RAILWAY enthusiasts can find out some of the secrets of how locomotives are restored in the latest of a series of afternoon lectures.

The Friends of the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum have organised the series of monthly lectures, which focus on a different topic each time, at the Head of Steam – Darlington Railway Museum.

October’s event is “Rescue’s and Restorations” and is a lecture by Richard Pearson, the workshop and rail operations manager at the National Railway Museum in Shilton, and will be held on Thursday 6.

And on Thursday, November 3, the focus will be on “The Railways of Sierra Leone” with Anthony Coulls, senior curator of the rail vehicle collections at the National Railway Museum.

The lecture series will draw to a close for the year with a Christmas prize quiz and film show on Thursday, December 8.

Sarah Gouldsbrough, acting manager at the Head of Steam, said:“The afternoon lectures are a popular part of our events programme, both for Friends’ members and visitors, and offer a wide range of fascinating topics with our railway heritage at their heart.”

All the afternoon lectures start at 1.45pm in the Head of Steam meeting room and are free to Friends members. Non-members are also welcome. Contact the museum for details of membership and prices.

For more information about the Head of Steam and its events programme call 01325-405060, visit www.head-of-steam.co.uk, log onto www.darlington.gov.uk/darlingtonevents. For more details about Friends visit www.friendsofdrcm.org