Sad to see it go. Maui loosing their train :-(

Sad indeed!  I have been aboard that train a number of times.

Will have to see what info Don McCuaig can add since he lives a stone's throw from the line.  Perhaps a new investor or investment group will pick up the ball.

That is too bad. It was a fun little ride. It should be preserved.

Sad to hear about it.  Maybe they can find someone to buy it from the current owners.

Stuart

Oh man sorry to read about that. Haven't been there for awhile, but whenever we did the train ride was a must.

A great Hawaiian tradition and tourist attraction is going to be missed.  I always enjoyed the experience of riding the Sugar Cane Train when I visited Maui, a train adventure I looked forward too when there.  After all these years maybe the cost of track maintenance, locomotive upkeep and insurance put too much financial burden on the owners.  I hope Don will jump in here and fill us in on other details.

Steve, Lady and Tex

     I am a huge fan of 3' narrow railroads, I have ridden many different narrow gauge trains.

      3 years ago I road the train in Maui. The train ride was a trip to **** and back. The coaches are completley made of steel with nearly no springing in the trucks. The ride was so bumpy that it hurt. The noise level was unbearable. 

      The locomotives looked extremely good.

      They need to find some good wooden coaches and it would be enjoyable ride.

I'm going down there this afternoon and talk with them. Don

Don

    Tell them find some wooden coaches!

I, too, have ridden this train.  If nothing else works, the state of Hawaii should step

in to preserved its sugar cane history, maybe making it a state park.  (I didn't find it as bad a ride as described above).

It's true. I had a long talk with the general manager. He has some meetings with some people about buying but didn't seem to hold out much hope. It's the economy. We are still getting the numbers of people here on the island but they are spending a lot less. The Railroad will close down next Friday. I got permission to do a film of their last week. We will start shooting Monday morning. Lots of GroPro angles. I have one week to shoot it all. That's not a lot of time. The folks that run the train are very sad to see it go.  Many have been on the job over ten years. One for twenty years. Personally, I will be sad not to hear that little whistle in the distance. Don

After reading the above posts I went to "trip advisor" to see how the general, non-railfan [ eg, sane ] public views this tourist attraction.  Interested forumites might wish to do the same, and draw their own conclusions.

Best, SZ

Don

Hope to view your videos of these final days on youtube.

Please post them here on the forum.

Stayed right across the street at the Westin 3 years ago. Heard it everyday! Glad I got to see it.

Sorry to learn of the train's demise.  I first rode it in 1971 and remember the beautiful Kaanapali coast and the singing conductors with their ukeleles.

Not surprised though that it's being discontinued.  With the escalating cost of living in Hawaii and especially on the neighbor islands including Maui, it must have been quite an effort to keep the train operating. 

My favorite engine was Myrtle.  Aloha to a great railroad that will now become a pleasant memory.

Vern, she's my favorite also. First time I filmed it was in the early 70's. There was sugar cane all along the line. Lahaina grew and the cane is gone on this side of the island. "O-gauger" if you went up the street from the Westin three blocks there's a street called Puu Hale. That's were we live. I scuba off of Airport Beach. Will dive tomorrow from there. Glad you got to see the West side. It's the best. Don

Front page story today. Don

When I was there back in June 1991 I got a kick out of seeing some flat cars lettered WP&Y on a siding.  That was some change of climate for those cars.

Stuart