Like the Oahu Railway and Land Company (OR&L), the HCR grew out of a necessity for good transportation (in this case, mainly to serve sugarcane plantations) at the turn of the 20th century.

[2] After rail service on the Olaʻa line began on June 18, 1900,[5] work continued apace with a 17 mi (27 km) extension to Kapoho, home of the Puna Sugar Company plantation, completed by March 1902.

[9] In 1910, while the Hāmākua Division was still being built, the HRC system was the only standard gauge railway in the territory of Hawaiʻi and the second-longest overall, with 46+1⁄4 mi (74.4 km) of track counted in its main line and branches.

[10] The 33.5 miles (53.9 km) Hāmākua Division was an engineering marvel, including the construction of 3 tunnels and 35 large trestle bridges (22 wooden and 13 steel) across the mouths of valleys.

[5] In 1925, HCR ordered three railbuses from the White Motor Company to provide daily passenger service between Puna and Hilo, with a small turntable at Pahoa.

[10] While the new Hāmākua line had been extremely expensive to build, and was costly to maintain, it was especially popular with tourists on HCR's Scenic Express service for ships calling at Hilo Harbor.

On the morning of April 1, 1946, a massive tsunami caused by an earthquake in the Aleutian Islands struck Hilo and the Hāmākua coast, devastating the city and instantly wiping out a number of railroad bridges.

[14] As of November 2013[update], five of the original steel trestle bridges built by HRC have been retained along the Belt Road, albeit with significant modifications under the "Seismic Wave Damage Rehabilitation Project" of 1950.

[3]: 2-24 to 2-25  These span:[15][16] In addition, some bridges were built using materials and foundations salvaged from the Hāmākua Division, including: Information about this railway can be found at the Laupahoehoe Train Museum, located in the old station agent's house.