The Hawaii Consolidated Railway was extended to connect the Hāmākua sugarcane plantations to the harbor at Hilo Bay. On April 1, 1946 a tsunami caused by an Aleutian Islands earthquake damaged the railroad so much it abandoned its tracks. Several years later the state of Hawaii acquired the right-of-way, and by 1960 realigned the Hawaii Belt Road (Route 19, known as the Māmalahoa Highway) to shorten the driving time.