Oahu Rail and Land Co's main line was one of the last remaining 3 foot Narrow Gauge operation in the USA. While there is a true narrow gauge modeling gear available called HOn3, it's all very expensive. The HOn3 engines are usually in the $400 price range where I can get a regular HO engine for under $50. Since Hawaii did not run 4 foot gauge and the 3 foot gauge was the "mainline" rail, I am taking some liberty here and just going to stick with the more affordable HO scale models.
An internet purchase of Atlas True Track's Martin's Creek & Southern package set me up with a somewhat simple layout that can be expanded easily. I choose the true track layout for its affordability and was not aware it came with two 215 switch boxes and a wiring diagram. Several hours later and a trip to City Mill in Pearl City for some wire and I had the entire layout running with all the switches and track isolators working.
The 215 switches were new to me. I had never wired more than a simple circle layout and a few switches in the past so I had to study the wiring diagrams to understand what this box did. Before wiring the entire layout I tested it out on one spur. It's now a must have for me now on any layout. It looked spooky at first but its real easy to wire. I used plastic rail connectors to isolate sections of track and then wire each isolated section to the 215 box and together with an A & B controller and now can run two trains at the same time on the same tracks.
How I decided on the Iwilei Yard for my layout
At this point I still had no idea of how I wanted my layout to look. Maybe a Christmas scene or a Colorado mountain town. Maybe something from historic Hawaii's past. I wasn't sure. After wiring the layout I made a short hop over to the Hawaiian Railway Societies Ewa location looking for any scale models and was quickly invited to a tour of their yard. I accepted and while walking out the front door I noticed a map of the Iwilei section of Honolulu area in 1942 for sale...
Well I purchased and took the map home and hung it over my layout and now the search begins for acceptable model kits that can be used or modified to resemble all of these buildings. This map is also available on the Hawaiian Railway Societies website for $10.00. This is the list of the buildings depicted on the map that I wish to include in my layout.
Bordering King Street/Dillingham Blvd
- Roundhouse & Machine shop
- Blacksmith and car shop (off spur)
- OR&L Main Office & Depot (2-4 lines)
- “Roll in Cafe” & service station
- Kapu Building
- Tong Fat Co. Ltd
- Aala Fish Market
- Warehouse #7
- Love's Bakery
- Honolulu Harbor scenery (with spurs to piers)
Kuwili Street
- Hawaiian Gas Product Company Limited
- OR&L Freight House & Truck stalls
- Paint house (off spur)
- Giant Pineapple
- Dole Pineapple Cannery
Aloha
