The Old Toll Bar Redwood, Queensland, Australia
By grahamf72 on 18-May-10. Waypoint GA2076

Cache Details

Difficulty:
Terrain:
Type: Traditional
Container: Regular
Coordinates: S27° 34.288' E151° 58.891' (WGS 84)
  56J 399463E 6949853N (UTM)
Elevation: 588 m
Local Government Area: Toowoomba

Map

Cache Tracker
Mayor
QR Code
Log Count
Public Tags
Private Tags
Rating

Description

This cache takes you to the old Toll Bar - one of the early roads up the Toowoomba Range.

 The first range crossing in the Toowoomba district was Gorman's Gap Road, to the south of Toowoomba. This route was aptly named "Hell Hole Road" because it was so steep and dangerous that it took 3 days to travel just 12km.  

In 1849, Surveyor J C Burnett found a route to the north, which was to become the famous Toll Bar Road. In 1853 a gang of 12 workers cleared and constructed a better road on this initial route, which was already well used by bullockies.  The town of Drayton (now a suburb of Toowoomba) was the major settlement in the area when the Toll Bar opened in January 1855. A simple gatehouse was erected at the top of the Range, near the current intersection of Ipswich and Curtis Streets. A bar crossing the road, and a fence either side stopped traffic and enabled toll collection of approximately two shillings.

The Railway line reached Toowoomba in 1866 and dramatically reduced the traffic on the Toll Bar. As a result, the toll was lifted in 1867, but it still remained a vital transport link.   At the time of federation, the road was steep with a rough stone pavement. The advent of motor transport increased traffic volumes and a need for a better road surface. In 1932 the Toll Bar Road was proclaimed a State Highway by the Main Roads Commission, however it wasn't until 1938 that a major upgrade took place. The most significant change was realigning the uppermost section, to reach the top of the Range 500m north.

The road grew in importance as a link from Brisbane to the West. The next major improvement was in 1964 when work started on construction of a new two-lane up section, which made the highway basically as it is today.

Today, much of the upper part of the old Toll Bar road is a suburban street, but 400m of the road, from about 100m below Curtis St, to Stevenson St has been turned into a walking track. Most of this section runs almost parallel to the current highway - a few spots give glimpses through the trees to the road below.

The cache you seek is an ammo tin, concealed in a method that is a cacher's favourite, so shouldn't be too hard to find. The GPS can be a little erratic around here due to tree cover, but you shouldn't have much trouble finding the spot. Around the area where the cache is placed, you will see some interesting volcanic rock - it is quite easily broken, with large air-pockets and crystals formed in the bubbles. Perhaps if one of the cachers who finds this knows their geology they could enlighten me with the name of this rock.  The trip to the cache, although steep in spots,  is quite easy, over the former road. The last little bit is a bit of a scramble but not overly difficult. If you are in Toowoomba, the easiest way to access the cache is to park at the bottom of Old Tollbar Rd, and walk down to the cache. It could also be accessed by turning off the Warrego Highway and parking in Stevenson St, although I haven't tried that myself. 

Hints

Pnpure'f Snibhevgr: Haqre ebpxf ng gur onfr bs n gerr.
ROT 13: ABCDEFGHIJKLM
NOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Decode

Logs

25-Jan-11
Unfortunately this one has fallen victim to the recent wet weather. I didn't recognise the area at GZ. There have been massive landslides, huge rocks and trees dislodged. GZ doesn't even exist anymore. If the cache is still in the vicinity it likely has a ton of rock and dirt on top of it.
 
20-Aug-10
Toowoomba 10.A bit of a wet soggy walk down to this one. The road must have been nightmare ! Great cache and interesting area.

TNLN
Albida
 
02-Jun-10
FTF. I have walked this track a few times in my youth. Drove to the end of the Old toll Bar road over Curtis Streeet and parked right at the end adjacent to the chain across the entry point. Sign there states 400meters to the other entry point and my GPSr was saying 120meters to GZ. Quick find. GPSr a bit off possibly due to the weather and the trees. I do not know what those rocks are but Meatamorphic type bassalt formed into a Schist comes to mind but it has been a long time since I did grade 12 science. Very good hide but is fairly obvious to those in the know with what to look for once you get off the track a little bit. Good hide and is still safe and sound. TNLNSL TFTC
 
18-May-10
 
Toowoomba (R) - dragonZone
0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00
dragonZone Points
Downloads
GPX file
ZIP file
Other
Graph
Plot