The Hawaii Consolidated Railway (HCR), originally named the Hilo Railroad Company, was a standard gauge common carrier railroad that served much of the east coast of the island of Hawaii (The Big Island) from 1899 until 1946, when a tsunami destroyed part of the line.

History

Origin

Like the Oahu Railway and Land Company (OR&L), the HCR grew out of a necessity for good transportation (in this case, mainly to serve sugarcane plantations) at the turn of the 20th century. Though not the first railroad on the Big Island, it was certainly the most ambitious. Its principal backer was Benjamin Dillingham, the businessman who also started the OR&L, among numerous other Hawaiian companies. In the late 1890s Dillingham acquired approximately of land through purchases and leases worth $5 million, southeast of the growing city of Hilo in present day Keaau and Puna, which would become his Olaa Sugar Company and Puna Sugar Company plantations. The Olaa and Puna Sugar plantation mills were approximately from Hilo Harbor, respectively. HRC received a charter on March 28, 1899 to build the original of the Hilo Railroad that connected the Olaa sugar mill to Waiākea, soon to become the location of Hilo's deepwater port. Under the terms of the charter, HRC was granted the right to build rail lines anywhere on the island over the next fifty years, and HRC was free to use any government land to do so. The line to Olaa Sugar was laid with 60-pound rail using standard-gauge railway.

|-

! colspan=9 style="font-size:120%;" | Volcano Service

| rowspan=12 style="background:#ddd;font-size:20%;" |  

! colspan=5 style="font-size:120%;" | Puna Service

|-

| colspan=4 | To Glenwood

! rowspan=3 | Station

| colspan=4 | To Hilo

| colspan=2 | To Puna

! rowspan=3 | Station

| colspan=2 | To Hilo

|-style="font-size:90%;"

| colspan=2 | Mon-Sat || colspan=2 | Sun

| colspan=2 | Mon-Sat || colspan=2 | Sun

| Fri || Sun || Fri || Sun

|-

! #7<br/>(AM) !! #9<br/>(PM)

! #1<br/>(AM) !! #3<br/>(PM)

! #8<br/>(AM) !! #10<br/>(PM)

! #2<br/>(AM) !! #4<br/>(PM)

! #13<br/>(AM) !! #5<br/>(AM)

! #14<br/>(AM) !! #6<br/>(PM)

|-

| 7:00 || 2:30 || 8:00 || 2:30

! Hilo

| 9:40 || 5:45 || 10:48 || 5:15

| 6:00 || 9:00

! Hilo

| 9:55 || 4:40

|-style="background:#eee;"

| colspan=9 | &nbsp;

| — || —

! Hilo Wharf

| 9:50 || —

|-

| 7:05 || 2:35 || 8:06 || 2:36

! Waiakea

| 9:35 || 5:40 || 10:44 || 5:11

| 6:06 || 9:06

! Waiakea

| 9:30 || 4:35

|-style="background:#eee;"

| 7:22 || 2:53 || 8:25 || 2:55

! Olaa Mill

| 9:20 || 5:25 || 10:28 || 4:56

| 6:28 || 9:25

! Olaa Mill

| 9:10 || 4:15

|-

| 7:30 || 3:15 || 8:32 || 3:02

! Keaau

| 9:15 || 5:15 || 10:22 || 4:50

| 6:58 || 9:50

! Pahoa Jct

| 8:42 || 3:47

|-style="background:#eee;"

| 7:46 || 3:30 || 8:49 || 3:19

! Ferndale

| 9:00 || 4:55 || 10:06 || 4:35

| — || 10:20

! Pahoa

| 8:30 || 3:35

|-

| 8:00 || 3:30 || 9:05 || 3:35

! Mtn View

| 8:50 || 4:45 || 9:55 || 4:25

| 7:20 || 10:55

! Puna

| 7:35 || 3:00

|-style="background:#eee;"

| 8:20 || 4:15 || 9:25 || 3:55

! Glenwood

| 8:30 || 4:25 || 9:35 || 4:05

| colspan=5 | &nbsp;

|}

After rail service on the Olaa line began on June 18, 1900, work continued apace with a extension to Kapoho, home of the Puna Sugar Company plantation, completed by March 1902.

The new Hāmākua Division, planned from Hilo to Paaulio, was funded through the initial issue of bonds, which were authorized not to exceed in 1907, later supplemented by another issue of for the extension in 1909. In 1910, while the Hāmākua Division was still being built, the HRC system was the only standard gauge railway in the territory of Hawaii and the second-longest overall, with of track counted in its main line and branches. of tunnels were built. or April 1913,

By 1937, HCR had increased its network to of tracks, but Volcano service and the branch line from Olaa to Glenwood was abandoned completely on October 29, 1938.

While the new Hāmākua line had been extremely expensive to build, and was costly to maintain, it was especially popular with tourists on HCR's Scenic Express service for ships calling at Hilo Harbor. Combined with regular passengers and traffic generated from the numerous sugar mills along the way, the HCR made great strides in paying down its debt. Increased revenue during World War II made the company more prosperous, and HCR was making a profit by the end of 1945. Shareholders in HCR had already voted in March 1946 to discontinue rail operations. , five of the original steel trestle bridges built by HRC have been retained along the Belt Road, albeit with significant modifications under the "Seismic Wave Damage Rehabilitation Project" of 1950.

thumb|right|The Hawaii Belt Road bridge over Hakalau Stream (2012) is one of five remaining trestles originally built for the Hilo Railroad.

  1. Kapue Stream (milepost 6.28)