Slow day

[Ken (Australia)]

Hi all. Spent the afternoon at an old site from the 1880's - 1900. A spur line was run off the main railway line to a nearby lake for the purpose of removing sand and rock for ballast to continue the line further south. From about 1890 to 1900 a train carried picnic parties out to the site on Sundays and public holidays. A proper stone and brick platform was constructed and it now sits out in the middle of nowhere beside the dried up lake, the rails having been removed after the line closed in 1921. The picture shows the platform on the right. Although there we a lot of old broken bottles lying around I only managed to find one coin, an 1879 sixpence. Nearby at a spot that was used during the 1960's I found a 1932 and 45 penny. It was an interesting day and I got to see another historical spot I hadn't seen before. Thanks for looking..............Ken.

 

[Golden]

but it sure looks and sounds an interesting one. The photo looks like it was taken in the middle of a farm paddock. Have you tried detecting the dried up lake? What about where the platform would have been, as people walked onto it? Might be loose change lying about. The fact you found those coins, there has to be more. You've fortunate to have the site close to you. I was wondering, are there any old trees around, where people would have shaded themselves on a picnic? Maybe there's a stump left behind, or a depression in the ground from one long gone.
HH Golden

 

[Ken (Australia)]

Hi Angela, yes I did all the obvious places and a few not so obvious without any luck. The area beside the lake has been pushed around a lot with probably thousands of tons of sand and gravel removed for railway ballast so I suppose any coins might now be helping to support the rail tracks of southern N.S.W. Have just received permission for another country racecourse. Saw some pictures taken in the 1930's and there were stacks of people so Geoff and I will be heading off there in a couple of weeks...HH............Ken.

 

[Golden]

n/t