Mapping Memory by National Museums LiverpoolMapping Memory National Museums Liverpool
This memory is in:
Transcript for 1950s footage
The Liverpool Overhead Railway was established in 1893 as the first electric railway in Britain, locally it was known as the Dockers' Umbrella. In 1956 it would run for the last time, it was never nationalised after the war with the rest of the railways of the United Kingdom, unlike its neighbour the Mersey railway. Modernisation was badly needed but money and support from the local council was not there, it was then inevitable it would close. There were many disbelievers until closure eventually took place on 30th December 1956, demolition in 1957 put an end to speculation about possible revival. Interestingly a similar overhead railway of a similar age, although a monorail, in Wuppertal in Germany has been reconstructed and modernised and is today an integral part of their transport system.