I didn’t know what a trolleybus was. A tram yes, but not a trolleybus.

The Trolleybus Weekend was brother-in-law number 3’s suggestion, an avid steam engine enthusiast. A good suggestion, it was. More so as it was conveniently held in Carlton Corville, a town south of Great Yarmouth – the seaside resort where my mum-in-law, my husband and I had our week’s holiday in England.

Touted as an annual transport extravaganza, it was a vibrant event that showcased operational trolleybuses, trams, a 2ft narrow gauge steam railway and a vintage black taxi. We went on rides on all three transport vehicles except the taxi, which I didn’t really notice until much later. Hmm. I did notice the uniformed conductors who called out when the trolleybus and tram were about to depart, and came around to punch our tickets. Remember the paper bus tickets in varied colours? Nice.

What is a trolleybus? ‘A trolleybus is actually an electric bus that runs on electricity that is drawn from two overhead wires (generally suspended from roadside posts) using two spring-loaded trolley poles. Why two wires, and two trolley poles? They are required to complete the electrical circuit. A tram, meanwhile, uses the track that it runs on as the return electric/power path, therefore, needing only one wire and one pole.’[1]  

A trolleybus is also known as a trolley, trolley coach, trackless trolley, or trackless tram. Trackless because electric trolley buses are rubber-tired vehicles that run on roads. Not on tracks. ‘Currently, around 300 trolleybus systems are in operation, in cities and towns in 43 countries. Altogether, more than 800 trolleybus systems have existed, but not more than about 400 concurrently[2].

I didn’t know this. There were trams and trolleybuses in Malaysia from the 1880’s to about 1961. Where? Penang or George Town. The northern state initially offered services with steam-powered trams. The first tramline was 12.5km long, with 4km set into roads like Penang Road and Datuk Keramat Road.  I know these roads. The advent of electricty saw the introduction of electric trams. Power lines were installed above existing tramlines, and electric trams with trolley poles on top became prevalent. Between 1905 and 1922, some 24 electric trams operated 11-minute services to several destinations on the island.

Apparently, petrol buses were introduced to replace electric trams but their unreliability at the time, paved the way for trolleybuses. The trams’ overhead power lines made it easy for trolleybuses to operate immediately. In 1956, there were 41 trolleybuses. However, further developments in petrol and diesel engines saw motorbuses gradually replace trolleybuses. ‘The first trolleybuses hit Penang streets in 1925 and the last electric tram was scrapped in 1936. By July 1961, the last of the trolleybuses were sold for scrap and Penang’s public transport system had fully adopted motorbuses[3].

I realised as I was reading Wikipedia that my mum had mentioned several times about travelling on buses with poles on the top. Yes, it was the trolleybus that she had referred to. Her maternal home was in Butterworth, and she visited George Town when she was growing up. Hmm.

We also went to Horsey Gap. What a cutesy name. Located north of Great Yarmouth, it is home to one of the largest colonies of grey seals in the UK. True. There were so many. Little and large. Swimming and playing. Those that weren’t moving or staying quite still looked like grey/black lumps on the beach. It’s always heartening to see animals in their natural or near natural habitat. Horsey Gap would have been a nicer day out if it was a little less rainy, wet, and windy. My mum-in-law would/could have joined my husband and I, and we could have taken our time to walk and climb the relatively steep incline that had to be crossed before getting to where the seals were. Didn’t happen.

What did happen was the three of us participated in a weather-independent immersive game of ‘Wizards & The Potion Master’ at an Escape Room in Great Yarmouth. As per the modus operandi of Escape Room games, we had to look for and decipher clues, symbols, and puzzles to progress from one stage to the next to complete the game, and secure our escape. Or in this case, find the stolen potions and stop the plundering Potion Master from his evil intentions. As part of the game, there was a tablet to interact with the host, three wands, bottles of potions, a wooden maze-puzzle, a heavy iron pot and stove, candles and bells. And drawers and other things that opened and/or revealed an item/article each time we solved a clue, which then pointed us to the next clue to solve, and thereafter.

We didn’t the solve the mystery of the stolen potions within the allotted 60 minutes. I felt a little ‘bodoh’/stupid but it was so much fun. Highly recommended.