| Weight | 40t |
| Driving Wheels | 2ft 8ins |
| Adhesion Wheels | 1ft 11½in |
| Boiler Pressure | 160psi |
| Cylinders | Four – Two Driving 14in x 16in Two Adhesion 12in x 14in |
| Tractive Effort | Driving Wheels 12,550lbf Adhesion Wheels 11,000lbf |
| Valve Gear | Stephenson |
This locomotive was built by the Avonside Engine Company at Bristol in 1875 for the New Zealand Railway (NZR) to work on the Rimutaka incline from its opening in 1877. It was one of four built by the Avonside Engine Company in 1875 which became the H class. Another two H class locomotives were built by Neilson and Company in Glasgow in 1886. The Neilson locomotives had Joy rather than Stephenson valve gear.
The Fell Mountain Railway system deployed at Rimutaka was designed, developed and patented by British engineer John Barraclough Fell and was first used at the Cromford and High Peak Railway in 1863. The system had a third rail and was designed for railways that were too steep to be worked by adhesion on the two running rails. It uses a raised centre rail between the two running rails to provide extra traction and braking, or braking alone.
Trains were propelled by wheels or braked by shoes pressed horizontally onto the centre rail, as well as by the normal running wheels. Extra brake shoes were fitted to specially designed or adapted Fell locomotives and brake vans, and for traction the locomotive had an auxiliary engine powering horizontal wheels which clamp onto the third rail. The Fell system was soon superseded by various types of rack railway for new lines. Cable and rack systems had been considered for the Rimutaka incline but the curves were considered to be too severe for these systems and the rack system was only at a development stage.
The class H locomotives 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 and the inside cylinders four spring-loaded grip. On the descent, powerful hand-brakes bore against the centre rail, and brake vans with similar braking gear were interspersed at intervals along the train. The locomotives were never required to run at speeds higher than 15 mph and were usually operating at speeds of around 5mph whilst ascending the incline and 10mph when descending.
By after the Second Word War the locomotives were starting to show their age. The New Zealand government were looking at ways to reduce the travelling time between Wellington and Wairarapa which resulted in the construction of a tunnel starting in 1951 to remove the need for the Rimutaka incline.
The last revenue earning service undertaken by the class H locomotives took place in October 1955 when five locomotives (including H 199) hauled an excursion train up the incline. Two of the locomotives were employed in dismantling the incline five days after the new tunnel opened. All of the locomotives were written off in March 1956 and all except 199 were scrapped in 1957.
H 199 was gifted to the town of Featherston and was towed there in August 1958 and put on display in the park at a childrens playground in Clifford Square.
As a result of being exposed to the weather and the action of vandals the locomotive deteriorated so that in March 1981 restoration work on it commenced in March 1981 with the removal of many parts and fittings.
In March 1984 the locomotive was moved to a specially built Fell Locomotive Museum in Featherston where it was rebuilt. The restoration was completed in March 1989.
The locomotive which is the only one of its type in the world to be preserved is on static display at the Fell Locomotive Museum in Featherstone.
Preserved Outside Britain – By Country
Preserved British Steam Locomotives 