August 2017: This is a new page and is still under construction. There is more to be learned and shared regarding railroad service for passenger service and in support of the Hakalau Sugar Plantations. If you have information and/or pictures that you would like to share, please contact us!
NOTE: Links to related pages, designed to provide more pictures and content, are in bold blue. Just click on the link to review the information.
NOTE: Links to related pages, designed to provide more pictures and content, are in bold blue. Just click on the link to review the information.
Peter Young summarized the history of the Hawaii Consolidated Railway in his blog, Ho`okuleana, in 2013:
Between 1909 and 1913, the Hāmākua Division of the railroad was constructed to service the sugar mills north of Hilo. Unfortunately, the cost of building the Hāmākua extension essentially destroyed the Hilo Railroad, which was sold in 1916 and reorganized as the Hawaiʻi Consolidated Railway.
Targeting tourists to augment local passenger and raw sugar transport, the Hawaiʻi Consolidated Railway ran sightseeing specials under the name "Scenic Express."
Not for the faint of heart, these trips included a stop on the trestles, where passengers disembarked to admire the outstanding scenery.
The Great Depression saw a decrease in business, but business picked up in the 1940s, when thousands of battle-weary troops packed the passenger cars en route to Camp Tarawa, in Waimea, to rest, recuperate and prepare for another campaign.
But the end was near for the Hawaiʻi Consolidated Railway. Early in the morning of April 1, 1946, a massive tsunami struck Hawaiʻi. The railroad line between Hilo and Paʻauilo suffered massive damage; bridges collapsed, trestles tumbled and one engine was literally swept off the tracks.
Train service to the Hakalau Plantation began in 1911.
Engine #15 in 1915, left, used on the Hakalau and Hilo run. Photo courtesy of the Lyman Museum
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1924, Ford Educational Library, available through the National Archives, courtesy of Emi Uemura
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In Wailea, a tunnel was dug from Ka`ahakini River to to Kolekole River to divert Ka`ahakini River into Kolekole. The dry side of Ka`ahakini River was then filled and the train tracks were built over it. The train crossed the bridge over the Kolekole Gulch on its way to the Mill.
Map of Wailea Store Camp drawn in 1947, after the 1946 tsunami which destroyed the Kolekole Railroad Bridge.
Railroad tracks leading to the Wailea Mill. Photo from the Waichi Ouye Collection, courtesy of his family.
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Wailea Mill, upper left; railroad bridge across Kolekole, right. Photo by Shigeharu Furusho from the Waichi Ouye Collection, courtesy of his family.
Passenger train heading to Hilo over the Kolekole Bridge. Photo included in Sugar Town
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Railroad tracks leading toward Kolekole Bridge. Photo courtesy of the Lyman Museum.
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Wailea Train Station. Photo courtesy of the Lyman Museum.
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In Hakalau, the railroad tracks went through both Hakalau Upper Camp and Hakalau Lower Camp. The Hakalau Railroad Station was in Hakalau Lower Camp.
Map of the Hilo side of Halalau Lower Camp, drawn in 1947 after the tsunami ended rail service, but still showing the tracks. The trains turned around in the area near the Hakalau Station.
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Photo included in Sugar Town.
Hakalau Railroad Station located in Hakalau Lower Camp. Photo from the Waichi Ouye Collection, courtesy of his family.
Hakalau Railroad Station during WWII. Photo from the Waichi Ouye Collection, courtesy of his family.
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Map of the Hakalau Bay side of Hakalau Lower Camp showing the path of the tracks to the warehouse.
1925 photo of train crossing the Hakalau Bridge into Hakalau Upper Camp. Photo courtesy of the Lyman Museum.
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Map of Hakalau Upper Camp showing railroad tracks leading to the bridge over Hakalau Gulch. The map was created in 1947, after the 1946 tsunami ended train service. Note that the 10 houses on the mauka side (left side of the map) of the tracks were destroyed to make room for the Belt Highway.
Photo prior to the 1946 tsunami showing the mill, the railroad bridge over Hakalau Gulch and the flume. Photo courtesy of the Lyman Museum.
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Train service ended in 1946 when the April 1st tsunami destroyed the Kolekole Bridge as well as other railroad infrastructure closer to Hilo. Ian Burnie summarized the impact in his article, "Transportation and the 1946 Tsunami":
On April 1, 1946, the tsunami washed away a section of the Wailuku River railroad bridge, collapsed the center section of the Kolekole bridge, and uprooted most of the track along Bayfront. There was extensive damage to the piers and the rail line serving Hilo Harbor. The estimated cost of rebuilding was $500,000.
The outermost plantations, controlled by Theo H. Davies & Company, voted to restore the line; those closer to Hilo, controlled by C. Brewer & Company, voted to dissolve it. The Brewer plantations prevailed and the railroad and all its assets, including the rights-of-way, bridges, engines, cars, rails and structures, were sold to a California salvage company for $81,000. The locomotives were cut up, the wooden cars were burned, and the scrap iron was shipped back to the mainland. Because they were steel, most of the bridges were slated to be dismantled.
For the plantations, the abrupt demise of the railroad meant having to transport bagged sugar by other means. Most sugar from Hamakua was trucked to Hilo Harbor, although the Hamakua Sugar Company continued to use its offshore cable landing at Honoka'a until 1948. Part of the railroad was rebuilt between the Waiakea yards and Hilo Harbor, and it was operated privately for a few more years, servicing the Puna Sugar Company mill at Ola'a.
Photos from Hilo provide a sense of the devastation to the railroad caused by the tsunami.
Hawaii State Archives, pp 108-5.042. Gift of L.M. Pytleski
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Hawaii State Archives, pp 108-5.041. Gift of L.M. Pytleski
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The Kolekole Railroad Bridge was destroyed. The replacement bridge was built for the Hawaii Belt Highway, not for the railroad.
Railroad bridge over the Kolekole River, public domain photo taken prior to 1923.
Railroad bridge over the Kolekole River on April 1, 1946 showing that the center span had been washed out. Photo from the Waichi Ouye Collection, courtesy of his family.
Kolekole Railroad Bridge after the tsunami. Photo from the Waichi Ouye Collection, courtesy of his family.
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The railroad bridge over the Kolekole River suffered irreparable damage from the tsunami. Photo by Shigeharu Furusho from the Waichi Ouye Collection, courtesy of his family.
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The Hakalau Railroad Bridge survived the tsunami, but the railroad ceased to exist. The railroad bridge became the basis for the Hawaii Belt Highway bridge over Hakalau Gulch. Of course, the Hakalau Mill was destroyed.
The railroad bridge over Hakalau Gulch is intact, but damage in other parts of the system doomed the railroad. The flume was destroyed. Photo by Shigeharu Furusho from the Waichi Ouye Collection, courtesy of his family.
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Hakalau Mill destruction, April 1, 1946. Photo by Shigeharu Furusho from the Waichi Ouye Collection, courtesy of his family.
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