Some shots prior to beginning

The railroad had no name but served the local community by carrying fruits and vegetables from the field and orchard to the port. It has long been abandoned and the right of way overgrown. Buildings were lost or removed. As you can see below, the bridges are barely standing. 

I think you over weathered that trestle!

Sorry, couldn't resist.

I've built three garden railways in my life, all were fun but a ton of work. I think I'm most happy with my indoor trains now... Don't have to weed the silly thing!

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Garden railways certainly do have a charm associated with them, and you do have the right weather for one out there.

Railroad Tour

The railroad last ran a tourist train under the guise of the Helocona & Hybiscus Railroad but never had equipment letter for this fictitious name. It begins at Musa and runs up to Ka Nui and across the dry wash to a former passing siding before reaching the community of Orange. This active area still produces the globules which contain a sweet nectar favored by the locals.

The line runs through a deep cut before passing the dairy fields and nearby equestrian center named for a Hanoverian linkage of horses of the Double-D line. (Any similarity to the attributes of the female riders is coincidental). Once past more orchard trees the railroad comes to the Port on the vast Green Lake. This town once sported a turntable and boom town but is no longer visible in the jungle. 

A long trestle beyond the port and through the Heleconia Tunnel, emerges above Green Lake and comes to the end of the line. A large transfer station still exists here where farm bi-products are converted to fertilizer through a natural composting process. I had considered naming this town after my brother Nicholas since it was to be the location of a large mine and quarry. When younger he was known to constantly be asking about this location and became a local joke since “Where’s Mine?” probably was not a reference to a future business but the name stuck.

Mat one time a wye was located here and it is believed to still be intact but the volunteer became overheated and retreated to the local pub. I hope the following photos will give you some idea of what this line might have been and what could be done to restore it with limited resources.  

The town of Musa with a spur to the left that is intended to be a continuation of the line to the waterfront below this photographer’s location near Green Lake.

Ka Nui spur and plate girder bridge.

Left is entering the community of Orange and into the cut where it emerges as shown on the right.

   i

The line winds down the shore of Green Lake on the left and into Port. The small yard on the right leads to the big trestle beyond. On the left is the line to the station and wharf.  

That’s all that could be cleared today but there are high hopes this diminutive line can serve to locals once again! 

Garden Railroad?

@Rick - This here is to be a real live Railway that is to earn it’s keep! The fact that the gauge is diminutive is necessary for the shear economics and your slanderous language of it bein’ a mere garden railroad ain’t to be tolerated! 

BTW - the temperature is conducive to working out of doors but the insecant heat and rain forces the sole voluntary labor into the comforts of the adjacent abode where libations often preclvent further progress for the day. You are more than welcome to visit the scenic line once steam is up and cooler replenished. 

My sincerest apologies kind

My sincerest apologies kind sir, I done meant no disrespect to you future endeavour.

Mmmm... Hot steam, cold cooler and watching trains in a tropical clime. sounds fun.

Apology Accepted

As inducement to volunteer I herby certify and grant you the privilage and honor the esteemed title of Honorary Society Member.  Welcome to the group. Libations are free to volunteers starting at 5:00 pm London Time. Please hep yo’sef. 

Love to visit the islands again

I would love to sail to your beautiful island again (last crewed to HI in '96) and partake of your offer of libations for visitors (and I would work on clearing the washout), but alas I have to deal with acorns. Yes - some kind hearted sole (ups I meant soul) donated Oak Tress for the Museum's Garden Railroad. Did I mentions that it has been cold and wet here this year with a very abundant crop of acorns, and a visit to a warm climate would be very welcome. Well back to recovering from prostate surgery and picking acorns out of the tracks (not sure which is worse). Hope the Umauma preservation goes well, as I think the roadbed looks in good shape.

Cool

Nice to see somebody resurrecting this old line!!

Aside - Bill

Bill, I know what I am doing up at this #%# hour of the morning (recovering from surgery), but what are doing up at 03:15?

Clear the Road

This looks fun Neil, and I follow along with anticipation!  I often suggest to my lovely wife that, if I were to build an outdoor railroad, we could combine our hobbies of trains and gardening.  She usually responds that I have enough trains.  But, . . . just wait until retirement . . . (I already have a track plan of course)!

What is that roadbed made of?  Did the locals pour concrete to support their trains?

Too many trains?!

Michael:

Im sorry. I don’t understand that phrase “too many trains”. Too many horses, I understand but one horse ... never mind, I digress. 

The community was overzealous about the original construction and worried that the cinder would move too much under the track. The local rock turned out to have liberal amounts of coral, aluminum, silica, and iron oxide that seemed to react to the rain and heat forming a substantial roadbed. It is believed that the ties simply would not stay on this surface as the ballast washed away. Subsequent rot led to rails loosing gauge and rolling under the weight of the steam engines. 

The preservarion society is considering a raised synthetic roadbed over the existing r-o-w to help with drainage and minimize movement. This is being discused with the help of our latest volunteer, Ken K, on a separate thread regarding spline roadbed (not all in the great outdoors). The weather is fine here so come all or send donations via Venmo ;- ) GoFundMe? 

I still need a name for this endevour. Any thoughts?

A name?

You mean like the Kona & Kileaua RR - the "Hot Rocks Road"?

Or perhaps the Pu'uhonua RR.... which, considering it's intended purpose as a refuge from the daily grind, might be especially appropriate.

As for tie rot, I'm wondering if some form of composite ties, like the seemingly indestructible decking material, could be made. The problem, I suspect, would be the sheer number needed.

Looking at the photos, I thought you had trenched out and put in concrete for a roadbed.

Planning

Once again I need to reach out to Michael or others with experience designing a railroad. Below is a rough sketch of the proposed route. I’ve omitted labels for now as I wanted to start with a basic plan. End to end is about 12 smiles (240’ actual). The terminus at the top left is to be based on the ill-fated Dolly Varden ore trestle and docks below. If the line is extended another 12’-14’ in this direction it may end up in front of the deck of our patrons dwelling. 

The upper right will be Nicholas Mine. Don’t know what happened to the turntable! Radius on the right curve on the lower left is about 10’ and half in that cut shown above. It runs along Green Lake (officially Wai Oma’oma’o (Vie ooh ma, ooh ma, oh) but somehow became confused with Umauma (oo ma oo ma) which means frequent flowing water and not Green Water).  The wye barely has enough room to turn the 4-6-0. A vintage Shay is being restored to operate the line once customers have made commitments.

Ignorant Mainlander

I can't stake any claim to any Hawaiian history knowledge, or to knowledge of the language.  The only name that comes to mind is the HulaHula-LeiLei.  I'm sure that's culturally inappropriate, so I apologize.

What track planning software did you use for that track plan Neil?  It must be some sort of professional architectural software.  It's quite impressive!

ROFLMAO

High tech stuff, right?! A quick sketch on my iPad mini using 53 (Paper) and a huge pencil. I’ll try to do something in CAD but need some real dimensions. 

This time of year the big monkey pod trees are nearly bare but the google maps were taken when they had full leaves so it is impossible to see the yard - er Green Lake from the aerial view. 

The area is between the house and the arena on the right side of the driveway. It’s sometimes hard to believe that we planted everything in this picture (except the forest on the right which is only 12 years old and 100’ tall). 

Panorama of Musa to Orange

If you haven’t googled Musa then the botanical reference will be lost but Ka Nui will require Google translate. 

In the foreground the old rail is floating on the “Wai”. 

HulaHula

I like it. Maybe HulaHula ala Ka’a? A more touristy name would be ok. No offense taken here. No politics. 

The Heleconia & Hibiscus was a name the friends of the OR&L used to run excursions following the end of the railway. They both grown prolifically here and would be a nice nod to history. 

The Merrie Monarch Hula Festival Just ended this weekend so the throngs of visitors should be leaving or gone so I might be able to get into a restaurant or find parking today. Our Inn was fully booked, of course, and everyone seemed to be happy. Only one night all the smoke detectors went off at 10:00pm so that was fun. I’m an early riser so am sawing off logs at 10!!

Re: Planning

An additional runaround in the upper left would seem a great help in switching the Dolly Varden mine.

Track Plan and Garden Rail Tie Rot

Neil, The track plan looks OK, but one suggestion is that you try it out before you build the raised spline. It is fairly ease to just layout it out on the ground and even wire it up and run a train. You will be able to see if the turnouts, sidings and wye will meet your needs. And you scratch that itch to run a train.

Tie Rot

Regardless of the track manufacturer at some point your ties will deteriorate due to UV exposure. Especially much of the track with US (narrow) style ties. We have quite a bit of the AristoCraft track with ties that need replacing (it is a real pain to slide new ties onto old rail) and even some twenty year old LBG track with the European (wide) ties that is not holding gauge. To extend the life of the ties we have started painting the ties with plastic compatible paint. We even paint new track because it is much easier to paint the ties before it is installed.

We have used the Rust-Oleum Roof Accessory Paint for several years and it is holding up very well. Test with the Painters Touch and Camouflage paints are ongoing, but after about a year on the layout they also seem to be good choices.

Aside - Bill

It was one of those sleepless nights for me!
Thankfully that almost never happens though!!!

Neil, you might look at one

Neil, you might look at one of the synthetic deck boards for ties or cast them from concrete. The deck boards are impervious to moisture Concrete ties could also be used and if you made your molds from a flexible material you could pour your ties to the radius needed and install curved rail while the concrete sets up. You would then have sectional track that should hold up rather well.

Bow ties and rail

Or that should be bowed rails and ties. Here is a before and after shot of a turnout by SwitchCrafters out of Albany, Oregon. He uses a material similar to Trex which is clearly durable from UV but from the weight of a horse, not so. 

  These should last longer with some periodic maintenance l.

Concrete ties?

@Rob: Interesting idea. Maybe get some tie plates 3-d printed and glue to ties cast into roadbed. I’ll have to do a little test!

Siding at Musa Yard

@Don: The roadbed is/was designed for three tracks so switching the ore dock and station could be done but I wanted to squeeze in a turntable dangling off the side of the hill somehow. The Shay is fine but my live steamers definitely have a preference for direction.  Here is a mock-up with some turnouts that were handy below the Musa. They are real and this isn’t a reference to the yard shape. 

The two short sidings are 7’ long but the long one is about 12’. The incline to the dock is pretty steep so 2-3 cars would be max - even for a Shay. Of course, I would love a Climax to really fill the bill but first things first (jeez, that’s the first time I’ve said that about acquiring new engines!!).