NZR H class
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| NZR H class | |
 H199 in the Fell Engine Museum, 20 March 2002. |
|
| Power type | Steam |
|---|---|
| Builder | Avonside Engine Co., England (4); Neilson & Co., Scotland (2) |
| Build date | 1875 |
| Configuration | 0-4-2T |
| Gauge | 3' 6", 1067 mm |
| Length | 24' 1" |
| Width | 8' 6" |
| Total weight | 34 tons |
| Fuel type | Coal |
| Top speed | 15 mph |
| Tractive effort | 19,510 lbf |
| Career | New Zealand Railways |
| Number in class | 6 |
| Number | 199 - 204 |
| Locale | Rimutaka Incline, Wairarapa, North Island |
| Last run | December 1955 |
| Retired | 1955 |
| Current owner | (H199) Fell Engine Museum |
| Disposition | Withdrawn; 1 preserved |
The NZR H class locomotive was a unique class of locomotive used by the New Zealand Railways Department on the famous Rimutaka Incline, the three-mile section of 1 in 15 gradient between Cross Creek and Summit, over the Rimutaka Ranges. The locomotives worked on the Fell mountain railway system and had four horizontal driving wheels between the frames, gripping a centre rail and providing the extra adhesion needed for the climb. The outside engines drove the rear pair of coupled wheels of 32" diameter, and the inside cylinders four spring-loaded grip wheels of 22" diameter. On the descent, powerful hand-brakes bore against the centre rail, and brake vans with similar braking gear were interspersed at intervals in the train. The locomotives were never required to run at speeds higher than 15 mph, and their usual operating speed was between four and six mph ascending the incline, about ten mph descending.
The locomotives were withdrawn in 1955 when the Rimutaka Tunnel opened. H 199, the first H class locomotive, was put in a playground in Featherston, and in 1989 was moved to the Fell Engine Museum in the same town.
[edit] Preserved Locomotive List
- H 199 - Fell Engine Museum, Featherston, Wairarapa.
