The Furture of OR&L No. 85 and HRS Priorities

From Jeff Livingston:

"As of now the Hawaiian Railway Society has no plans for No. 85 except to bring her home from Maui and restoration for display. The acqusition of the locomotive, as significant and exciting as it is for our group, was the easy part. Prior to moving the locomotive all parts must be accounted for and the locomotive at least partially reassembled for transport. Once on Oahu No. 85 will likely reside in or just outside the maintenance shed. There are other projects in progress which must not be ignored but completed before No. 85's turn. Major fund rasing will be required for this effort and must be in place before work is undertaken. HRS must again rethink its Master Plan and adjust accordingly. HRS has made great strides in the last few years and now owns the property it occupies. There is currently only the maintenance building which could be considered "modern and adequate". Our collection sits outside in the sun, rain, dirt and salt envrionment of the Ewa Plain and deteriorates. We should not and cannot lose sight of the bigger picture because we have added a major piece to our collection. Another large building is called for to protect and display pieces of the collection as they are restored. We need a museum building. We need more shop space. We need a new ticket office and gift shop. We need a new residence for our site caretakers. With all this said lets not jump ahead with No. 85. We could use your help now. Join HRS, contribute, support, help us get No. 85 home before her 100th birthday and help us make HRS what it can and should be.

Jeff Livingston"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2010 12:32PM by Mark Fuller.