LIHU‘E — The rides won’t be pulled by Paulo, the oldest operating steam locomotive in Hawai‘i, but instead a vintage diesel locomotive will be standing in Saturday when the Grove Farm Museum offers a free ‘Ohana Train Day.
Train day runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at both the Grove Farm museum and at the Locomotive Learning Park on Haleko Road across from the former Lihu‘e Plantation mill.
Saturday is Paul Isenberg’s — whom Paulo is named for — birthday, and in celebrating the occasion, Paulo will come out of its train house and will be on display at Grove Farm Museum on Nawiliwili Road, where people can get a close-up view of the historic locomotive.
Additionally, there will be electric model train exhibits and, possibly, some operating models to go along with the free self-guided tour of the museum. Refreshments will be served.
Over at the Locomotive Learning Park, a narrated train ride along the historic locomotive right-of-way will be available in replica sugar cane cars powered by a vintage diesel locomotive. There will also be electric train model exhibits at the park.
Isenberg, according to the Grove Farm Museum website, was born on April 13, 1837, in Hanover, Germany. Born the son of a Lutheran pastor, he came to the Hawaiian Islands in 1858 and started working for Henry A. Peirce and Company, the Lihu‘e sugar plantation that eventually became Lihu‘e Plantation Company.
Isenberg worked at Lihu‘e Plantation as an overseer, and later succeeded his father-in-law, William Harrison Rice, as manager from 1862 until 1878. He subsequently became part owner of the plantation, and later its president.
During the summer of 1877, Isenberg bought, from George N. Wilcox, the mill machinery that Wilcox bought in Scotland to build his own sugar mill at Grove Farm. As a result, Wilcox was able to negotiate a more equitable contract with Lihu‘e Plantation to grind his cane at the Lihu‘e mill.
Isenberg acquired a half interest in the Koloa Sugar Company in December 1871. He became its president in 1892, a position he held until 1902.
