Old Hawaiian Railway

Hawaiian Railway…abandoned in 1970

Oahu Railway – After the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the Oahu Railway became a major player in wartime transportation. The railroad carried out its regular freight operations as well as handling massive amounts of military-related traffic. The Oahu Railway became the chief transporter of civilian base workers, sailors, soldiers, airmen and marinesboth from Honolulu to their bases, or from those bases back to Honolulu for coveted R&R.  In 1944 and 1945 the Oahu Railway carried nearly two million riders. 

The company plugged along for the remainder of 1945 and into 1946 transporting servicemen. Nevertheless, passenger traffic and gross revenues dropped more than fifty percent. The railroad’s fate was sealed by the 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake and the resulting 55ft tsunami that struck on April 1, 1946.  Although the Oahu Railway rebuilt, on December 31, 1947, a final excursion departed from Kahuku through 71.4 miles of the countryside back to the Honolulu station. The Oahu Railway was finished after 85 years. The Oahu Railway replaced its railroad with a truck transport operation.