The Earl of Dudley meets Carnegie at Currumbin Currumbin, Queensland, Australia
By petan on 22-Oct-16. Waypoint GA8660

Cache Details

Difficulty:
Terrain:
Type: History
Container: Virtual
Coordinates: S28° 8.166' E153° 28.316' (WGS 84)
  56J 546343E 6887630N (UTM)
Elevation: 5 m
Local Government Area: Gold Coast City

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Description

A nice little walk over a recently restored bridge and a chance to enjoy some history.

The Earl of Dudley and Carnegie were early 20th century steelworks in the UK and USA respectively. Both firms supplied steel girders for the Currumbin and Tallebudgera railway bridges constructed as part of the 1903 South Coast Train Line. Sadly, the Tallebudgera Bridge was demolished to make way for the expansion of the adjacent highway. The Currumbin Bridge became a convenient walkway after the railway line closed in the early 1960s and was more recently extensively reconstructed reusing much of the original steelwork for cosmetic purposes. The load bearing structures of the bridge have been replaced with more modern prestressed concrete beams and decking. Apart from being slightly wider than the original, from an appearance point of view, the bridge looks pretty much as it did when first constructed.

As part of the reconstruction, four information signs were placed at either ends of the bridge using repurposed Earl of Dudley  and Carnegie beams. These detail some of the history of the bridge and the rail line. There are two signs at each end. Both the northern and southern sides highlight different aspects of the bridge or railway line. As this is a history cache, you will need to walk across the bridge to visit all four signs and answer a question from each.

Northern Side:

Sign 1: Conservation Work 2016: The bridge has been used as a pedestrian crossing since the 1960s but was converted to a walkway with balustrades in...?
Sign 2 The South Coast Railway: The South Coast Railway:  Rail transport dominated throughout the early part of the 20th Century. What era is considered the peak of the service?

Southern Side:

Sign 3: Queensland Railways and William Pagan: When did Pagan sign the plans illustrated on the info sign?
Sign 4: Currumbin Creek Railway Bridge: There were several creek and river crossings on the South Coast Line. Each bridge was numbered, what number was the Currumbin Bridge?

You can log your answers on the Question and Answer page. Four correct answers will generate a codeword which you can use on the log page to verify your find. If you make a mistake, the system software will prevent you from resubmitting for 8 minutes. If this happens take the time to check your answer or simply enjoy the view.

Best parking is adjacent to the first set of questions on the Salk Oval side opposite the southbound offramp for the nearby M1 motorway.

Hints

Lbh pna'g zvff gur fvtaf.
ROT 13: ABCDEFGHIJKLM
NOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Decode

Logs

With the ongoing roadworks this cache is not available at the moment, so we'll archive it to stop cachers searching for something that is not there. Once any roadworks are complete and the cache is available again, the CO can re-instate the cache by logging an unarchived log.
 
27-Jul-21
With the M1 roadworks going on, the two information boards on the northside of the bridge have been removed, therefore its impossible to answer the questions.

I'm going to disable this while the works are ongoing. Be aware this could be a while.

The old Currumbin School History Cache is still ok.
 
31-Dec-20
TFT history
 
04-Oct-20
out for a quick few caches with Bev50. I habe wanted to walk this bridge for a while and now have a reason to. we had to park on south side as north side salk park is closed and blocked TFTC
 
04-Oct-20
Out with GayeNT, interesting
 
27-Aug-19
Parked at the northern end and gathered the information needed there, then Mr Beetle stayed on that end on crocodile watch while I wandered over to the southern end.
What great foresight to keep this as a pedestrian and cycle bridge, so often these structures are just pulled down. When our local bridge was replaced they tore the old one down but I am sure it would have made a great walkway or fishing spot!!!!
Noticed a trolley full of bedding near where we parked the van. Some homeless persons no doubt.
Thanks.
 
17-Jun-19
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Caching in the area with whitewebbs and this was one of the caches we found. Walked the bridge and collected the required information to complete this History Cache.

Many thanks Petan for publishing this History Cache and highlighting this location.

Tassie Trekkers are now a locationless geocache we have published a 'Geocacher cache' - Travelling Trekkers GA10932 - so if you spot us in your area sign our log book and receive a code word to earn yourself a Very Happy

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17-Jun-19
Day 67 Mainland trip
Out and about with Tassie Trekkers hunting down GCA caches and this was one we found. A great history cache. We enjoyed the walk across the bridge. TFTHC
 
03-Sep-18
It was overcast, wet afternoon when I gathered the answers. I am a bit of a history buff, and I love they were able to keep this section of the South Coast railway in place and repurpose it as a pedestrian bridge.
 
30-Dec-17
This is a lovely spot and there were a lot of people enjoying it today. We'd been here before to find a physical cache (yours) but today we were taking more interest in the history. Such a good idea to reinvent old bridges as separate walkways - it sure beats that chaotic walk beside fast flowing traffic where they're combined. Anxious TFTC petan.
 
24-Jun-17
I had been to this area previously to find the traditional cache but that was before the recent refurbishments.

I enjoyed the stroll across the bridge and gathering the required information although I must have copied one down incorrectly as the checker did not agree with my first attempts.

Thanks, Petan, for bringing me back to this historic spot.
 
17-Jun-17
While sorting through our geocaching files from our recent trip to Queensland for our niece's wedding we found the information that we had collected for this history cache.

We enjoy walking rail trails and seeing all the different railway bridges and cuttings so we looked forward to this history cache and were not disappointed. It is good to see the history retained and the bridge being used to benefit the community.

We collected the information, took photos then walked on to the Currumbin Old School cache where we collected information then made the return walk.

Thanks Petan for an interesting history cache and morning exercise in a lovely area. We would not have stopped here but for this cache.
 
21-Dec-16
Our very first History cache and *FTF* as well Very HappyDancing

It always amazes us to think how far the materials in these old structures had to come - USA & UK in this instance.
So good to see this old bridge so faithfully restored - rusted bits and all.
We found the rail history here very interesting.

Thanks so much for setting up this history cache Petan Clapping
 
03-Dec-16
Mysteriously, one of the two missing signs has returned. Since I do not know when the remaining sign will be returned I am attaching I photo I took of it on the first day of operation which should help for 'research' purposes.

You will still need to visit the other three signs to gather the answers you need.

Good luck!
 
19-Nov-16
.... and the first History cache in Queensland is disabled.

Stoopid people who think its fun to remove signs. Evil or Very Mad
No it wasn't the council because one member of the team was speaking with the local Councillor.

Grrrr.

Will enable when the signs are returned.

 
23-Oct-16
Published!

The first history cache in Queensland is now live.