Getting there
I travelled on the same West Midland Trains service from Birmingham to Liverpool Lime Street that I'd used a short time before for my New Brighton trip (described here). This train leaves Wolverhampton at 08:21 but on Saturdays there is no bus early enough to get me to Wolverhampton, so I next considered catching the train at Penkridge, where the 08:21 calls on weekdays but, I discovered, not on Saturdays so instead I travelled by car to Stafford to pickup the train there.
The 8-car Siemens 'Desiro' Class 350 gave us an uneventful and on-time journey to Liverpool Lime Street where I transferred to the underground Merseyrail station for the short journey to James Street by one of the elderly Class 507/508 3-car sets which are due to be replaced by Stadler Class 777. Back at ground level, it was sunny but rather windy as I walked to the Waterfront. The ten o'clock Mersey Ferry had just left Pier Head but my attention was drawn to the adjacent Cruise Terminal where Tui cruise ship 'Mein Schiff 3' was moored.
Cruise ship 'Mein Schiff 3' visits Liverpool: OLCO A.G.M. 2022
I then walked to the Museum of Liverpool, housing the 1838 locomotive 'Lion'. The museum is home to some interesting artefacts but I will never forgive the 'dented shoebox' architectural design of the building, opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 2011 (my report is here). A few years earlier, in 2004, Liverpool had achieved World Heritage Status from UNESCO for the "outstanding universal value" of its waterfront. But this was withdrawn in 2021 (only the third site in 50 years to lose the coveted status) because of "significant loss to its authenticity and integrity" caused by the host of ghastly redevelopments including the museum itself.
'Lion' was on display in the Great Port Gallery, but it was disappointing to find most of the display screens provided to interpret 'Lion' and the Great Port Gallery were out of use. There's a short post here describing the arrangements commissioned in 2011. I understand that, such is the pace of technological change, maintenance of these systems is becoming problematic.
'Lion' on display at the Museum of Liverpool: OLCO A.G.M. 2022
Informal proceedings started around 1.00 p.m. as the Chairman, John Brandrick, described the David Royle Archive of ‘Lion’-related documents held by OLCO and displayed a number of drawings for examination. There was then a special illustrated talk about the Museum of Liverpool Transport Collection given by Transport Curator Sharon Brown which was very vell received.
OLCO A.G.M. 2022 (Photo: Sharon Brown)
The formal A.G.M.followed. In his report, the Chairman particularly thanked the editor of the OLCO Magazine 'Lionsheart' for informing and entertaining the membership during the Covid Pandemic when face-to-face activities were not possible. It was noted that Rapido Trains are introducing an 00 gauge model of 'Lion', based on John Hawley's drawings of the prototype, which should be viewed as an opportunity to expand OLCO's activities. [Progress on this project is shown here]. A full report on the A.G.M. has been circulated to OLCO Members.
The A.G.M. finished at 16:20. The weather was glorious but, already tired, I was not tempted by further exploration. I walked back to James street and caught the next train to Liverpool Lime Street.
Class 508 entering James Street station, inbound to Liverpool before traversing the Liverpool Loop and becoming an outbound train: OLCO A.G.M. 2022
I had intended to catch the next hourly West Midland Trains service back to Wolverhampton but I discovered that there was an earlier Avanti West Coast train to London which called at Stafford. Having confirmed the validity of my ticket on this train (Train Operating Companies seem obsessed with having very complicated and irritating restrictions on which trains different tickets can be used), I had a decent journey by 'Pendolino' to Stafford, with only a few minutes to wait there for a connection on to Wolverhampton.
It was good to meet my OLCO friends face-to-face after being restricted to remote communication for so long.
Related posts on other websites
The Titfield Thunderbolt 70th Anniversary Range (Rapido Trains UK)
Related posts on this website
Royal Visit to the Museum of Liverpool
Audio Visual Installations at the Museum of Liverpool
To find all my posts about the Old Locomotive Committee and the locomotive 'Lion', click here or select 'OLCO' under 'Labels to select a blog topic'.
My pictures
OLCO A.G.M. 2022
The Old Locomotive Committee and Lionsmeet (All my OLCO Collections)
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