Grove Farm’s four surviving steam locomotives tell the story of how Kauaʻi’s sugar plantations moved cane from field to mill. Each has a name, and their movements between employers help trace connections among plantations across the island. Paulo dates to 1887 and is the oldest restored locomotive on Kauaʻi. Wainiha, Wahiawa and Kaipu were built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia. Their long working lives in Hawaiʻi are a reminder that a piece of plantation machinery could outlast its original assignment by decades.
Wainiha, named for a north shore stream, had enough pulling power for as many as fifty cane cars. The engine worked for McBryde Sugar Plantation and Lihue Plantation before Grove Farm bought it in 1955. It worked through 1957, the year Grove Farm ended steam haulage of cane. Mabel Wilcox later funded its restoration. Her role links the equipment to the history of the Grove Farm museum and the Wilcox family’s efforts to preserve the plantation property.
Kaipu brings another person into the story. The locomotive was named for an early Grove Farm worker and associate of George Wilcox, although it began work for Hawaiian Sugar Company in 1925. Grove Farm bought the engine in 1945 and used it into the 1950s. Its centenary in 2025 marked another restoration milestone. Wahiawa followed a different route to the same collection, going from Kauai Railway Company to McBryde and then to Grove Farm. With all four engines together, visitors can compare the names, proportions and construction details of machines that once served different stretches of the island.
The operator presents the historic train program separately from the homestead museum. The homestead preserves houses, furnishings and equipment that show how the plantation community lived and worked. The locomotive program puts the emphasis on transporting the crop and caring for working machinery, including the roundhouse in Puhi. Special operating dates can give visitors the chance to see an engine move under steam.
Visitor information
Researched November 2026.
Sources
More railroad museums in Hawaii
- Hawaiian Railway Society — Ewa Beach: Operating railroad preservation collection
- Laupahoehoe Train Museum — Laupahoehoe: Railroad and community history museum
- All 3 railroad museums and sites in Hawaii
Keep exploring
- All heritage sites — museums, stations and landmarks
- Alaska & Hawaii — the trains you can ride in the region