Chris Newman – Treasurer & Mem. Sec.

Chris Newman BSc. Eng. – Treasurer and Membership Secretary  of the AST Group

Chris Newman

Chris is a retired civil engineer, born and educated in the UK.  After emigrating to Australia in 1970, he worked for 20 years in the grain storage, handling and transportation industry in Queensland.  Moving to China in 1991, he worked as a consulting engineer on grain infrastructure projects, subsequently running his own small engineering business in that country.  He retired back to the UK in 2013 after 43 years overseas, and now lives in Edinburgh.

Chris was one of the original team that initiated the 5AT project in 2001 after reading Wardale’s book “The Red Devil and Other Tales from the Age of Steam“, and travelling to Scotland to meet its author.  Chris was responsible for setting up the original 5AT website and for developing an updated version in 2010.  He also provided the funding for Wardale to undertake the work involved in producing the Fundamental Design Calculations for the 5AT locomotive.  In 2014, Chris set up this website for ASTT, and now acts as its Treasurer and Membership Secretary.

In 2003 Chris was contacted by an Indonesian group planning the construction of a coal haulage railway.  The group was interested in using coal-fired steam locomotives for hauling their trains, so contacted Chris (as the 5AT project contact person) to provide technical advice on the subject.  Chris undertook much work on behalf of that project, producing several reports estimating the cost savings that steam traction might have offered in comparison with diesel and electric options, in the situation where indigenous coal was available on-site at a very low cost.  Several of these papers are available for download through the References section of the 5AT website.

In 2005 he travelled to Argentina to meet Shaun McMahon – see below:

Photo shows Chris Newman with Shaun McMahon on a visit to Rio Turbio, Argentina in 2005.