Re: D&RGW to US Navy

It is believed that the lead truck of L-17 was removed due to radius issues but no documentation has been located to confirm. In addition to the already mentioned equipment sent to Hawaii at the beginning of WW2 the Navy also received passenger equipment from the EBT and Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn Railroad. The OR&L also need additional equipment and purchased over 120 surplus Pacific Coast Ry freight trucks from Aaron Ferer & Son to construct 60, 25 ton gondolas. They also purchased 7 complete ex-PCRy flat cars. Balswin 4-6-0 C/N 37394, ex- NCO #11, ex-PCRy #111, was purchased by the OR&L through Pacific Barge & Steel Co. and operated as #111. As the industrial capability of the US hit it's stride huge orders of railroad equipment found its way to Hawaii. In addition to the already mentioned "export" cars, the Pressed Steel Car Co. and Kopple also provided equipment. By the end of the war over 500 government owned freight cars were in use by the Army, Navy and under lease by the OR&L. The Navy also had a locomotive pool of 8 Whitcomb and 2 Porter Diesel Electric Locomotives with at least one serving on Maui with the Kahului Railroad. This pool was under the control of the "District Rail Transportation Coordinator" which was a part of the Naval Supply System. Most of this equipment became excess after the war and only a small portion was sold. Derelict equipment could be found rotting on sidings all over Oahu especially after the OR&L abandoned the main line in 1947.

Jeff Livingston
Historian
Hawaiian Railway Society