Dole Plantation has extended the length of its popular Pineapple Express train ride to allow greater viewing of native plants in its Plantation Garden.<\/p>\n
The new route was increased to 2.2 miles from its original 2-mile course, making the ride through the plantation property three minutes longer.<\/p>\n
In addition to the longer tour, a new train platform was created to provide additional passenger seating.<\/p>\n
The raised ceilings will allow more natural lighting, and a separate, secondary platform to loading riders with mobility issues has been added.<\/p>\n
Mike Moon, director of operations at Dole Plantation, said changes were the idea of David Murdoch, president of Dole Foods and Castle & Cook Inc. Murdoch’s plan was to increase visibility of the popular train that already hosts some 250,000 riders each year.<\/p>\n
“People just like to see trains,” said Moon. “They hear the whistle and take notice, and the kids get excited. It’s really a neat experience.”<\/p>\n
Kahu Curt Kekuna of Kawaiaha’o Church recently blessed the new Pineapple Express platform, tracks and barn at a ceremony attended by two dozen Dole Plantation and Castle & Cooke employees, as well as architects and other partners who were involved in developing the new elements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dole Plantation has extended the length of its popular Pineapple Express train ride to allow greater viewing of native plants..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,119,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-central","category-central-oahu-news","category-hawaii-community-news"],"yoast_head":"\n