BIg fan of Dog The Bounty Hunter show. The last couple of weeks Beth (Dog's wife) has been doing a morning workout climbing up the abandoned railroad track up Koko Head in Hawaii. Tried Google and didn't come up with much on the history of it other than it was used by the armed forces to transport material up the mountain. Long since out of service. Nothing on how they got the cars and goods up - winch or what. Saw no cogs or anything else that would have worked to get things up that steep slope.

Does anybody have a source of info on this or can point me to a website?

Apparently this is a known buster of a workout site (Koko Head). Got to be REAL fit to do this.

Jack:

The Coast Defense Study Group http://www.cdsg.org had an article on the coast defense installations placed on Koko Head in the May, 2009 issue (Vol. 23, Issue 2) of their Coast Defense Journal. I have not seen the track you mention on the "Dog" show (I don't watch it). I've been a member of the CDSG for a number of years.

Here's a quote from page 72 of the issue in question that might be the answer to your question.
"Sometime in early 1943, the Koko Head mobile radar station and base camp were closed and their duties were transferred to the new radar station atop Koko crater, accessed from the base of the crater via a gasoline-powered cable tramway that ran on a 36-inch narrow-gauge railroad track. A new base camp half-mile southwest of the radar station was built of Quonset huts to house personnel and support functions."

What's left of this inclined railway must be what you are seeing on the TV show.

The Koko Head facilties included: a battery of 155 mobile guns mounted on the concrete Panama Mounts; concrete battery control stations for several coast defense batteries inside and on the outside rim of Diamond Head crater (Fort Ruger); a mobile 60-inch searchlight battery; and at the beginning of 1941 a mobile SCR 270B radar unit, one of the early and first radars used by the Army.

Thanks!

Thank you sir for the reply and info. I naturally get curious whenever I see tracks on a TV show and even more curious when it's someplace that looks like it was a real piece of work to put together.

Hi everyone. I am new to this forum as of this day, Friday, June 23, 2017. I am interested in railways, but on this occasion, my interest is in the mention of the rails mounted on the side of Koko Head located on the island of Oahu. At the top of Koko Head and at the end of the rails, there lie the remains of an electric winch motor. This winch was used to haul up supplies to the soldiers who drew duty to be on watch for enemy ships which might be approaching the island from the south. The strategic target for the enemy was and always has been, Pearl Harbor. Several lookout points were established on Oahu so that triangulation could be used to determine the location of enemy ships. Using some mathematics and calculations, guns could be brought to bear on the targets. Both Diamond Head and Koko Head had winch motors to haul up supplies. The guns (or cannons) were not located at the tops of the Heads. Hauling up any sizable cannon to the peaks of these features would have been an impossible task in those days. Instead, by fixing the position of the ships off shore, data could be sent to calculating points, and then aiming solutions could be found and sent to the various batteries in order to aim the weapons. At Diamond Head, the winch was not located at the top of the crater. Instead, because of clearance issues, the winch was somewhat below the top of the crest. No rail was used at Diamond Head, but rather a cable- drawn suspended car, which came to rest some distance up the side of the crater.
On Koko Head, the cable pulled a supply car up the track all the way to the top. Sheer weight alone kept the car down on the track, even though the slope was steep.
My background on this topic goes to my interest in the winches which were made here in Kansas City, Missouri by the Sterling Machinery Corporation. It no longer exists. It was located on Southwest Boulevard.
Thanks for having this forum. I look forward to reading and being a part of the exchanges.
Sincerely,
Joseph (Aermacchiman)

Attached are some photos of the Diamondhead winch.

I found a web site that has three photos of the Koko Head military installation (they were classified at one time). Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the photos. The third one shows 3 servicemen and supplies near the top. I bet that was an exciting ride.

https://bushcraftusa.com/forum/threads/ ... ike.85580/