ISLAND HISTORY: Kauai locomotive engineers Kapa Moke, Antone Orsatelli, and John Barretto

ISLAND HISTORY: Kauai locomotive engineers Kapa Moke, Antone Orsatelli, and John Barretto

Born at Koloa, Kauai, Kapa Moke (1886-1965) was for many years a sugar train locomotive engineer, first for Koloa Sugar Co. and later for Grove Farm Co. It was in 1902 at age 16 that he left school and went to work at Koloa Sugar Co. as a mule driver. Two years later, he was transferred to brakeman on the locomotive “Paulo.” And, in 1909, he was promoted to locomotive engineer, and he continued working as a locomotive engineer until he retired f…