Lahaina, Kaanapali and Pacific Railroad
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The Lahaina, Kaanapali and Pacific Railroad (LKPRR) is a steam-powered,
narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
heritage railroad A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
in
Lāhainā Lahaina ( haw, Lāhainā) is the largest census-designated place (CDP) in West Maui, Maui County, Hawaii, United States and includes the Kaanapali and Kapalua beach resorts. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a resident population of 12,702. Laha ...
, Hawaii. The LKPRR operated the Sugar Cane Train, a , 40-minute trip in open-air coaches pulled by vintage
steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
. The tracks connect Lahaina with Puukolii, stopping briefly at
Kaanapali Kaanapali ( haw, Kāanapali) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaii, United States, on the island of Maui. The population was 1,161 at the 2020 census. The master-planned town is located in the Old Hawaii ahupuaa of Hanakaʻ ...
. A narrator points outs sites of interest during the trip, which crosses a curved wooden trestle whose elevation yields panoramic views of neighboring islands and the
West Maui Mountains The West Maui Mountains, West Maui Volcano, or Mauna Kahālāwai which means "holding house of water," is approximately 1.7 million years old and forms a much eroded shield volcano that constitutes the western quarter of Maui. Since its last erup ...
. The line is currently not operating and all equipment is stored west of Lahaina.


History

The line follows a stretch of historic right-of-way originally constructed to haul sugarcane from the
sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...
plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
fields in Kāʻanapali to the Pioneer Mill in Lahaina. At one time, the island had over of rails connecting the sugarcane plantations to the mills. Trucks, however, largely replaced the railroads by the middle 20th century. In 1969, A.W. "Mac" McKelvey and the Makai Corporation created the railroad in order to illustrate this part of Hawaii's past. On July 24, 2014, the company announced that it would be closing on August 1, 2014 due to financial difficulties. The company was put up for sale as a going concern. Within months of closing, the Sugar Cane Train was bought by a local Maui resident Craig Hill owner of Maui Concierge Services. Hill felt that the Sugar Cane Train needed to be kept running in order to preserve one of Lahaina's best-known attractions. The Sugar Cane Train is currently running seasonal "Holiday Express" trains, which run on a short stretch of track in Kaanapali. These trains take place from late November up to December 25. The full line is now in the process of being revived. The company plans to rebuild all three locomotives from the ground up, as well as possibly add grade crossings to prevent accidents. Plans for the Sugar Cane Train also includes hosting weddings as well as running an evening train. The old tracks are being removed and are being replaced with newer ties and rails. Although the official website stated that operations would resume in 2018, the only trips that operated were the Holiday Express trains. In a 2018 interview, the co-owner of the railroad, Lahaina businessman Todd Domeck stated that the railroad aimed to return to full operations in May 2019, however the railroad didn’t open. In July 2021, the entire railroad (including track, but excluding right-of-way land) was listed for sale for $400,000 by the Ozark Mountain Railcar brokerage firm. The sale listing indicates that the buyer will be obligated to dismantle and remove the railroad track materials and rolling stock from the site, as no land is included in the sale. On August 8th, 2023, the Lahaina station, turntable, and the eastern half of the railroad were destroyed in the Lahaina fire. Much of the railroad’s equipment and the sheds were not affected due to being north of the fire’s path.


Motive power

*No. 1 ''Anaka'': a narrow gauge steam locomotive produced by
H.K. Porter, Inc. H.K. Porter, Inc. (Porter) manufactured light-duty railroad locomotives in the US, starting in 1866. The company became the largest producer of industrial locomotives, and built almost eight thousand of them. The last locomotive was built in ...
of
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, Pennsylvania in February 1943 for the Carbon Limestone Company. The engine has undergone extensive exterior modification since it was built by Porter. It was built as a
0-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven. The wheels on the earliest four-coupled locomotives were ...
saddle tank locomotive. In this form, it had a large tank surrounding the boiler, which held water for the locomotive. The LKPRR removed the saddle tanks, added a tender to hold water and fuel, added a larger smokestack, a wooden cab and larger headlight that resembles oil lamps once found on steam locomotives. These changes transformed the engine from a comparatively austere industrial locomotive, into a more lively and colorful engine representative of many small mainline engines once found on railroads throughout the United States in the late 19th century. *No. 3 ''Myrtle'': produced as a brother engine to No. 1, the No. 3 is also a narrow gauge steam locomotive produced by H.K. Porter, Inc. of
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, Pennsylvania in February 1943 for the Carbon Limestone Company. The LKPRR similarly altered the appearance of this engine, but gave it a slightly more modern appearance, representative of a typical oil-burning engine from the early 20th century. As such, it has a steel cab, whaleback tender, small headlight modeled on an electric prototype, and darker color scheme. The No. 3's design, name and number were inspired by a historic sugarcane engine built in 1900 for the Hawaii Railroad and retired in 1945. *No. 5: a narrow gauge outside frame locomotive. This engine is not in operating condition, but it is the only steam engine owned by the LKPRR with historical ties to Hawaii. It once ran on the Oahu Railway and Land Company until it was donated in 1954 to the
Travel Town Museum Travel Town Museum is a railway museum dedicated on December 14, 1952, and located in the northwest corner of Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California's Griffith Park. The history of railroad transportation in the western United States fr ...
in Los Angeles. Through an equipment trade with Travel Town, the LKPRR brought No. 5 back to Hawaii, where it remains today awaiting restoration. The engine sustained heavy damage during the 2023 wildfire. *No. 45 ''Oahu'': a narrow gauge MDT Plymouth
diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
Image:Sugarcanetrain.jpg, Engine No. 1, ''Anaka'', pulling the Sugar Cane Train. Image:LKPRRmyrtle.jpg, No. 3, ''Myrtle'', is turned on the railroad's turntable in Lahaina. File:LKPRR 5 01.jpg, No. 5 at the front of the station. File:Oahu Engine 45.JPG, No. 45 ''Oahu'' File:Maui Sugar Cane Train (Oahu45) 1997-04-26.jpg, No. 45 ''Oahu''
(4/26/1997)


Points of interest

*The Hahakea 325-foot wooden
trestle ATLAS-I (Air Force Weapons Lab Transmission-Line Aircraft Simulator), better known as Trestle, was a unique electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War at Sandia National Laborato ...
*An operating wooden
turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
, used for turning locomotives in Lahaina *Views of neighboring islands
Lanai Lanai ( haw, Lānai, , , also ,) is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. It is colloquially known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple pl ...
and
Molokai Molokai , or Molokai (), is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its greatest length an ...
*Views of the Hale Mahina, also known as the
West Maui Mountains The West Maui Mountains, West Maui Volcano, or Mauna Kahālāwai which means "holding house of water," is approximately 1.7 million years old and forms a much eroded shield volcano that constitutes the western quarter of Maui. Since its last erup ...
*Blowdown by train yard and trestle


See also

*
List of heritage railroads in the United States This is a list of heritage railroads in the United States. There are currently no such railroads in the states of Mississippi or North Dakota. Heritage railroads by state Alabama * Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum, Shelby & Southern Railroad and ...


References


External links


Railroad's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lahaina Kaanapali Pacific Railroad Heritage railroads in Hawaii 3 ft gauge railways in the United States RailAmerica Narrow gauge railroads in Hawaii Transportation in Maui County, Hawaii Culture of Maui Tourist attractions in Maui County, Hawaii Lahaina, Hawaii 1969 establishments in Hawaii Transportation museums in Hawaii Railroad museums in the United States