Ookala 0-4-2 Locomotives in the USA

Class Ookala (Locobase 12454)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Vol 23, p. 145. See the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association archives at [] for the history of the plantation. Works number was 18401 in November 1900.

The boiler used on the Ookala appeared on many Baldwin sugar-plantation locomotives, most of which ran on the 2' 6" gauge. The additional 6 inches in gauge induced very few changes other than an increase in driver diameter and weight. Boiler pressure climbed as well.

Ookala Sugar Company was located north of Hilo on the Big Island. According to the HSPA archives article on this establishment, exploiting the 1,405 acres of land presented awesome challenges: "Located between the Hamakua district and the rain-drenched lands of the Hilo district, the land rose to an elevation of 1,800 feet, with steep slopes and a frontage on the sea of about 4 + miles and a depth of 2 + miles. Because of its adverse natural location, both irrigation and fluming were impossible and the plantation depended entirely on natural rainfall. Thirteen great gulches divided the Ookala fields making the land subject to erosion and transporting the cane to the mill was a major problem. Although the soil supported good crops of cane, the plantation was not profitable."

The railway on which the #7 ran served the lower slopes. When the original company failed in 1909, new interests took over and renamed the venture Kaiwiki Sugar Company in 1909, but this little saddle tank retained its name.