Kokua sought to repair burnt track
By Suzanne Roig Jeff Widener | The Honolulu Advertiser HELP NEEDED
The nonprofit group that maintains O'ahu's only active railroad is seeking money and manpower to repair a one-mile stretch of track damaged in last weekend's brushfire near Hono-kai Hale.
Karol Chordas of the Hawaiian Railway Society said an estimated 250 railroad ties were destroyed by the fire, which charred 400 acres and came within 30 feet of homes in Hono-kai Hale and Ko Olina.
The estimated cost of buying those ties and shipping them from the Mainland is more than $12,000.
"The fire forced us to cut our tours and now we are looking at a lot of hard work ahead of us," said Robert Yatchmenoff, railway society president.
"This will set us back," Chordas said. "We will have to put all our other plans on hold and focus all our energy on this."
The Campbell Estate, the area's largest private landowner, on Monday said it would donate $6,000 to help with repairs. The announcement was made when it was believed that 120 ties were damaged.
The society, formed in 1970, restored 6.5 miles of track from 'Ewa to Kahe Point. It offers two narrated rides each Sunday. As the train chugs along at 15 mph, volunteer engineers tell the story of Oahu Railway & Land Co. and about how sugar cane trains were used on the sugar plantations.
The heavy, 5-foot-long ties damaged by the fire must be dug up and new ties placed under the rails. "It's back-breaking labor. It's grunt work," Chordas said.
The fire caused quite a bit of discussion Sunday morning among railway volunteers who went out in a special car and inspected the tracks. That's when it was discovered the firebreak between the homes and the brush included the tracks.
Because of the damaged track, the 90-minute tours will be shortened to about an hour and fares will be reduced to $5, Chordas said.
The fire is believed to have been intentionally set, Fire Capt. Kenison Tejada said. Police arrested a 27-year-old Nanakuli woman on Sunday — a day after the fire was started — after she was found with a Molotov cocktail and an empty gasoline can in her car.
Advertiser Staff Writer
John Deyeso of the Hawaiian Railway Society helps to replace wooden railroad ties that were destroyed in a brushfire near Honokai Hale on Saturday. The group estimates that the cost to buy new ties and have them shipped from the Mainland is more than $12,000.
For details, call the railway society at 681-5461 or visit www.hometown.aol.com/hawaiianrailway.
John Deyeso, 58, helped with track repairs yesterday. Work included digging up the heavy, 5-foot-long ties damaged by the blaze and placing new ties under the rails.
