By John Saul
This article was published in the August 2026 edition of Soul Search, the Journal of The Sole Society
You may remember that in the December 2023 Journal Tony Storey included an article about the steam loco Newstead that was rescued by Malcolm Saul. It had been found stored in a shed at a convent, and subsequently restored to operational use.
The article can be found here: https://sole.org.uk/one-man-and-his-steam-engine/ In Tony’s article he hoped that “By 2026 the engine might be pulling coach loads of passengers”
This prediction has come true as Newstead now carries passengers at the North Norfolk Railway and was one of the stars at the recent West Somerset Railway Steam Gala 1st – 4th May 2026, where I am a volunteer.
The picture shows her pulling passengers over the 3 days and she even double headed with the famous A4 loco “Sir Nigel Gresley”, which is a sister loco to Mallard, the fastest steam loco in the world.
Sir Nigel holds the record for the fastest post-war steam record of 112 miles/hour in 1959. I’m not sure who was doing the most work pulling the train Sir Nigel or Newstead!
Postscript:
Typical of modern times ‘Newstead’ has its own facebook page where you can find out where and when it is running. Check it out at facebook HunsletNewstead