HO Scale Hawaii & Pacific

[JVuke]

...and now for something completely different.

So I started a post/thread about my Wisconsin & Central Hayward Junction over a year and a half ago with every intention on keeping it updated both online and irl (in other words keep building the layout).  And then, nothing.    I lost my mojo for it and months went by with nothing happening on it.  So down it came.  I'm still a die-hard WC guy but couldn't quite figure what my next modelling move with northern Wisconsin was going to be.  Should go all ore and embrace the 5' long lake freighter I built (for some reason), should I go back to just a small town branch line all about pulpwood, should I move south and build an HO version of WC mainline action in lake Villa,  Illinois from Model Railroader's N scale plan?  Or something really different?   
Living in Alaska, a "perk" is that Alaska Airlines has regular direct flights to Hawaii, only 6 hours due south as the crow flies.  And keeps on flying.  So like almost everyone else in the state, I migrate to tropical climes for a weeks or so mid winter.  Something about having snow 8 months of the year will make it seem really affordable.  For a few years now I've noticed things that are particularly railroady, a trait I'm sure almost all of share.  The ability to look at any town, harbor, scenic view, building, or even simple rock and instantly start figuring out how to model it.  Several spots in Maui struck me as begging to be modeled, but what really did it was a trip to the big island and seeing both old lava flows that have resorts, roads, and infrastructure plopped down in them, and the port of Kawaihae on the west shore which seemed perfect-sized for modelling.  (Turns out I'm not alone  Joseph Kreiss's Big Island Rail layout models exactly that too!). 
So in March of this year down came Wisconsin in Alaska, up goes Maui in Alaska.  Briefly, it is a shelf layout built on shelf brackets with Styrofoam glued to plank boards and 1x2 reinforcements.  My studio/train room is a 19'by 8' room in my heated 2-car garage, not too big a sacrifice since my Tacoma won't fit in there and still leaving my spouse happy not to be scraping snow of her car.  I have lift-out in front of the door ands layout is set at chest height for me.  The Hawaii & Pacific is a totally fictional railroad of my making but Hawaii does have an extensive history of railroads, there were even some last vestiges of narrow gauge still to be found in Lahaina.  I envisioned a modern short line linked to North America with ocean going rail barges and containers, much like the Alaska Railroad here at home.   I used TacomaRail as inspiration, the Hawaii & Pacific would run 2nd gen diesels with a couple up to date high horse SD70s or GE's for heavy stuff.   Essentially what I designed is a point to point layout with switching & train make-up at either end and the ability to run continuous via the lift-out.  I wanted to model the present era with 40' well cars hauling 40 & 45 foot containers (it looks like 45' are the largest that go to HI), modern reefers for produce both to/from, and lots of bulk commodities in covered hoppers and tank cars that need to get to the islands.  Added bonus was business shipping refuse/garbage back to the mainland.  After trying to be uncommitted to where/which Hawaiiian island was my setting, I gave in and I'm just calling it Maui.   Many of the scenes I'm modelling find there reference there and it's my favorite island so what the heck.  Enough writing, here's some photos of where I am so far [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[ronw1970]

Great modeling I like your concept!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Whoa! Very cool to see something very different. I dig it!

[sirenwerks]

Well done. The lava bed scenery is nicely portrayed. Every time I travel out to eastern Oregon I think about doing it. I don't know if you did or how you did but I swear I sense an ocean spray - rainforest mist - tule fog going on too. I keep rubbing my eyes.

[mcjaco]

Love it!  Great railroading history in Hawaii.  As my eyes have started to fail for doing N scale, I bought some On30 with the idea of doing a Hawaiian sugar cane railroad.  Keep the updates coming!

[JVuke]

Thanks for all the great comments!  Sorry for the wonky looking post, I'm still figuring out the whole process here, bear with me (wow, sounding like and old guy, prefer to think myself as a medium-ish old guy). So to explain it all a little better I made a quick track plan out in AutoCAD:

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Track is all down/installed but from the lava flow to the town of Kihei is relatively bare and zero structures are up or built beyond the sand tower and engine shed temporarily in place for track spacing.  Most other areas have gotten a first pass at scenery albeit with some holes here and there.  I'll post more about palm trees, beaches, and my so-so tropical water.  Most structures still need to be built/detailed/finished.  You might recognize Smith Bros Fish.  Bob Hayden detailed building it in the November 1992 Model Railroader & Model Tech studios has a kit available of it now.  I scratch built mine per the article and moved it from Lake Michigan to the middle of the Pacific.

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Town & place names are just lifted from areas of Maui that I am familiar with.  Geographically it all kinda makes sense although specific places may be out of order.  OK it doesn't make sense but the actual Maalaea Harbor is to the north of Kihei meaning north is to the left as you look at the track/layout.  I'm still deciding on place names so don't be surprised if they change at some point.

Here's some specifics:

I used Atlas Code 83 track & switches with a couple Walthers & Peco switches thrown in out of neccesity.  BTW we have 1-one-uno-hobbyshop in the entire state of Alaska.  And it is not train oriented, they might have some track but it isn't what I need.  So I am dependant on online ordering and stocking.  And shipping, sigh.   Did I mention a lot people/retailers don't know Alaska is part of the United States?

I use Prodigy Advanced DCC.  It's been pretty bullet proof for at least 15 years on various layout although I'm starting to want to get into programming via a PC.

All my locomotives have sound.  And I'm wanting to add scenic sounds like waves, birds, etc.

This is meant to be a quick(er) layout that I can finish & operate while still working on all my Wisconsin Central locos, cars, and that pesky Great Lakes ore boat.  Along with working, other scale modelling pursuits, painting (I'm a part-time artist), being a parent/husband, etc.  It may be around for the long term or just a couple years.  I do have a habit of chasing butterflies, ooh, look at that shiny HON3 K-27!!!!
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[JVuke]

Hitting the beach.  [ Guests cannot view attachments ] I decided that even though I'm not 100% done or even sure I am satisfied with my tropical surf I might as well make the beaches a little more populated. [ Guests cannot view attachments ] And I added pedestrian crossings, scratch built out of wood siding, railing stock, and stairs leftover from a great lakes freighter kit.  [ Guests cannot view attachments ]   The main beach crossing got a pair of lighted signals although I have no plans to make them operational any time soon. [ Guests cannot view attachments ]   For the beach, I found nude figures were less expensive than ones painted/modeled for the beach.  I just had to perform some mild plastic surgery (yes pun intended) on some of the more um, generously proportioned nudists or put heavy coats of paint swimwear on them.  Some still look a little too "strippery" but oh well.  I did do a lot of repainting on the pre-painted people I got from Preiser and Faller especially hair and skin tones. [ Guests cannot view attachments ]   I did find some great surfers on Ebay from a vendor in Indonesia.  Beach towels were printed from photos I found online.  Now I need to find beach umbrellas.  I have 3D printed folding chairs from Miniprints but the slope of my shoreline is a little too steep and they look weird leaning forward.  In hindsight I would use 1" foam for the shore landforms rather than 2" although I like the added elevation for the roadbed/track over the water.  Layouts are about compromise I guess.  Happy New Year!

[chuck geiger]

This rocks very hard, I remember this which he is still building, actually a rebuild. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJjAJjEeHPg64kv9q-eEr4w

[John]

Outstanding work.   I remember that Maui had a narrow gauge at one time. 


I like that shipping container office ..  can you fit a humpback in along the beach?

[JVuke]

Thanks, I actually looked for HO scale humpbacks, might have to again.

[DirtyD79]

Looks pretty cool. I like the trackside beach scenes. Makes me think of the Surf Line in southern California.

[p51]

Looks great. At work, I handle auto accident claims and handled Hawaii for several years (it was a nightmare that my happiest day was when that state got assigned to another region).
One thing that'd be correct would be to have a dumping ground of highly rusted abandoned cars, in a small valley. We knew where cars got dumped there.

[nkalanaga]

For the beach chairs, could you sink two of the legs into the sand?  That's what I'd do with a real chair, on sand, if it didn't sit level.

I've never had much contact with the beach, probably haven't spent more than 12 hours total on one in my life, but where I grew up had a LOT of sand!

[John]

Thanks, I actually looked for HO scale humpbacks, might have to again.

This might work

https://www.tinkercad.com/things/23Mf3PA9Rnd-whale

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4890242

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2246895

You probably saw this

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lahaina,_Kaanapali_and_Pacific_Railroad

[pdx1955]

Looks great. At work, I handle auto accident claims and handled Hawaii for several years (it was a nightmare that my happiest day was when that state got assigned to another region).
One thing that'd be correct would be to have a dumping ground of highly rusted abandoned cars, in a small valley. We knew where cars got dumped there.

Or even a not very rusted stripped out car hulk in a ditch or in the bushes/side road..those things are scattered randomly.