Featherston Heritage Complex

See a Fell Engine, as used on the Rimutaka Incline. The Incline took the rail service over the hills between the Wairarapa and Wellington before the present-day tunnel was opened.
Conditions for the men who operated the railway over its 77 years were arduous. This is well illustrated in the video shown at the Museum.

The Fell engines climbed 265 metres (869 ft) up the 4.8-kilometre (3.0 mi) Rimutaka Incline using John Barraclough Fell's unique method of four grip wheels on a raised center rail. The world's sole surviving Fell engine H 199 is one of six H class locomotives designed for use on the 1 in 15 Rimutaka Incline

Popular children's book 'Hero of the Hill' by Joy Cowley is based upon the story of the Rimutaka Railway and Fell Engine.

The Heritage Centre museum features stories about the World War One military training camp and World War Two Japanese prisoner-of-war camp where a horrific massacre took place.

The Information Centre is in the Old Court House, which dates back to 1860, the museum is in the 1916 Waiorongomai School Hall.