In a diverse portfolio of machines synonymous with New Zealand’s timber industry, the author highlights some finds from his trips to the Antipodes. In an article which is made up from a variety of individual chapters, these machines are mainly what fell in front of his camera and do not form a definitive list. Plenty more can be found in New Zealand orientated books and magazines as well as David Maciulaitis’ New Zealand Rolling Stock Register (industrial internal combustion locomotives section), which can be found via the Federation of Railway Organizations of New Zealand (FRONZ) website. In alphabetical order (well almost), they are as follows:
A&G Price
Whilst visiting the Tauranga Historic Village on New Zealand’s North Island the author came across what is thought to be the last of several bush tractors built between 1929 and 1949 by A & G Price Ltd of Thames. Unfortunately Prices didn’t give works numbers to some of their smaller locomotives and this was one such machine; but what is known is that its design stems from an Adamson rail tractor of 1924 which was built in the USA and shipped to NZ railways for evaluation as a ‘light shunter’. The American machine ultimately became NZR loco Tr 1 (Tr = tractor) and in July 1924 managed to haul a load exceeding 130 tons, albeit that it was not totally reliable having numerous failures over its lifetime. Eventually Price’s got hold of it and made a copy which was to be manufactured and sold for use as motive power on the plethora of NZs bush tramways.
Whilst Prices had a lot of success with their other four coupled Tr designs, only a handful of these were ever built, being out sold by other manufacturers. The design centered around a Fordson agricultural tractor with 3 forward and 3 reverse gears which initially used a 22hp
