Waimanolo Sugar Railway No. 3 named, Olomana is an 0-4-2T Tank engine that was built by Baldwin in 1883 for the Waimanolo Sugar Refinery in Waimanolo, on the island of Oahu, HI.
It was shipped there from Philadelphia via Cape Horn and, when it arrived, was only the third steam locomotive in the Kingdom of Hawaii.
In the fields, the engine ran on temporary track that was lifted and moved to new locations as the harvest proceeded.
The locomotive was retired in 1944 and abandoned at the refinery it sat there until 1948 when the locomotive was was bought by Jerry Best and shipped to San Gabriel, CA.
In 1977, Best donated "Olomana" to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, , and it went on display at the Museum of American History.
It was moved to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in 1999 in what was meant to have been a temporary arrangement before being moved to a permanent location near Allentown, PA.
As of today it's on static display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.
Trivia[]
- It was Initially named "Puaalii", but then in 1910 it was renamed to "Olomana".
- It ran at about 5 mph on this temporary track, but could reach 20 mph on the permanent rails at the refinery.
- Originally a coal burner, it was converted to burn oil in 1928.
- Dried cane was also tried, unsuccessfully, as a fuel. It was abandoned because it left a sticky residue inside the engine.
- Between 1952 and 1953, it was converted to burn wood and restored to its original appearance by Best. The purchase and restoration cost Best $10,000.
