From Boone Moorison, who posted this to the HOn3 Yahoo list -
Gang:
A fast report here....
On Monday, 11 October the Kauai Plantation Railway made the change
from a construction project to an operating railroad...:-)
Our Whitcomb diesel was moved from the docks to our yard and taken
off the low-bed trailer under her own power.....by the end of the day
she was in full operation switching cars and testing the ballast
car. Some adjusting and fiddling was required to get her running
just right, but by Tuesday morning all was well.
So, after five years of effort, hard work, and not inconsiderable
stress, we now have a railroad.
Yes, I am pleased - to put it mildly!! Running the line and seeing
our plantation from that perspective, and at that gentle speed, was
an incredible experience. At last we see the fruits (pardon the pun)
of all this work....it is the most beautiful railroad setting you can
imagine...spreading orchards and fields of crops, backed by the
mountains of Kauai, with the narrow gauge line winding through
it...can't beat that!
The remainder of the week was spent working ballast trains - our home
made car works like it was designed to, dropping a neat line of
ballast between the rails and two inches below rail head, ready for
the ground gang to spread it....we load four cubic yards of rock and
get about seventy lineal feet of track done....smooth and easy.
We then decided to test the entire line and tied on all six of the
former White Pass flats....ran the line several times and found that
we had a pinch at the frogs on several switches - fixed that and now
she runs as smooth as you can imagine. The track is just
great...super smooth and it looks like a Main Line operation. In my
opinion our track, in comparison to the track at Lahania, makes the
latter look ABANDONED...:-)
Oh, and the rail is beginning to shine.
And to add to the fun, on Thursday the folks at Grove Farm Museum
staged their monthly steam up - they have three engines that are
operational, which they run in rotation. As it happened the engine
for this month was the 1887 Holerenzoren 2-4-0...the oldest operable
engine in Hawaii, and the first to run on Kauai. They run on 1200
feet of track laid on the roadbed of the former Grove Farm line.
We took an early lunch break and our train crew went down to pay
them a "social call"....a great moment in Hawaii railroading, since
this was the first time in 100 years that TWO railroads were in
operation on the Island at the same time.....it was a great
commemoration of all of our mutual efforts. We toasted the occasion
with a cold soda, and then got back to work.
As it turns out, folks later told us they could hear the echo of both
whistles....:-)
So, to all my friends who have put up with my babble about this
project for the last five years, have given freely of ideas and
knowledge, and been the best supporters I could ever ask for, THANKS
A LOT.....
Now, come on out and take a train ride! If all continues to go well
we will have revenue trains in operation at some level before the
Holidays, perhaps as early as Thanksgiving....
It has been quite a "trip"...:-)
Aloha, Boone
