Launiupoko - Lahaina, Maui, Hawai'i
Posted by: 
elyob
N 20° 52.697 W 156° 40.573
4Q E 741752 N 2310424
The locomotive is near the old mill chimney.
Waymark Code: WMNTFK
Location: Hawaii, United States
Date Posted: 04/30/2015
Views: 7
Pioneer Mill Railroad No. 3 is an 0-4-2T built for 30" track. The following text is taken from an interpretive sign on site.
This steam locomotive, named Launiupoko, was built in 1898 by Baldwin Locomotive Works and weighs 24 tons.
Originally sugar cane was hauled to the mill by ox cart. It took 20 carts, 25 men, and 60 oxen to bring in the cane every day. Steam trains were able to bring in 120 loads in one day and only required an engineer and two helpers. With a severe lack of labor on the plantations, the steam trains paid for themselves in record time.
In 1900, the plantation manager of Pioneer Mill reported that the plantation was able to harvest 20,000 tons of cane every six months. He stated that the new railroad plus fluming provided enough cane supply to operate the mill day and night.
By 1946, however, the mill reported: "We still have the reliable old railroad as a means of transporting cane from the fields to the mill but technological improvements demand we arrive at some decision in the near future as to a cheaper method to use."
On December 10, 1952, the headlines of Maui News reported:
TRAINS EXIT SCENE AT PIONEER MILL
TO HAUL CANE BY TRUCK ONLY; RAIL EQUIPMENT SOLD
The Launiupoko was badly damaged in a fire in 1961. It was returned to Lahaina on October 13, 2011 as a donation from the Alan and Lenabelle Davis Foundation.
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