Marlboroughtown was established here and given that name as it was in a more central position within the Marlborough district than either Picton or Blenheim, as a possible solution to the enmity and petty squabbling that ensued between them (see Marlborough rail: Picton for more on this). The school here was still known as Marlboroughtown School as late as 1954 although by 1973 it had changed its name to Spring Creek. As has happened in other places, the name of the railway station led to a passive change of the town name.
Spring Creek Station closed in June of 1990, however the site lives on as a major freight forwarding centre. Blenheim is at the junction of routes to Nelson, Picton and it's link to the North Island, and the east and west coasts. There is also a shortcut road opposite that bypasses the town of Blenheim to many of these destinations.
The people in the house opposite the cache know about the cache and will be playing Spot-The-Geocacher.
Spring Creek. Early, date unknown
2280 crates of apples ready to go. Spring Creek, date unknown.
References:
nzetc.victoria.ac.nz: "The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts]"
Scoble, J: "Names and Opening and Closing Dates of Railway Stations", published by the Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand, 2010
Parliamentary paper: Education: Primary Education, 1922
Supporting the GeoKids program - my caches have treasure, makes them fun for kids to find!