![](\"http:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/5053dd41b333c.image_.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMany people model narrow gauge in On30 and HOn30. Most of these are stand-ins for 36″ or 24″ gauge railways. I thought it would be interesting to look at some prototype 30″ lines that could be subjects for On30 and HOn30 modeling. This month we will start with the sugar cane plantation railroads of Kauai.<\/p>\n
Railroads on the island of Kauai date from 1881 with the first three miles of rail laid at Kilauea Plantation, and by 1915 there were nearly 200 miles of narrow gauge track in service on the sugar plantations of the Island.\u00a0While the original line at Kilauea Plantation was a\u00a02′ gauge line (and stayed that way to the end), all the other lines on Kauai chose 30″ gauge, the only Island in the Hawaiian Chain to run with this gauge.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The success of the Kilauea line lead management at the Koloa Sugar Plantation, the first on Kauai, to follow their lead and order a similar Fowler locomotive, but chose 30″ (2′ 6″) gauge for their line. The reason is not known. The success of this line soon prompted management to order a second Fowler locomotive of similar size.<\/p>\n In\u00a01887 the Koloa Sugar Plantation ordered a 10-ton, 0-4-2T locomotive from the Hohenzollern Co. of Germany. Today this engine is preserved by the Grove Farm Homestead Museum<\/a> in operating condition – it is the oldest functioning plantation locomotive in Hawaii and is put in steam occasionally for special events.<\/p>\n As the lines increased in length and management wanted to move larger quantities of sugar cane per trip, the locomotives were upgraded to larger units. The Baldwin Locomotive Works, of Philadelphia, became the prime supplier to most Hawaii plantations and Kauai was no exception. Initially the 0-4-2 design was popular, but soon the larger 0-6-2 wheel arrangement, with the water tank draped over the boiler (“saddle tank”) was favored because of it’s high tractive effort and the ability to negotiate sometimes less than perfect track. Historians have called these the “Bulldog Baldwins” for their squat, compact appearance and renown pulling ability. At one point there were more than 20 of these engines in service on Kauai at the same time, and three of them survive in the collection of the Grove Farm Homestead Museum<\/a>, two of which are still operational.<\/p>\n By 1927 plantation managers began to experiment with internal combustion engines and a 12-ton Plymouth diesel was placed in service at the Kekaha Sugar Company and was soon followed by similar units on other operations. In 1936 management at the Lihue Plantation purchased a 10-ton Whitcomb diesel-mechanical engine, which proved to be successful. The following year a second, similar engine was brought on line. A restored a 1939 Whitcomb diesel-mechanical of the same design as the early Kauai engines \u00a0and a\u00a01948 GE diesel-electric engine similar to the early GE units purchased by Lihue Plantation Co can still be seen today at the\u00a0Kauai Plantation Railway<\/a>.<\/p>\n The last surviving Hawaii sugar cane railroad by the mid 1950’s was the\u00a0Lihue Plantation Co on Kauai keeping it’s railroads in service until 1959 – far longer than expected. By that time five large GE diesel engines were doing the majority of the work, with several of the old steam engines in reserve.<\/p>\n Through the foresight of Mable Wilcox, a member of the family who owned the Lihue Plantation Co, the Grove Farm Homestead Museum<\/a> was established to help preserve Kauai’s plantation history. The museum was able to acquire and preserve four of Kauai’s steam engines, three of which have been restored to operational condition.<\/p>\n Though the plantation railroads of Kauai no longer haul sugar cane, the preservation efforts of the Grove Farm Homestead Museum<\/a>, and the operations of the Kauai Plantation Railway<\/a> help visitors and Island residents experience this long-gone aspect of Island life.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many people model narrow gauge in On30 and HOn30. Most of these are stand-ins for 36″ or 24″ gauge railways. I thought it would be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1639,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[48,19],"tags":[45],"class_list":["post-726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prototype-railroads","category-small-layout-ideas","tag-august-2016","wpcat-48-id","wpcat-19-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/NarrowLocoWheels_small.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4e6yk-bI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":345,"url":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/small-layout-insperations\/","url_meta":{"origin":726,"position":0},"title":"Small Layout Inspirations","author":"Marshall Stull","date":"February 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Looking around the web for unique prototype railways to model, these have caught my eye. I think many would make an interesting small layout. Peat Railways of\u00a0Bord na Mona Bord na Mona is a vast Peat Bog in\u00a0Ireland.\u00a0Peat was Ireland's only significant indigenous fuel. Large scale extraction meant less reliance\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Prototype Railroads"","block_context":{"text":"Prototype Railroads","link":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/category\/prototype-railroads\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/stjamesgate1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/stjamesgate1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/stjamesgate1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/stjamesgate1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1191,"url":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/modeling-the-celestial-railroad\/","url_meta":{"origin":726,"position":1},"title":"Modeling The Celestial Railroad","author":"Marshall Stull","date":"May 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Last month we took at the narrow gauge Jupiter and Lake Worth Railway aka the Celestial Railroad. This month we will look at modeling the line. The prototype itself is small lends itself very well to a small, operations based layout. There is very little information on the prototype except\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Prototype Railroads"","block_context":{"text":"Prototype Railroads","link":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/category\/prototype-railroads\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/JLW-Locomotive_Cut.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/JLW-Locomotive_Cut.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/JLW-Locomotive_Cut.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/JLW-Locomotive_Cut.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2125,"url":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/all-the-model-rail-layouts\/","url_meta":{"origin":726,"position":2},"title":"All the Model Rail Layouts","author":"Marshall Stull","date":"September 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"While showing layouts as part of free-mo, I am often asked about my home layout. My response is often \"which one?\" At any given time I have at least four layouts in process (six right now). These layouts are always at various stages of completion and represent several scales, gauges\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Modular Layouts"","block_context":{"text":"Modular Layouts","link":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/category\/modules\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DollyVardenDock_1000.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DollyVardenDock_1000.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DollyVardenDock_1000.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DollyVardenDock_1000.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1915,"url":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wwi-light-railways-modelrailroad-modelrailways-train-modeltrains-wwi\/","url_meta":{"origin":726,"position":3},"title":"WWI Light Railways","author":"Marshall Stull","date":"November 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Back in February 2013 we took a quick look at the\u00a0WWI Military Railway\u00a0as inspiration for a small layout. Since today is November 11, Veterans Day, here in the USA (Armistice Day, Memorial Day, Remembrance Day in other parts of the world), I thought it would be a good time to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Prototype Railroads"","block_context":{"text":"Prototype Railroads","link":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/category\/prototype-railroads\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ThroughBuilding.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ThroughBuilding.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/ThroughBuilding.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":404,"url":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/brewery-tramway\/","url_meta":{"origin":726,"position":4},"title":"Brewery Tramway","author":"Marshall Stull","date":"March 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Back in the article Small Layout\u00a0Inspirations\u00a0we took a short look at the Guinness Brewery Tramway. That article mentioned that the brewery had a spiral tunnel (helix) connecting the lower and upper portions of the complex. This became the inspiration for the Brewery Tramway layout presented here. The Guinness Brewery was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Prototype Railroads"","block_context":{"text":"Prototype Railroads","link":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/category\/prototype-railroads\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Passenger Car","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/guinness_1st.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/guinness_1st.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/guinness_1st.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2237,"url":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/christmas-layout-2018\/","url_meta":{"origin":726,"position":5},"title":"Christmas Layout 2018","author":"Marshall Stull","date":"December 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Each Holiday Season I like to look for a Christmas Layout to feature on Small Model Railroads. This year we are going to take a look at Wayde Gutman's unique Christmas Tree Layout. All images\/videos in this article were taken by Wayde Gutman. Wayde's layout is unique because his layout\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Layout Spotlight"","block_context":{"text":"Layout Spotlight","link":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/category\/layout-spotlight\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/IMG_1295.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/IMG_1295.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/IMG_1295.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/IMG_1295.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/IMG_1295.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/IMG_1295.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=726"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1853,"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726\/revisions\/1853"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"1908](\"http:\/\/smallmr.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/USA157_small.png\")
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