[1] Plantations on the island soon developed a network of 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge railways which transported harvested sugarcane for processing and export.

Atkins decided to change his business model in 2003, adding significant and varied agriculture within the plantation's land to demonstrate the techniques of smaller farmers.

[6] While intended as a tourist attraction, by July 2007, Atkins reported that approximately 40 percent of riders were instead Hawaiian residents, which came as a welcome surprise to the railway.

The trains pass through a variety of fields and orchards that grow fruit for the plantation, along with animals such as pigs, goats, and donkeys.

The passenger cars sit on six 35-foot (11 m) flatcars originally built in 1941 at Pearl Harbor by the U.S. Navy, which were then used by the Oahu Railway and Land Company and afterwards sold to White Pass and Yukon Route in Alaska.