Postwar Conclusion
Ironically, just as the HCR was finally emerging from its long-standng financial troubles, it was literally hit with a blow from which it never recovered. On the morning of April 1, 1946, a massive tsunami caused by an Aleutian Islands earthquake struck Hilo and the Hāmākua coast, devastating the city and wiping out instantly a number of railroad bridges. The destruction was so massive that the HCR filed for abandonment soon after the tsunami, receiving permission from the Interstate Commerce Commission to do so as of December 31, 1946. Parts of the original Hilo Railway line southeast of Hilo were taken over by the local sugar plantations, but those were soon abandoned for trucks in 1948. Despite its destruction, the bridge-laden Hāmākua division was later appropriated by the Territorial Government and became part of the Hawaii Belt Road north out of Hilo. One of the only remnants of the railway is the roundhouse in Hilo at coordinates 19°43′12″N 155°4′00″W / 19.72°N 155.0666667°W / 19.72; -155.0666667, which is on a list of most endangered historic sites in Hawaii.
Information about this railway can be found at the Laupahoehoe Train Museum, located in the old station agent's house.
Read more about this topic: Hawaii Consolidated Railway
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