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In one of the few U.S. states where no commercial railways currently operate, this museum serves as one of the last remaining relics of a railroading past. At one time, many miles of track stretched along most of the eastern coast of the Big Island. All of that would change on a fateful day in April 1946.
By the 1940s, rail was an essential mode of transit on the eastern portion of the island of Hawai’i. The sugar industry was booming at the time, and trains were used to haul raw produce from the many plantations on the Hāmākua coastline. Passenger rail also existed for locals and tourists alike, with some children in communities like Laupāhoehoe riding five days a week to take classes in the main city of Hilo.
On April 1, 1946, earthquakes off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands triggered the largest tsunami in recorded Hawaiian history. Fifty-five-foot waves crashed directly into the eastern coast of the Big Island, hitting everything in their path, including Train Engine No. 121. A part of the fleet of train engines serving the Hilo Railroad Company, workers aboard the steam engine were shocked when the first wave hit their eleven-car freight train while crossing the Wailoa River Bridge. The wooden boxcars were smashed, sending wheels and axles into the river below and the caboose out to sea – but the engine remained put. Withstanding seven separate waves, No. 121 survived one of the most disastrous days in Hawai’i’s history. Even more miraculous and important – the entire crew of the train survived the natural disaster, including the conductor who had spun out to Hilo Bay in the caboose. Needless to say, a joyous reunion was had when the crew came to this realization.
The April Fool’s Day Tsunami unfortunately claimed the lives of many and also was the death knell for railroads on the Big Island. With most rail infrastructure irreversibly damaged, the Hawaii Railroad Company folded, and most of its inventory was scrapped or sold off. With the sheer amount of work to be done to rebuild the island, train engines were even thrown off the cliffs into the ocean to quickly do away with them as roadways soon replaced the once venerated track paths.
Located in the old Laupāhoehoe station master’s home, the collection at the Laupāhoehoe Train Museum has been lovingly curated by community members since 1998. Home to the last intact train engine on the island (thankfully not tossed into the ocean) and including an “explosively” red boxcar found abandoned in a gulch, the vestiges of the old railways and the people they served are safely stowed in this necessary stop along Route 19. The friendly volunteers at the small museum enjoy over five thousand visitors a year and give hope that maybe one day there will once again be a time to train ride into Hilo five days a week.
