Man wants to run train to North Shore
By Will Hoover
Advertiser North Shore Writer
By his own admission, Tim Duttle is either a man of vision or someone seriously off on the wrong track.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
"I started this eight years ago and I've had money for it three times," said Duttle, who dreams of building a narrow gauge, steam locomotive railroad between O'ahu's North Shore and Leeward Coast that would accommodate commuters and tourists.
Tim Duttle points out an old railroad spike near the O'ahu Rail and Land Co. rails outside Hale'iwa. Duttle has researched the history of railroads in Hawai'i meticulously, and dreams of reviving this mode of travel.
"So far, I'm $75,000 in the hole on this and I have made nothing. So, I'm either real stupid or I'm on to something."
One person who thinks Duttle is on to something is Rep. Willie Espero, D-41st ('Ewa Beach). Recently, Espero arranged a meeting at the State Capitol with Duttle, Honolulu City Councilman Gary Okino and representatives of landowners between West O'ahu and the North Shore.
By the time the meeting ended, Duttle had spread large section maps all over the room and dazzled those present with his knowledge of O'ahu's old rail routes and right of ways.
Espero could barely contain his excitement about the economic prospects of Duttle's railroad design — which would be the first steam passenger train on O'ahu in more than half a century.
To him the land in question is essentially wide open, scenically stunning and has much of the old Oahu Rail & Land Co. right of way still in place. And the possibilities are as grand as the scenery: The North Shore/
South Shore line could connect to existing Hawaiian Railway Society tracks and expand eastward, eventually reaching Honolulu.
"The vision is that Ko Olina will be a major resort destination and visitors will be able to take a train to historical 'Ewa Villages and Waipahu and go on to Dole Plantation and the North Shore," Espero said.
"Imagine, a railroad with diner cars running from the North Shore to Ko Olina. That's fantastic! The thing is, the train on O'ahu could be resurrected to its former glory. It might not happen overnight, but it could happen."
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
Duttle, 47, has proven he has patience. A former blacksmith, helicopter pilot, electronics specialist, deep-sea diver, butcher, restaurant operator and lifelong railroad buff from Orange, Calif., Duttle got his train vision while vacationing here nearly a decade ago.
A map shows how rail lines once nearly went all the way around O'ahu. Some say rail travel may ease traffic and help tourism as well.
Since then he has started the North Shore Railroad Co., become part owner in a company that makes locomotives and another that manufactures railroad ties. He has traveled every inch of erstwhile railway lines on O'ahu.
"You can't do these things willy-nilly," said Duttle, who has a rare kidney disease and plans trips to Hawai'i six weeks in advance to schedule dialysis treatments. "It's not like I'm walking through a minefield with a sharp stick."
Initially, Duttle, who studied applied steam mechanics at New Mexico State University, was fascinated by Hale'iwa's rich railroad history. More than once he has devised plans and found backing to build a six-mile tourist railroad between Hale'iwa and Waialua, only to have each one fall through because of what he called bureaucratic red tape.
Such setbacks have only spurred him on to bigger notions. Not only does he intend to complete his Hale'iwa/Waialua tourist train, but he also is intent on making his $200 million North Shore/Leeward Coast rail line a reality.
If so, it would make Duttle the modern-day equivalent of Honolulu railroad baron Benjamin Dillingham.
In 1899 Dillingham opened the Hale'iwa Hotel, a romantic retreat, hunting lodge and social center that catered to folks who traveled from Honolulu to the North Shore on the OR&L line, which Dillingham had founded 10 years earlier to haul freight.
By the time the OR&L hauled its last load of passengers on Dec. 31, 1947, Dillingham had been dead 29 years and those once-shiny rails of steel had lost their luster. A few vestiges remain. A fence made from OR&L railroad ties — complete with railroad spikes — runs along the old rail bed across the road from Hale'iwa Beach Park.
Advertiser library photo
Duttle is not alone in his opinion that rails could ease O'ahu's clogged highway problems and invigorate the economy as well.
Benjamin Dillingham's hotel and rail enterprise once thrived.
"Every time I mention steam train excursions on O'ahu to the associates I work with in the rail industry they think it's a great idea," said Mitch Alderman, director of rail and mass transit for the URS Corporation, the largest engineering company in the United States. "The biggest thing is you'll be riding a steam train through scenery."
Alderman said Duttle's concept is the only combination tourist/mass transit railroad he has heard of. But he thinks there are a number of ways to make it work, considering that commuters and tourists keep different time schedules.
For example, hundreds of commuters could be moved rapidly during the customary morning and evening rush periods, while tourists would travel leisurely during the remainder of the day.
The trick is determining whether the railroad would be self-sustaining — a determination that could bring private backers aboard.
Or, because the idea has a built-in mass transit component, the railroad could be paid for through a combination of state, federal and private money.
"Oh yes, it's doable," he said.
And would he like to come to Hawai'i and engineer the project?
"Definitely" Alderman said. "We have an office in Honolulu, you know."
Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8038.
