MEMORIES of steam locomotives in the 1960s and the delights of a Furness garden railway feature in a day of talks being held by Cumbrian transport enthusiasts.

The spring meeting of the Cumbrian Railways Association is being held at the Carus Green Golf Club, on Burneside Road, Kendal, on Saturday March 17.

Starting the talks is railway historian and author David Spaven with the topic "The Battle for the Borders Railway and the Prospects for Extension".

Parts of the former Waverley Line have already been restored and reopened to railway services and it is hoped to continue work to bring back the link to Carlisle.

It was built for the North British Railway from Edinburgh and reached Carlisle by 1862.

It was shut in 1969.

In 1998 the Campaign for Borders Rail started fighting for the restoration of rail services along the former Waverley route.

A petition of 17,000 signatures helped prove support for the restoration of rail services.

The Waverley Railway Project was established by Scottish Borders and Midlothian councils to prepare the Waverley Railway Bill.

This was passed by the Scottish Parliament in 2006. Work on the £294m scheme started in 2013.

The section of line was complted in 2015 and runs from Tweedbank, through Galashiels and Newtongrange, to Edinburgh Waverley.

Mr Spaven is the author of Mapping the Railways, Insider's Rail Guides and Battle for the Borders Railway.

Barrow's Geoff Holme is giving a presentation called "Major Hext's Coniston Railway" which looks at the private pleasure line which snaked around the grounds of Holywath at Coniston.

Peter Fitton will take a nostalgic look at the days of coal-powered locomotives in a talk called "1960s Northern Steam Memories".

All are welcome and it costs £10 to attend the talks day, or £24 including a two-course lunch.

You can find details of the spring meeting and more about the work of the association on its website at www.cumbrianrailways.org.uk/

The association has well over 400 members spread throughout the United kingdom and produces its own newsletters and journal.