Liverpool Overhead Railway Blog

Mike McCartney shares some of his childhood memories with us about the Overhead.

11th August 2010

My apologies for not updating this blog page lately, I've been receiving quite a lot of emails. The project has had to take a back seat for the last couple of months due to other commitments. I am aiming to have the project complete in time for Christmas.

Although I am more than happy with the interviews carried out so far (around 12 hours worth) there can never be enough. The plan is to film more as I go along while I work on a bigger and more improved CGI version of the Overhead incorporating some live action photography. I am trying to raise some finance so this can be done with new equipment which will speed up the process.

18th May 2010

Today I checked the website statistics and was pleasantly surprised to find that it has had 77,145 hits since it went up in Feb.

This goes to show just how much interest there is in this project. Yet still no funding from anyone. Makes you wonder how people get there films financed, in this region anyway. It is a shame the local funding organisations do not consider documentary films to be of importance.

Hits so far.

Feb: 9, 723

March: 27, 630

April: 25, 964

May: 13, 828

14th May 2010

Today we interviewed Mike McCartney, who is well known for being a photographer, musician and member of the band Scaffold. His brother Paul was in the Beatles. Mike mentioned riding on the Overhead with him and his father when they where both children.

Mike also had some very strong (visual) memories, and was able to describe the Overhead in quite some detail. This probably has something to do with the fact Mike, being a professional and well known photographer, is a keen observer.

It was a very good interview, and Mike's passion for the Overhead and Liverpool's history in general was evident.

9th May 2010

It has been a month since we shot the bluescreen footage with the horse and cart at Tommy's stables. I've recently composited a quick test to see how it looks. This is only a rough composite to see how the keying works, as it was my first time shooting bluescreen outdoors.

I'm getting a nice clean even light on the screen and they keying has turned out great.

As this is just a test and is only temporary, I've placed in pre rendered images as the backdrops, just to see how it works. When this is done properly there will be new CG plates with more people walking around and added into the scene.

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30th April 2010

It's been a while since I updated this page as I've been buisy with various things. But a few good things have happened recently which are worth posting. Mike McCartney and Chery Blair's father Tony Booth have both agreed to take part in the film and share some of their memories with us.

I have also made a start at capturing some of the interviews to my hard drive. I have over 15 hours worth so this is going to take some time, and I also have to watch my hard drive space as the footage is HD.

I have uploaded some stills from these interviews onto this page. I decided to make them correspond with previous posts so the names and dates match. If you scroll down the page you will see a few of them. Keep checking back as more will follow shortly.

17th April 2010

As mentioned a lot on this page, we interviewed Les Aspinall, who as a child, was rescued from a Messerschmitt as it attacked civilians along the Overhead Railway.

Just over a week ago we filmed a re-enactment of the event with children and a horse and carriage (again, thanks to Tommy Tuohy) infront of a bluescreen.

Some people may be under the impression that we are creating CGI re-constructions for all of the interviews, this is not the case. The only exception is the Messerschmitt scene. It is vital that the audience are able to interpret events in their own personal way when they watch the the film, in order for it to be effective, as often is the case in Fine Art and film making in general... less is more.

Since we have not had time to do anything with the recently shot bluescreen footage, we have already began to plan the shot in CGI, and here is a breif look at how it is coming along.

We are about to purchase a new greenscreen, so all of the CGI characters will be replaced with live action, and the sequence will be made up from a numer of shots which will be edited into the interview, making this scene a lot longer in the finished film.

9th April 2010

Today was very succesfull. First we met up with Stevie Riks, check him out here: www.stevieriks.com who was recently seen on terrestrial TV last Xmas. Stevie has agreed to help us out and take part in our project which is brilliant news.

Stevie is a very talented and really nice guy, and we are very lucky to have him on board.

As Stevie is not old enough to remember the Overhead, his two contributions will be for the DVD extras, which we are keeping as a surprise for now. Let's just say they both relate to the Overhead in different ways, one will be very comical, the other very serious and also very educational to a lot of people out there. Big Thanks to Stevie.

Another big Thank you goes to Tommy Tuohy (Alwood Stables Upton - Wirral), for allowing us to film at his premises. Tommy actually went to a lot of trouble, and built an extension for his Carriage. So today we finally shot the live action scenes for the Messerchmitt reconstruction scene (mentioned in earlier posts).

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Although I have shot bluescreen footage more times than I care to remember, this was the first outdoor bluescreen shoot I have done. The weather was bright and sunny, but overcast, which means no problems with shadows, so the keying should be excellent.

Once again, thanks Tommy, and I'd also like to thank everyone else involved including the kids, their parents, and yes, even the Horse. People say never work with kids or animals, I don't know why, they where all great to work with. Except for the big kid...Ian (just kidding). He does love being on camera though.

Just one final thank you to local historian Jonathon Wild who provided me with some sound effects for the Messerchmitt scene yesterday, and who has also helped out a little bit here and there in other departments. You can check out his work here: www.liverpool-today.info/

1st April 2010

We went to Tommy 's stable today, and he has offered to build an extension to his carriage for next week's filming for the reconstruction scene with the Messerchmitt. We can't beleive how helpfull some people are being.

We also filmed an interview with Alfred and Jean Lewin. Alfred was an employee of the Overhead Railway Company, and he is the only one we have found so far.

The interview was once again another learning experience. Till today, for instance, we did not know that the Overhead Railway staff had it's own Football Team. One of the many things Alfred and Jean talk about in the interview.

31st March 2010

Great news, we found a stable owner who is willing to allow us to use his horses and antique horse carriage for our CGI sequence, (free of charge). Great to get such co-operation from the public. Unfortunately we have failed to get any funding whatsoever for our project.

This saddens us, as we are aware of other projects (we feel much less worthwile) which are being funded by various bodies. Why is it that certain art projects of dubious relevance get funding while a documentary film of historical and cultural significance fails to get a look in ?

30th March 2010

We filmed a brilliant interview today with two great ladies. Local actress Georgina Smith and concert pianist Margaret Halliday.

Other than talking to us about their memories of the Overhead we where also told on camera that Georgina used to perform with a band called 'The Quarrymen' who later went on to become another band that you may have heard of....'The Beatles'. Then we find out that Margaret is the Godmother of Paul McCartney, and we have her on camera talking a little bit about young Paul and also a 'scruffy looking' John Lennon.

They also told us of a song all about the Overhead, which the children of the day used to sing. The song even incorporates the names of the stations. We have Georgina singing the song and playing the Ukulele, whilst Margaret is backing her on Piano.

It's things like this which make this project so important. The Overhead was a massive part of our culture and because of this film, things like this song will never be forgotten.

To quote Margaret, 'The Overhead was the heart of Liverpool', to which Georgina added: 'When they took it down, they ripped out the heart of Liverpool'.

I know this is not relevant to the project but I used to play the Piano, and Margaret gave me an excellent tip which makes complete sense, and no other teacher I ever had has told me this. Thanks to both of you for a great couple of hours and a brilliant contribution to this film.

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	Margaret Halliday (left) and Georgina Smith (Right).		Margaret and Georgina perform the song about Liverpool and the Overhead Railway.

10th March 2010

We now have over 10 hours worth of footage to get through and yet we still have more interviews lined up.

This week I will be focusing on a new CGI sequence that relates to one of our more interesting interviews, which involves the story of the Overhead being attacked by a Messerchmitt and a 9 year old boy being rescued. It will be the most ambitious CGI sequence for the film yet, but one of the best.

The 3D model of the plane has been built and I am now creating a particle system which will act as bullets from the plane and which will also create explosions on impact.

10th March 2010

More great interviews at the Tram Preservation Society today in Birkenhead that took place on renovated trams. The guys there (who are old enough to remember the Overhead) where brilliant and also very helpfull in many ways... the complete opposite of the people at Liverpool Museum.

These guys have restored trams and various other forms of transport that ran during the time that the Overhead was functioning.

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	Keith Carmicheal tells us his memories whilst sitting on a tram that actually used to travel beneath the Overhead.		An exterior view of the tram with the Overhead Railway logo on the side.		This Bus also used to travel beneath the Overhead.



	Robin Anderson from the Transport Museum shares some of his memories.

9th March 2010

Today we interviewed a Korean war hero, who had a date on the Overhead because 'it was closer to heaven'.

8th March 2010

Got another interview today down in the Dingle Tunnel where the old trains used to terminate. Thanks to Terry. Theres an old ladder still there where people died during a fire, and we also heard a story that the station is haunted. All great for the Documentary.

4th March 2010

Today we interviewed Country Music legend and BBC Radio Merseyside presenter Kenny Johnson, it was a great little interview, and once again, we got information you won't read about anywhere else.

We have also been in contact with Gerry Marsdens agent and are awaiting confirmation from him in taking part in the film.

2nd March 2010

More interviews today, including a woman who has kept one of the lamps used on the carriages.

We also tracked down a Les Aspinall, who (when he was nine years old) was rescued from a low flying Messerchmitt that was attacking the Overhead Railway and the civilians in the area. Great story and a great oppurtunity for creating more CGI sequences. I'll be looking for a child actor to play him soon. Again, another primary source you won't find in the history books.

We also learned a couple of stores from two seperate sources about a street performer who was a regular under 'The Dockers Umbrella', who was an escape artist. We leaned this from an interview carried out in Maghull, and later that day from another source in Elsmere Port. Coincidence ?

25th Feb 2010

Another succssesful day of filming today, three interviews in total. Again, with each interview we are learning things that you won't read about in the history books.

24th Feb 2010

More filming and interviews carried out today. We also went to the old underground Dingle station (where the trains used to terminate), which is now used for car repairs. The owners where very helpfull and they have agreed to allow us to make use of their premises, not just for the documentary, but for something else we have planned which relates to it. Updates will follow.

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	Lilly Wakefield shows us some photographs she has kept since 1957 of the Overhead coming down.		Eric Wakefield shares some of his memories.

19th Feb 2010

More filming took place today, and again we learned some new and interesting stories about the Overhead that you won't find in any History books. One of these stories involved a Nazi spy being caught with a camera during WW2. All told from someone who actually saw the event take place. Again, priceless.

17th Feb 2010

Second day of filming took place today. The results have exceeded my expectations. Absolutely Priceless. We interviewed one guy today by the name of Hank Walters, who was big on the mersey music scene before the Beatles. He also tells us a hilarious story about him and John Lennon before the Beatles became big. Later that day we went to a few pubs where the ex-dockers hang out and we got some great stories from them also.

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	Hank Walters (Country Singer / Songwriter). A.K.A.'Hank Walters and the Dusty Road Ramblers'.		Hank with his ex-docker friends, reminiscing about the Overhead. We just let the camera roll and didn't ask questions.		This is Richy Gerrard, who we interviewed twice. He has a large collection of memorabilia on the Overhead at home.



	We found these guys in The Crown pub in Liverpool. They had plenty to say about the Overhead.

8th Feb 2010

Today we gave our first lecture on the Overhead Railway with the League of Welldoers. The reactions to the CG work was great and the interviews where fantastic.

I got exactly what I set out to get, real stories from real people. Stories you will not find anywhere online, in books or in Museums. No historian could write about this stuff because they just don't know about it.

We also got some amusing anecdotes, it was an emotional experience for all those involved. Many more interviews to come, updates will be mentioned on this site.

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	Lilly Deveny		Anastasia Hollywood		Joe Traynor



	Reney Traynor		Irene Maloney		John Maloney



	Dot Cowle		Ian Rankine

3rd Feb 2010

Last Week BBC Radio Merseyside presenter Tony Snell mentioned my work twice on air. He had found my Overhead Railway video on youtube by chance, and he then invited me in for an interview. The interview took place on the 3rd Feb. I talked a little about CGI in general and this work in particular.

I also announced during this interview that I would be making a documentary film about the Overhead Railway, with the emphasis being on peoples memories, and that the film was my way to preserve these peoples memories (on film) so that they last forever.

Press play below to hear the interview.