By the Tracks

The futuristic, driverless light-rail car we toured today stood in stark contrast to the narrow-gauge trains we visited and sketched in our event of April 2018 at the Hawaiian Railway Society! Instead of sugar cane and cattle, it is now commuters (up to 800 per train) that will travel along the Ewa plains. Introducing us to this totally novel mode of transportation (for the islands), the friendly and knowledgeable staff from HART (Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation) and Hitachi (the train manufacturer) went out of their way to make everyone feel welcome and left no questions unanswered at this morning’s “community train day”. The HART facilities next to Leeward Community College were open to the public, who could learn about the project’s status and experience firsthand one of the rainbow-adorned railcars. We sketched all aspects of it, including the wheel mechanism, interior (sporting bicycle and surfboard racks!), and sleek exterior. Sheltered in a tent kindly set up for us by HART, show-and-tell featured challenging perspectives, a certain sketch-worthy, mustachioed participant, and – for once – no chickens, cats, or birds.

Thank you, Lena Kamae, for hosting us!

As always, don’t forget to check out our sketches on Flickr and upload your own!

Make sure to stay tuned for our next event!

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