page_title: NZR H class
section_title: Design
hierarchical_section_title: NZR H class / Design
caption_attribution_description: English: The underside of New Zealand H class engine H199, showing details of the Fell railway system Deutsch: Unterseite der Lokomotive mit dem Reibradantrieb und Zangenbremse
context_page_description: The NZR H class steam locomotive was a unique class of locomotive used by the New Zealand Railways Department on the famous Rimutaka Incline, the 3-mile section of 1 in 15 gradient between Cross Creek and Summit, over the Rimutaka Ranges.
context_section_description: 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 in (813 mm) diameter, and the inside cylinders four spring-loaded grip wheels of 22 in (559 mm) 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 (24 km/h), and their usual operating speed was between four and six miles per hour (6.4 and 9.7 km/h) ascending the incline, about ten miles per hour (16 km/h) descending.
caption: The underside of H 199, showing details of the Fell railway system, 20 March 2002.
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