The railway used electric units with passenger accommodation and an electric motor in the same unit.
Any number could be coupled together with all motors controlled by the driver.
Built between 1892 and 1899 by Brown Marshall & Co, the original units had one 60 horsepower (45 kW) motor, but by the third batch this had been replaced by a 70 horsepower (52 kW) motor.
In 1902 the motor cars were fitted with two 100 horsepower (75 kW) motors, and these were replaced in 1919 by 75 horsepower (56 kW) motors.
Air brakes were fitted, the pressure topped up at the termini.
In the early days a single motor coach ran off-peak, but the norm became a three-coach train consisting of two motor coaches with a trailer coach between.
Two classes of accommodation were provided, originally first and second, becoming first and third in 1905 when the L&YR began running over the railway.
The cars were open with transverse seating: the central trailer had leather-covered seats for first class passengers; third class passengers had wooden seating.
As the voltage was 500V, when they ran on the L&YR 630V system the motors had to be in series mode.

In 1945-47 a three car train was modernised, replacing the timber body with aluminium and plywood and fitting power-operated sliding doors under control of the guard.
New trains were considered too expensive and six more trains were rebuilt.

The Liverpool Overhead Railway operated one steam locomotive, called Lively Polly, an inside-cylinder 0-4-0WT, which was originally built in Leeds by Kitson for the West Lancashire Railway.
It was used to deice the track and haul the maintenance train from its acquisition in the 1890s until it was sold to Rea Ltd, a coal merchant in Birkenhead in 1949.
It was replaced by a Ruston diesel engine, which was bought in 1947.
Both were fitted with the proprietary coupling used by the Overhead Railway's EMUs.

An original train was kept by the Museum of Liverpool and a modernised carriage is stored at the Electric Railway Museum, Warwickshire.
The railway used electric units with passenger accommodation and an electric motor in the same unit. Any number could be coupled together with all motors controlled by the driver. Built between 1892 and 1899 by Brown Marshall & Co, the original units had one 60 horsepower (45 kW) motor, but by the third batch this had been replaced by a 70 horsepower (52 kW) motor. In 1902 the motor cars were fitted with two 100 horsepower (75 kW) motors, and these were replaced in 1919 by 75 horsepower (56 kW) motors. Air brakes were fitted, the pressure topped up at the termini. In the early days a single motor coach ran off-peak, but the norm became a three-coach train consisting of two motor coaches with a trailer coach between. Two classes of accommodation were provided, originally first and second, becoming first and third in 1905 when the L&YR began running over the railway. The cars were open with transverse seating: the central trailer had leather-covered seats for first class passengers; third class passengers had wooden seating. As the voltage was 500V, when they ran on the L&YR 630V system the motors had to be in series mode.
In 1945-47 a three car train was modernised, replacing the timber body with aluminium and plywood and fitting power-operated sliding doors under control of the guard. New trains were considered too expensive and six more trains were rebuilt.
The Liverpool Overhead Railway operated one steam locomotive, called Lively Polly, an inside-cylinder 0-4-0WT, which was originally built in Leeds by Kitson for the West Lancashire Railway. It was used to deice the track and haul the maintenance train from its acquisition in the 1890s until it was sold to Rea Ltd, a coal merchant in Birkenhead in 1949. It was replaced by a Ruston diesel engine, which was bought in 1947. Both were fitted with the proprietary coupling used by the Overhead Railway's EMUs.
An original train was kept by the Museum of Liverpool and a modernised carriage is stored at the Electric Railway Museum, Warwickshire.
Liverpool Overhead Railway