[3jaze]

I throw this idea out to Canadian cachers.

Quite a ways back there was some discussion about flagging caches along the Trans-Canada Highway for those hitting the blacktop while traveling and wanting to get out to stretch there legs for a brief amount of time. Here’s something that could work quite easily with existing caches that are already along the route.

All that would be involved would be to get cache owners of existing caches to edit the titles of their cachepages to include the letters TCDA (Trans Canada Highway). If you then do a “Search By Keyword” on the Geocaching website and use the “TCDA” designation in the search, you will get your listings. You need at least four characters for the search to recognize a word.

Some sort if criteria could be used such as: within 1km of the highway and a terrain and difficulty no more than 2 stars, traditional cache, etc; something that would involve, let’s say, no more than ½ an hour. You are, after all, trying to get to a final destination and don’t want to spend too much time searching.

Including a brief explanation in the text of your cachepage explaining what the TCHW means could get those interested to do the search themselves and then download waypoints.

Additional refinements could be included. TCDAAB could designate caches in Alberta, TCDABC designates British Columbia and so on. I’ve used postal abbreviations. The key would be to use a consistent system across Canada. If you do your keyword search with the TCDA, you’d get all of them. I’m sure there are other considerations (like those provinces where there are alternate Trans Canada Highway routes but that could be worked out. Perhaps something like TCDAABN for the north route in Alberta and TCDAABS for the south route, but in my mind this may be getting way too clunky. It’s much better to keep it simple and short.

What are your thoughts? Can we get some sort of system established?


edit: It looks as if the"TCHW" brings up other caches as well. Let's try "TCDA" (Trans-Canada) instead. This should filter out the other caches.

To avoid some confusion, I first envisioned TCHW as the designations but it turned out that a search using those letters brought up caches that were not along the Trans-Canada so made the change to TCDA This designation should get the caches on to their own page.

This post has been edited by 3jaze: 21 March 2005 - 08:28 PM

[GeoSlyCa]

I think this is a great idea. I'd be willing to "adopt" this standard for any of my caches.
I would say that most of the members of http://www.maritimegeocaching.com would do the same.

[Ma & Pa]

I think this is a great idea. These would not necessarily be drive by caches but could actually be interesting areas that travellers would not have seen otherwise. In the Moncton area for example there are a number of areas such as magnetic Hill, with more than one cache very close to the TCHW. Also many caches in Mapleton Park and Irishtown Park. The Sackville NB area also has quite a few interesting caches. It would be important as you say for the owner to indicate time that it would take to get to the cache.

[bigmuddy]

that would be great as i have to drive from saskatchewan out to sudbury and then back this summer. i'm sure i'll need a few breaks along the way. i have already started searching by postal code for some of the cities i'll be passing through - but one keyword like TCHW to search would defintely be alot less time consuming.

S

[C&C+COMPANY]

I have one along the TCHW, all do it now.

[3jaze]

It looks as if the search with "TCHW" also brings up other caches. Let's try "TCDA" (Trans-Canada) instead. This should filter the search so that only the Trans-Canada Highway caches show.

This post has been edited by 3jaze: 21 March 2005 - 07:59 AM

[Binrat]

Great idea, how about a nice picture logo so cachers can place it on their cache pages.

Binrat

[Zartimus]

Excellent Idea on the naming convention. Couldn't hurt at all..

This post has been edited by Zartimus: 21 March 2005 - 09:01 AM

[Prairie Jeepin]

I like this idea also. I have no caches at present along that route, but do travel it many times in a year.

Being a trucker, this designation would make for easier identification of roadside or potential truck friendly caches. At least something to look for along the way that might be a nice little stop for a break. Us big rigs need lots of room to park, turn around, and/or get over off the road.

An idea for a logo identifier would be to use the existing TCH sign and place the Gx thing in the Maple Leaf. A step further could include a small truck under it to signify Truck Friendly location.

Keep up the good ideas,
PJ

[wavector]

Good idea 3jaze.
I have converted one of my caches to a TCDA cache and may do it with additional caches that meet your initial criteria.
Here is my converted cache
Brids, Saskatchewan TCDA

I imagine that there is some danger of the TCDA designation eventually meaning highway reststop. There are always interesting features and parks and locations to choose for cache placements so we could avoid that consequence for the acronym.

Did you have any concrete suggestions for limits. I would like to designate Birds, Alberta as a TCDA cache but it is 15 kms from the Trans Canada, not very convenient.

Good idea.

This post has been edited by wavector: 21 March 2005 - 04:37 PM

[murfster]

I like the idea a lot!! I'll keep watching here.. when you have enough input..post the rules and I'll set up a couple in Northern Ontario between Hearst and Cochrane. There are a couple there now that could be adapted.

Murfster

[PDOP's]

wavector, on Mar 21 2005, 05:37 PM, said:

Here is my converted cache
Brids, Saskatchewan TCDA

Nice job wavector How about posting your html code so others can just cut and paste?

Also I'm assuming that this would be for the the "Northern TransCanada" too? If so a Hwy16 sign would be nice.

[wavector]

I used a graphic in the Short Description area on the cache page.
The graphic I placed in that area is right on the cachepage, it is TCDA2.jpg.
I placed the graphic using the checkbox that allows HTML in the description and used the
img src="http://img.Groundspeak.com/cache/dd009c9d-5ee0-4ac9-b6ed-0a72bb789dd8.jpg"

The command above needs to be bracketed with the redirects <> to become a valid HTML command. The img file I referenced above is the TCDA2.jpg image and the same code should allow anyone to access that graphic.

If you check the box that implements HTML on your cache page you will need to enter your own breaks and paragraph coding, use the <> and the br or p.

There are some excellent posts on quick and dirty HTML on the site. I searched for "hyperlinks" and got back some really good threads.

You could copy the graphic to your desktop and replace the Trans Canada with just about anything (like a yellow head !)

I added another graphic that can be used for the Alberta Yellowhead route.

Yellowhead, Alberta

Alternate Yellowhead, Alberta 2

If anyone needs a highway sign link here is a really good one for Canada.
http://www.ugcs.calt...n/signs/canada/

This post has been edited by wavector: 21 March 2005 - 08:58 PM

[PDOP's]

Thanks wavector I was expecting the graphic with separate text requiring align tags, etc. You've made it much easier.

In your post above you can use the CODE tag to display the html bracketed with the redirects <> without causing any problems in the forum. People should be able to copy and paste from below directly into their cache pages.

<img src="http://img.Groundspeak.com/cache/dd009c9d-5ee0-4ac9-b6ed-0a72bb789dd8.jpg">

[wavector]

You learn new things everyday in these forums.
Thanks for the tip PDOP, it is a good one to know.
I have been frustrated several times trying to figure out the nomenclature being used on various geocaching pages.
I wondered what that CODE button did.

I know that the cache I selected is very close to the highway. 3jaze made several suggestions for applying the TCDA designation.


1. within 1km of the highway
2. terrain and difficulty no more than 2 stars
3. traditional cache
4. no more than ½ an hour


I think number one needs some flexibility and number four has to be the main guideline that would apply for putting TCDA on a cache. The distance could probably reasonably be more like ten kilometers when you are not in the vicinity of an urban center and 1 km might be to far when you are passing through some cities. Time is important from a travellers perspective and the suggested guidelines highlight that very well. Once you get closer to an urban center the value of the designation to those passing through could grow. Travellers often have tight schedules and extended searches for micros intended to bedevil are probably not a good choice for a break, a walk and a cache. This designation could allow travellers to plan a cache stop even when there schedule is very tight.
I think parking waypoints are important when you get near urban centers, travellers don't have time to search for parking spots in a city where traffic direction and flow may not be obvious, parking should be considered for urban TCDA caches.
Edworthy Park in Calgary probably has a couple of caches that would be excellent TCDA caches.
I know TPTB are working on software to allow caching along a route but I imagine this designation could be more specific by actually being selected for ease of find and proximity to the highway, this is a very especially rewarding for those travelling with children, fresh toys to fight over every few hours.

[Prairie Jeepin]

PDOP's, on Mar 21 2005, 09:25 PM, said:

wavector, on Mar 21 2005, 05:37 PM, said:

Here is my converted cache
Brids, Saskatchewan TCDA

Nice job wavector How about posting your html code so others can just cut and paste?

Also I'm assuming that this would be for the the "Northern TransCanada" too? If so a Hwy16 sign would be nice.

Yeah that looks great. The sign is perfect. Well done!

Side note: I have never heard of Highway 16 referred to as the "Northern Trans-Canada". I have always known it as #16, Yellowhead Highway, or "the Yellowhead Route". For the sake of clarity I would not deviate from its proper name and designation by using the term "Northern Trans-Canada" (which in some cases can refer to an actual route of the TCH that bypasses a city or town &c). Just my opinion on the matter.

This post has been edited by Prairie Jeepin: 21 March 2005 - 10:36 PM

[wavector]

I didn't think it was either until I discovered this site
http://yellowheadhighway.com/

Apparently this is official, I was surprised.
The only real confusion is going to arise in Ontario, in fact it might be a good idea to designate a route.

But I think you might be right, sticking to the Maple Leaf route marker would avoid confusion. The Yellowhead Route might warrant a separate designation, as would the 11/17 in Ontario.

Perhaps cachers in other regions could offer insight into the official route in the area they live in.

Good point.

[PDOP's]

wavector, on Mar 21 2005, 11:47 PM, said:

I didn't think it was either until I discovered this site
http://yellowheadhighway.com/

But I think you might be right, sticking to the Maple Leaf route marker would avoid confusion. The Yellowhead Route might warrant a separate designation, as would the 11/17 in Ontario.

Actually the maple leaf with 16 on it is used now as shown in the site you linked to.

[PDOP's]

wavector's graphics

TransCanada MapleLeaf


Alberta No. 1


Alberta No 2


Now we need a version with the 16 & maple leaf.

[3jaze]

Great ideas by all. The graphics by wavector look great on the webpage. One of my concerns would be those cachers who just travel with PDA’s or only waypoint lists of titles. As this is a work in progress and still subject to change here are a few other thoughts.

The TITLE of your cache should include in it the designation (without the quotation marks): “TCDN” as a minimum. By eliminating the “A” in the first proposed TCDA and changing it to an “N”, (eliminating the vowel), I feel it would eliminate any other types of caches creeping in on the search.
Not everyone would be traveling across the country so to keep the searches lists down, the designation could be further refined by following the TCDN with the accepted 2 letter abbreviation for the province.
BC British Columbia
AB Alberta
SK Saskatchewan
MB Manitoba
ON Ontario
QC Quebec
NB New Brunswick
PE Prince Edward I.
NS Nova Scotia
NW Newfoundland & Labrador.

For example TCDNAB for an Alberta cache.

Note that there is a Northern Route and a Southern Route in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario. To accommodate travelers while in these provinces, the designations could include the letter “N” if it is the northern route.

For example the northern route in Alberta could be TCDNABN and TCDNONN for the northern route in Ontario.

If you want the whole sheebang, just do a search with TCDN.

In areas where the Trans Canada Highway is twinned, a note in the text of your cache indicating whether it is easier to access on the east bound side or westbound side of the road could be a big plus for those traveling at highway speeds.

My feeling is that the distance from the TC Highway should not be any greater than 3 km.


For cachers who wish to participate and want somewhere to start and for the highways and routes eligible see:
http://www.transcanadahighway.com/
http://www.roadsidea...ions.ca/tch.htm

[Peter and Gloria]

Quote

For cachers who wish to participate and want somewhere to start and for the highways and routes eligible see:
http://www.transcanadahighway.com/

This link didn't work for me.

Lets all get on the same page.
WAVECTOR and his excellent graphics are using TCDA
C&C+COMPANY is using TCHW
3jaze wants to use TCDN

Do we have a consensus? Can we get a consensus?

I vote for TCDA.

After some sort of descision is made, I would suggest that each Provincial Asscociation could contact local cachers who have caches that fit the cirteria (but who may not read the forums) and ask them to add the desigantion to their caches.

This post has been edited by Peter and Gloria: 22 March 2005 - 07:05 AM

[TrimblesTrek]

I've been following this thread and think it's a great idea too.

TCHW already returns results on a gc.com search...things like paTCHWork, LeTCHWorth, etc.

So that leaves TCDA or TCDN.

I'd vote for TCDA.

Once this is in place, and word gets out, I fear that there will be many S.Ontario caches listed as TCDA that really aren't. This is because in S.Ontario, the Trans Canada Highway system doesn't include S.Ontario's two busiest highways... Hwy 401 and Hwy 400. There are a pile of caches along both these highways that would fit the rest of the designation "rules". Many people mistakenly will make the assumption that the 400/401 highways are Trans Canada routes. Interesting fact is that Toronto is not on the TCH at all! Somewhere around 80km away from it in fact!

I like that fact that in S.Ontario, the Trans Canada Highway follows the route of the original highways... Hwy 69, Hwy 12, and Hwy 7.

(edit for the inevitable typo's)

This post has been edited by TrimblesTrek: 22 March 2005 - 08:01 AM

[wavector]

The designation for province and route is an excellent addition.
I can make some graphics to go along the various routes. The text can be modified so that it will explain the concept better, put it all on one graphic and standardize everything to make it very simple to add the elements to a cache.
Mentioning east or westbound access is also a good idea, perhaps there is a way to incorporate that information when required ?

I was thinking about going to smaller text and including some of the following points
- TransCanada cache, a cache near a TransCanada highway route
- TCD(A or N) is a series of caches, searchable using keyword
- Traditional cache, difficulty 2 or less
- No more than 2 miles (3 km from highway)
- Takes less than 1/2 hour

I am going to go to work and will check later tonight. I will make a graphic for Birds, SK and rename it tonight.

Lots of good ideas.

[3jaze]

Let's hold off a bit on wholesale changes to title designations until the details have been ironed out. The few examples we have now should be enough by way of illustration.

My suggestion would be to keep with the official designation of the Trans-Canada Highway. Local cachers along Hws 400 and 401, or any other route for that matter, could always set up a similar designation for those routes.

I opted to change the TCDA to TCDN to elliminate the vowel. There's less chance of getting stray caches showing up in the search pattern (as was the case with TCHY)

Let's get this out of the way first. The decision is ours.

TCDN or TCDA?

[Circle of Confusion]

I thought the official short form of the name Canada was CDN. I have seen it everywere. For instance, the Canadian Dollar on the foreign exchange.

My vote would be for CDN.

[Prairie Jeepin]

Wow this is all getting quite detailed with the potential for confusion when it comes to all these extra routes and designations. Simple as the letter & sign system may be it gets to be quite the muddle with all the variations and foriegners will not find this easy. Anytime two (or more) different things are referred to as one thing creates problems. I am going to have to play the devil's advocate and be a thorn in the side here for awhile.

I looked around at the Yellowhead sight posted, I did not find any referance to "Northern Trans Canada". I am still of the mind that this should not be referred to in such a manner. In fact, I am of the opinion now, after seeing how complicated the system is becoming in order to accomodate these other highways, that they should not be attempted to be included at all. The Trans Canada is its own identity and should not be confused with other routes for the sake of "inclusion". These other routes can be dealt with as their own identities in just the same manner that we are dealing with the TCH.

I propose that for the sake of clarity that the TCH route be singularily that. The original and current route as it always has been without add-ons and/or additions. And, that the Yellowhead route be simply that. These highways were never co-named or meant to be one until - apparently - recently. Technically the Yellowhead is not a trans Canada anything -- it is a Trans West highway. It begins in Manitoba and ends in BC. Since we already have the graphics for these routes individually, it is not a huge step to separate them as they should be and use singular indentifiers.

It may be construed that I am just being nit-picky on this, but I see it as a more rational and logical way than trying to combine different things that don't belong together, and up until now have always held separate identities. I'm not trying to shoot down the enthusiasm or efforts being put in here, the idea is great, and will be exceptionally useful. I just think that it is not the way to go on this.

What would be the harm in having them separate? TCH Cache Route and Yellowhead Cache Route? Do we absolutely need to include all these other previously non-TCH routes into the equation? Also keep in mind that this is a pride factor. Communities along on the Yellowhead are proud of the fact that they are Yellowhead towns and not "Northern Trans Canada" towns -- it even sounds secondary and unimportant.

I hate to be the one to stand against the merger, but to me it is just not natural or sensible to try to pile together a bunch of different things into one inappropriate designation for the sake of ease of access. Just look at the Ontario highways issues now surfacing. Being a former Edmontonian/Yellowhead Highway city dweller, I have to declare myself as a Yellowhead booster and would like to hear from any cachers along the Yellowhead to see their point of view on this issue. It would be my guess that they would like to see a separate identifier.

Now, with all that said, whatever happens will happen despite my objections. I just had to express my personal feelings in this matter, as I truly see this route merger as something designed out of a need for greatness than rational thought and process which would in my opinion lead one to avoid compounding things by adding un-related routes. Not everything needs to be included in this designation. It is ok to leave some things out or give them their own designations.

The original Grand idea was to have a way to access caches alongs Canada's famous and wonderful coast to coast highway the Trans Canada. Why do we need to complicate that? In its simplicity it is marvelous, an expanded version will become a beast of burden and a bowl of confusion. My suggestion is KISS - Keep It Simple Silly!

Trans Canada is one thing. Yellowhead is another. If they weren't they would have had the same name from the beginning.

PJ - always the odd man out.

This post has been edited by Prairie Jeepin: 22 March 2005 - 09:40 AM

[3jaze]

Well put Prairie Jeepin. My sentiments as well. I'd much rather stay with the 4 letter designation and the addition of the the provincial abbreviations.

[TrimblesTrek]

I agree with keeping the 4 letter designation, and with keeping it strictly Trans Canada Highway. However, folks can name their cache whatever they want. And there will be some of them that use the 4 letter moniker when they shouldn't, according to the "rules". Can't do anything about that...folks will be folks!

I'm changing my vote from TCDA to TCDN, just to be difficult.

By the way, did you consider a 3 letter designation? I just did a seach on TCH and came up with zilch, nada, zero matches. (Oops... now I see from your earlier post that a minimuum of 4 letters are needed for a search term.)

But WAIT... I just tested this. I searched for ABC and the search returned a result. So what's the deal?


-TT-
(edit for the inevitable typo's AND stupidity!)

This post has been edited by TrimblesTrek: 22 March 2005 - 12:51 PM

[gm100guy]

Try this web site to show you where the highway is located in each province

[The Blue Quasar]

Cudos to all of you for a very enjoyable thread.

I don't live anywhere near the Trans-Canada Highway, and I'd never heard of 'Yellowhead' before tonight.

But I have to agree that ONLY caches within 1km of the Trans-Canada Highway should be approached to edit their names to include the TCDN/TCDA suffix.

I wouldn't be happy if I searched for TCH caches and one or more in the list was on the 400 or QEW.

For what its worth, I favour TCDN like others said CDN is the short form for Canada and also less likely to be part of any other non-Trans-Canada Highway cache.

I doubt many cachers would change their cache name if it wasn't near the TCH... they would get negative feedback from other cachers.

As for the split highways (north or south) that would auto-correct when people downloaded the LOC/GPX files as the cache woulcn't show on their GPS while driving, as it would be too far away.

You could just use TCDN-BC, or TCDN-MB etc. Why add too much info? People searching for TCDN caches know what they are looking for already, the TCDN just helps filter.

As for all those other highways... if the TCH one works, you can add a different nominclature later, or someone else will copy/emulate/shadow the idea. I would stick with your great plan of TCH caches first then expand later.

The Blue Quasar (no value added)

[wavector]

Lots of great ideas.
I really like the idea of concentrating on the Trans Canada Highway. The route is pretty clear if you use the site first suggested by 3jaze. There is a definite route (ie. Highway 17 vs Highway 11).
Sticking to the route from the transcanadahighway site would add value to the designation for people not familiar with the TransCanada Highway. Doing that leads to further complications, at least some I see for sure. If you have ever driven the Autoroute 20 then you know the caches MUST be marked as Est or Ouest, it isn't feasible to stop for a cache on the wrong side of the Autoroute. The secondary route designations are often more prominent than the Maple Leaf sign and travellers might appreciate knowing what the secondary route marker will be for that highway section. I prepared another graphic with that in mind. The text might be further sacrificed for a prominent East West Both marker.

I have changed the Birds, Saskatchewan cache and the logo to reflect some of the ideas so far. I have deleted some of the other graphics for now.
Here is the listing as it looks now
Birds, Saskatchewan TCDNSK and here is another graphic idea

I have applied some of the guidelines to the text so it becomes more self explanatory.

Now I am off to log a few caches.
I went and looked at this cache today Flintstone Find the pictures in the log do not do the cliff justice. I didn't try to find the cache, an unprepared approach could result in severe death, very cool cache.

[wavector]

I didn't like the look of that last graphic so I have redone it a little differently. I have shrunk the secondary route marker and added the direction.
I was thinking it could be incorporated as three different graphics, East, West, E-W.
I can adjust anything that needs to be changed.

How about the text, anything else I need to add, subtract ?
Can someone do a translation for QC caches listed in French, that would be a good thing to add.
I now have a collection of secondary route markers from various sources, I think have one for every segment of the Trans Canada as specified on the site.
I was thinking of establishing the graphic as a 85pixel X 600pixel grid, everything so far would fall into that category.
I can make these fairly easily, on request as new TCDN caches are placed/added.

In certain places the TransCanada has a distinctive secondary sign, I am thinking of places down east where the highway is named and an actual tourist route, that might make more sense as a secondary route marker if it is more prominent, I have seen the Maple Leaf made fairly small.

Here is a second version.


I think the blank Maple Leaf sign could serve as a secondary route marker when the TCDN is actually a 1 and a Maple Leaf, as in Saskatchewan.

Well, time to go and be productive.

[3jaze]

In summary then (a lot of cutting and pasting) the following is a recap of what should work for the TCDN caches. Some refinements have been made from the original posting.

Quite a ways back (2002), there was some discussion about flagging caches along the Trans-Canada Highway for those hitting the blacktop while traveling and wanting to get out to stretch there legs for a brief amount of time. Here’s something that could work quite easily with existing caches that are already along the route.

All that would be involved would be to get cache owners of existing caches to edit the titles of their cachepages to include the letters TCDN (Trans Canada Highway). Then if you do a “keyword search” with the “TCDN” designation the Geocaching website, the TCDA caches would show up in your query.

For the sake of consistency and keeping in mind that this designation is for travelers, who after all do have a final destination to reach, list only those caches which:

-are traditional caches
-take no more than 30 minutes to find
-are rated no more than 2 for terrain and difficulty
-are no more than 3 km from the original Trans-Canada Highway as designated on following website :http://www.transcanadahighway.com/ . Highway 16 in the west and Hwy 400 and 401 should not be included for this designation. That’s not to say that a different designation could not be established by cachers in those areas.

The TITLE of your cache should include in it the designation (without the quotation marks): “TCDN” as a minimum. Not everyone would be traveling across the country so to keep the searches lists down, the designation could be further refined by following the TCDN with the accepted 2 letter abbreviation for the province.
BC British Columbia
AB Alberta
SK Saskatchewan
MB Manitoba
ON Ontario
QC Quebec
NB New Brunswick
PE Prince Edward I.
NS Nova Scotia
NW Newfoundland & Labrador.

For example TCDNAB for an Alberta cache.
If you want the whole sheebang, just do a search with TCDN.


Including a brief explanation in the text of your cachepage explaining what the TCDN means could get those interested to do the search themselves and then download waypoints. Check out wavectors TCDN cachepage for a spiffy graphic with a brief explanation of guidelines. It could appended to your cache page indicating that it is a TCDN cache.

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...38-5d52468de353

In areas where the Trans Canada Highway is twinned, a note in the text of your cache indicating whether it is easier to access on the east bound lane or westbound lanes could be a big plus for those traveling at highway speeds.

Yes there could be all sorts of other refinements added, but let’s keep it simple. Let’s keep to the guidelines mentioned above.

Let’s see if we can make this fly. Pass the word, contact your caching buddies and your

edit for typo

This post has been edited by 3jaze: 23 March 2005 - 10:22 AM

[C&C+COMPANY]

EVERYTIME i COME BACK IT'S DIFFERENT. DO IT IN A POLL AND TAKE THE BEST ONE!

[Prairie Jeepin]

C&C, on COMPANY+Mar 23 2005, 02:53 PM, said:

EVERYTIME i COME BACK IT'S DIFFERENT. DO IT IN A POLL AND TAKE THE BEST ONE!

That's because it is a work in progress. No poll is needed.

3jaze, this last summary seems to capture all of what this idea was meant to do. I am good with it. Thanks for everyone's efforts to help develop this search aid.

PJ

This post has been edited by Prairie Jeepin: 23 March 2005 - 03:01 PM

[The Blue Quasar]

Just thought I should point out that the postal short form Quebec is "PQ", for Prov. of Quebec.

Someone else mentioned that the Provincial Geocaching Groups might be called upon to contact current cache owners that have caches along the TCH. I have a dynamic map of Ontario's caches, and since I'm with OGA (Ontario Geocaching Association) I could do it.... still got room in the geo-wheelbarrow.

The Blue Quasar

[Hard Oiler]

The Blue Quasar, on Mar 23 2005, 08:02 PM, said:

Someone else mentioned that the Provincial Geocaching Groups might be called upon to contact current cache owners that have caches along the TCH. 

Excellent idea - I've done about 6 caches in New Brunswick that would meet the criteria but I suspect several of the cache owners never read the forums - but there is a Maritimes Geocaching Association

[wavector]

It is a good thing someone noticed the province abbreviation list, very important set of abbreviations.
I copied this list from MapQuest

Canadian Province Abbreviations

Alberta AB
British Columbia BC
Manitoba MB
New Brunswick NB
Newfoundland NL
Northwest Territories NT
Nova Scotia NS
Ontario ON
Prince Edward Island PE
Québec QC
Saskatchewan SK
Yukon Territory YT

It is dated, Nunavat is not listed though that doesn't matter for this endeavour. I copied this list from a government site
Province / Territory Abbrev. Symbol /
Symbole Abrév. Province / Territoire
Alberta Alta. AB Alb. Alberta
British Columbia B.C. BC C.-B. Colombie-Britannique
Manitoba Man. MB Man. Manitoba
New Brunswick N.B. NB N.-B. Nouveau-Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador N.L.* NL T.-N.-L.* Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador
Northwest Territories N.W.T. NT T.N.-O. Territoires du Nord-Ouest
Nova Scotia N.S. NS N.-É. Nouvelle-Écosse
Nunavut - NU ** - Nunavut
Ontario Ont. ON Ont. Ontario
Prince Edward Island P.E.I. PE Î.-P.-É. Île-du-Prince-Édouard
Quebec Que. QC Qc Québec
Saskatchewan Sask. SK Sask. Saskatchewan
Yukon Territory Y.T. YT Yn Territoire du Yukon
Which distills as :

AB
BC
MB
NB
NL
NT
NS
NU
ON
QC
SK
YT

Pretty much the same list with additions.
I will make another set of graphics that refine the wording and incorporate the direction and secondary marker. The main thing is as 3jaze pointed out will be getting the TCDN idea set up as a simple guideline that works for everyone, travellers may have sporadic or poor internet access (geocachers tend to refute that notion to a certain degree, at least in my mind) and the text coding in the title is the actual scheme. The addition of standardized text to cache pages would help refine the idea at the risk of losing the simplicity but if the text was a recap of the definition of the TCDN guideline and the amount of text was small it would keep it simple.
The addition of the graphic helps spruce up a webpage but getting some text onto the paper and paperless search might be a good aim.

I have another cache that fits the TCDN profile but haven't marked it as one until things have been worked out.
The six letter designation makes a good guideline, essentially you designate a cache with a six letter addition to the title and it is a TCDN cache. I am going to add additional text to the Birds, Saskatchewan TCDNSK cache, a TCDN recap and some additional descriptors. I will keep it all in the short description area, I am not sure when I will do this.

This post has been edited by wavector: 23 March 2005 - 11:02 PM

[TrimblesTrek]

I, like Hard Oiler, always thought that Quebec was listed as PQ for postal abbreviation.

I noticed that a couple of the recent posts listed it as QC, which I thought was the old fashioned way of listing it (sort of the non-metric way).

Anyway, I just did a little searching and came up with this page... which shows that I am (once again) wrong!

So QC it is! Just like Queens Council I suppose.

[Prairie Jeepin]

With regard PQ / QC...

I have always used the PQ designation. I believe it is the correct french way of doing it. It may not be official in lists, but it is used heavily in Quebec. I guess its one of those "bilingual things". Any mail I have sent with a PQ on it always gets to where it is inteded to go. Being the case; it is known, it is used, and is acceptable.

[Tidalflame]

Yeah, PQ is Province de Quebec, I think. I guess it's partly because of Quebec City...

[VO2WW]

Labrador, the bigger part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, has its own highway, the Trans Labrador Highway (500), which will eventually be much longer than the TCH (1) on the island. It will, upon completion, run from PQ in the West to PQ in the South, middle portion is under construction at present. Driveable now from PQ in the West to Happy Valley-Goose Bay and than from Cartwright to PQ in the South. Ferry is available in summer from HV-GB to Cartwright and from PQ to NL for most of the year. The commonly used two letter territory designation is LB. I have a couple of caches which are close to (500)

[spud67]

Any thoughts of using TCAN? A search of TCAN brings up nothing and it makes a bit more sense to me over TCDN. To me TCDN means Trans Canadian but TCAN is Trans Canada. Just my thoughts.
I love this idea and have plans of placing a cache right near the Trans Canada Highway east of Regina, SK.

This post has been edited by spud67: 30 March 2005 - 12:28 PM

[Shawn&Holly]

I like TCAN over TCDN, I am using TCH on my own cache near the highway, but cannot find it in a search using TCH, I wonder if there is a minimal numbers of letters or am doing something wrong?

[The Blue Quasar]

I thought that the search was a minimum of four letters.

I often get 'no results' when I just search for a three letter thing.

That might be a good way to 'hide' a cache from searches LOL

[Algonquin Bound]

Car37&Holly, on Mar 30 2005, 04:00 PM, said:

I like TCAN over TCDN, I am using TCH on my own cache near the highway, but cannot find it in a search using TCH, I wonder if there is a minimal numbers of letters or am doing something wrong?

I think Trimbles Trek has already answered your question and has been good enough to provide examples.

TrimblesTrek, on Mar 22 2005, 10:58 AM, said:

I've been following this thread and think it's a great idea too.

TCHW already returns results on a gc.com search...things like paTCHWork, LeTCHWorth, etc.

TrimblesTrek, on Mar 22 2005, 03:47 PM, said:

By the way, did you consider a 3 letter designation?  I just did a seach on TCH and came up with zilch, nada, zero matches.

As you can see, you've nothing to be embarrassed about, in missing those posts, since TT apparently doesn't read his own posts either. Nevertheless, he was good enough to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that 3-letter searches do not work.

[mork]

Great idea guys! Have we settled on a system? Or perhaps someone can start a new thread that is not for discussion, but just a regularly updated listing of all caches on the trans canada (listed in some sort of order).

[wavector]

I have modified the graphic so that it does not interfere with the list of Travel Bugs in the cache, I reduced the size to 450 pixels. I changed the text in the graphic so that it is a recap of the TCDN designation and what it means for cache seekers. I also added some text information right below the graphic that should be usable in text only views, it just recaps the code, adds an area to specify direction. I also tentatively added an RV line. Caches along the TransCanada will see RV traffic and many locations are not suitable for travellers driving an RV.
I have added a second cache, Thing Two to the TCDN scheme as it fits all the requirements.

This post has been edited by wavector: 08 April 2005 - 07:10 AM

[wavector]

I have added two significant route graphics to the Birds, Saskatchewan page. I have added a graphic for caches along the Yellowhead Highway and I have added a graphic for caches along the Trans Labrador Highway.
I have added a plug on each graphic for the TCDN caches and styled both along the lines of the TCDN caches originally suggested by 3jaze. (ie 3kms, 30 mins, 2 or less).
Here are the results, I will be happy to apply any feedback.

This post has been edited by wavector: 12 April 2005 - 07:25 PM

[VO2WW]

Thank you for doing such a great job wavector, now how do I add the logo to my cache pages for "planted" and Height of Land, not all that good with computer, better skeet shooter *s*