Steam locomotive starts new chapter on the coast

The 1929 locomotive will now run in Norfolk after being found in a convent

An industrial steam engine found in a convent has started a new chapter on the coast.

The 1929 locomotive, called "Newstead", was found in a Carmelite convent near Ware, Hertfordshire, in 2016.

It re-entered service at the North Norfolk Railway in Sheringham on Saturday after a nine-year refurbishment.

Alex Alder, the owner of the locomotive, said: "After nine years of efforts, for the very first time ever she pulled passenger trains. It was absolutely incredible."

The locomotive officially withdrew from service in 1972

Newstead rolled off the production line of the Hunslet Engine Company in Leeds in 1929, North Norfolk Railway said.

The 96-year-old locomotive was withdrawn from service by the National Coal Board in 1972.

It was purchased in the late 1970s by vintage vehicle collector Malcolm Saul, who built a shed around the engine to help protect it from the elements.

After Mr Saul died in 2015, people had thought the engine was lost but was later found next to the nunnery.

Alex Alder said he fell in love with steam trains when he was visiting North Norfolk as a boy

Mr Alder said discovering the engine was like hearing "of a mythical Egyptian tomb".

"I fully never expected to be driven down a Hertfordshire country lane, following a wild tip off about a lost engine.

"I could never have imagined taking tea and biscuits with [a] mother superior at a convent, and hearing of 'Malcolm's engine'.

"But there it was in this convent in Hertfordshire, 39 tons of miracle," he added.

Mr Alder said it cost him about £200,000 to restore the locomotive, taking a team of volunteers about nine years to overhaul.

North Norfolk Railway said it will use the engine to pull passenger carriages from Sheringham to Holt.

Graham Hukins said it was a "delight" to see the locomotive in Norfolk

Graham Hukins, the general manager of North Norfolk Railway, said it was "absolutely wonderful" to see the engine running in Sheringham.

"The engine that was stuck in a nunnery, lost for years, everyone thought it had been scrapped.

"This weekend is the very first time it has been paired with passenger carriages, and it is an absolute delight to have it join our working fleet."

He said "to be part of that tale and to see her back in working order" was special as they celebrated 50-years of running trains at North Norfolk Railway.