Haleiwa Hotel -Haleiwa Bridge - Oahu Railway Resort - Walt Disney’s Inspiration For Disneyland?

Looking at this Army Air Corps photo below of the layout of Dillingham's Oahu Railway and

Haleiwa Hotel and one is immediately struck with the similarity with Walt Disney's original

Disneyland layout in Anaheim, California and Disney World in Orlando, Florida!

Ironically too, many of the O.R.&L. engines and rolling stock also later

wound up in California Theme Parks in the 1960's...

Most people in Hawaii have totally forgotten what a really marvelous visitor attraction once existed on Oahu that attracted people from all over the world. The Oahu Railway and the Haleiwa Hotel "Railway & Resort Attraction" was on the "must see, must do" list of many World-Wide travelers!

Often in the 1920's, after getting off of an ocean liner, the very first thing visitors would do is NOT head for Waikiki, but instead take a short cab ride over to the Honolulu Train Station and board the Oahu Railway "Haleiwa Special".

Not only were they treated to an incredibly beautiful tropical coastline train ride, with close-by crashing giant surf waves along the way, but they wound up at a beautiful luxury hotel with exotic Japanese gardens, sampan boat rides on the Anahulu River, white sand beaches, sports fishing,

a golf course, luaus of fresh island fish, lobster, sugar cane, pineapple, and much more!

And of course, all of this would be torn down and ripped out, as Oahu "modernized"

and tourism became a real "Industry". Only many decades later would the concept of

"Resort Destination" make a come back,-- initially on the Neighbor Islands...