Price 16-Wheel Locomotives

Gallery opened: 18 Dec 2021

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Probably the best known locomotive of this type is the Johnston 16-wheeler, but A & G Price also made them. There were no other 16-wheeler manufacturers in New Zealand.

Left: A Price 16-wheeler:

This looks like a rather faithful copy of the Johnston 16-wheeler, down to the diagonal side-panels. However it is running on rails rather than logs, and the bogies look quite different. As in the Johnston, a vertical two-cylinder marine-type engine was mounted in the cab behind the driver. There were however significant mechanical differences as the power to all axles came via skew bevel gears copied from the Climax A design. (Price did a lot of copying) It looks a neater and more finished design than the Johnston.

At least 22 geared logging locomotives were built by Price between 1885 and 1943, but the first of four 16-wheelers was built in 1912. The first one built in 1912 lasted in service until 1951; an impressive performance. None were preserved.

You can find more information here.

There is a Wikipedia page on the Price company and its locomotives.

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