In 1878, Judge Hermann Widemann planted his first crop in Wai'anae, eleven years before the creation of the Oahu Railway and Land Company, and seventeen years before the OR&L would reach the sugar mill.
Waianae Sugar Company's plantation cultivated land in three valleys, Makaha, Lualualei, and Wai'anae.
By 1890, sugar cane was planted on 600 acres with a yield of 2,500 tons.
The company had 350 workers and three locomotives to transport the cane over 12 miles of narrow gauge track.
Only then it was noted that it did not match the 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge track.