Overhead Railway Recreated!
AN ENTIRE Overhead Railway station will be recreated in the new Museum of Liverpool, complete with a 110-year-old carriage.
When the waterfront museum opens its doors in 2010, visitors can relive the days of the famous Dockers Umbrella.
A two-storey replica of the old Pier Head station will be built with wooden staircases leading to the platform where the third-class motorcoach will take pride of place.
Museum officials hope visitors will be able to take a look inside the carriage used on the Overhead Railway for more than 60 years.
They are also appealing for people who worked on the railway, which closed in 1956, to come forward with their memories.
A special open afternoon is being held at the Maritime Museum tomorrow for former workers and their families to share their stories.
National Museums Liverpool community consultation co-ordinator Helen Robinson said: “Whenever we go out to speak to groups about what their expectations are and what they’d like to see in the new museum, every single time people talk about the Overhead Railway.”
The 45ft, 20-ton motorcoach is the only known one left and was donated to NML in the early 1960s. It has been in storage ever since. Now conservation work is set to take place on the roof and bogie undercarriage before it is installed in the Mann Island museum next January
NML’s curator of land transport and industry Sharon Brown said: “Each train consisted of two engine motorcoaches linked by a smaller first class carriage.
“This one ran on the railway from when it was opened to when it closed, and it’s still in a remarkable condition.
“Depending on health and safety, and the conservation of the coach, we’re also hoping people will be able to get on board part of it.”
The carriage was built by Brown Marshall of Birmingham sometime between 1892 and 1899.
Blueprints of how it was constructed, recently offered to the museum by the now-defunct business, will go on show alongside other Overhead Railway memorabilia.
THE Overhead Railway was opened in 1893 and ran from Seaforth to Dingle linking the city’s extensive dock network.
It was later nicknamed the Dockers Umbrella. At its height the "Ovee" carried 22 million passengers a year.
A special open day takes place from 1-3pm tomorrow (wed) at the Maritime Museum for former Overhead Railway workers and their families to share their memories and memorabilia. Anyone who cannot attend but who would like to be involved should call NML’s community exhibitions officer Lizzy Rodgers on 0151-478 4439.
catherinejones@liverpoolecho.co.uk
