A BRIEF HISTORY OF NO. 85
By Jeff Livingston, HRS Historian
Originally published in the Akahele I Ke Ka'aahi May/Jun. 2010 Vol.40 No. 3

No. 85 is a 4-6-0 or "Ten Wheeler" locomotive manufactured by the American Locomotive Company at their Cooke Works, Paterson New Jersey in October 1910 for the OR&L.

No. 85 in yard service. Note switcher style pilot. Photo Credit: Bill Blewett. From the HRS Photo Collection.

She was designed for passenger service with steam cylinders measuring 13 by 18 inches and driving wheels 43 inches in diameter. No. 85 was used in that capacity through most of her service life.

Weighing 56.5 tons in working order and measuring 49 feet 10 inches overall, No. 85 generated 9,000 lbs. of tractive force and was capable of speeds in excess of 50 miles per hour. She was photographed many times pulling trains of 15 or more passenger cars.

No. 85 received a new firebox in 1928 and new boiler tubes in 1944. During World War II No. 85 could usually be found pulling commuter trains between Honolulu and Barbers Point.

Following abandonment of the main line, No. 85 was little used, and then only in yard service. Her last inspection, believed to have been about 1948, found No. 85 "not in service" and the boiler in "good serviceable condition."

No. 85 in operation at Travel Town circa 1955 John Goldie collection.

The OR&L retained No. 85 and used her in occasional yard service until 1953 when she was donated to the Southern California Chapter Railway & Locomotive Historical Society along with coach No. 1 combine No. 34 and caboose C-1.

She was then transferred to the City of Los Angeles, Travel Town in 1954 where she operated until boiler problems placed her out of commission sometime in the late 1950s or early 1960s.

No. 85 remained on display along with the other OR&L and Hawaiian equipment until the early 1990s when she was acquired by the Lahaina, Kaanapali & Pacific on Maui where she was to receive a new boiler and be restored to operation. Unfortunately the replacement boiler failed inspection, which resulted in prolonged litigation and cancellation of the restoration project in spite of the fact that a new cab and tender shell had already been completed.

Now that HRS has acquired No. 85, it is planned, with your help, to have her on her home rails for her 100 birthday.