Hilo RR 4-6-0 "Ten-Wheeler" Locomotives in the USA

Class 108 (Locobase 13478)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Vol 32, p 266 and Vol 49, p. 189. See Locobase 12374 for a history of the railroad. Works numbers were 32895 in August 1908, 35433 in October 1910, and 37785 in May 1912.

When the Hilo returned to Baldwin for another Ten-wheeler, it ordered one with the driver diameter of the 1899 locomotive (Locobase 12374) and the cylinder dimensions and boiler size of the 1902 engine (Locobase 12590). Unlike either of the others, it bore only a number. 191 joined the railroad a year later.

All remained in service on the Big Island until they scrapped in 1947 after the 1 April 1946 tsunami swept along eastern side of Hawai'i and demolished much of the Hilo's successor's infrastructure. See Locobase 12374 for details on this disaster.

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Class Kilauea (Locobase 12590)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 24, p 164. Works number was 20052 in February 1902

Not long after the Hilo took delivery of the wood-burner shown in Locobase 12374, the railroad returned to Baldwin for a bigger engine that burned soft coal. The specs provide tonnage ratings for the Kilauea:

Grade Trailing load in short tons

1 % 575

1.5 % 400

2 % 300

2.5 % 225

3 % 190

3.5 % 150

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Class Ola'a (Locobase 12374)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 22, p. 187. See Wikipedia's entry on the Hawaiian Consolidated Railway. Works number was 17318 in January 1900.

Unlike many of the locomotives that found their way to the Hawaiian Islands in the late 19th-Century, this wood-burning Ten-wheeler had the orthodox mission of supporting common-carrier operations on standard-gauge, 60 lb/yard (30 kg/metre) rail laid on the Big Island. (At the same time, Baldwin produced a smaller 0-4-2T engine that later acquired a tender.)

The first eight miles linked the port of Waiakea to the Ola'a sugar mill and the seventeen-mile long extension to Kapoho served the Puna Sugar Company. But the railroad's long history included regular freight and passenger service along a considerable stretch of line.

The Report of the Governor of Hawaii in 1908 spoke of the many benefits of this railroad:

"The road has done much for the development of this region+ at first in sugar production, and now also in pineapple, rubber, and lumber production."

After detailing the expansion of lumber production and export, the report noted that a new 2-mile extension would allow the hauling of rock to help build the Hilo breakwater. The company owns a covered-pier wharf 800 feet long and 100 feet wide on Hilo Bay, but until considerable dredging is done only vessels of less than 20 feet draft can lie at the wharf. Freight is lightered to the larger vessels."

By way of summary the report noted: "This road carried 62,885 passengers and 62,843 tons of freight during the last year."p. 354. (Reports of the Department of the Interior, Volume 2, US Government Printing Office,1908)

A 35-mile extension north through very difficult terrain to Hamakua cost far more than had been estimated and the Hilo went into receivership just as it was completed. It emerged as the Hawaiian Consolidated Railway. For the continued history of the HCR, see Locobase 14754.