In a welcome move to keep its annual events programme fresh and interesting, the East Anglia Transport Museum have announced some changes to its main event, held each year in September. The popular ‘Trolleybus Weekend’, which has been held annually for 17 years, will be rested in 2013 and instead a more general transport event is to be held, which will hopefully see the resident trams play a more significant role.
The main 2013 event takes place on the weekend of 14th & 15th September, and is billed as the ‘End of Season Gala’. Rather than just trolleybuses, the intention is to operate as many large passenger vehicles as possible over the weekend. This should create an impressive spectacle with plenty of interest for those who are interested in buses and trams as well as trolleybuses. As an added bonus, it is hoped to attract a good number of taxi cabs to further enhance the atmosphere. Saturday 14th September will also see the return of evening vehicle operation, with the museum staying open until 9:00pm to create even more memorable scenes. The only unfortunate aspect is that this clashes with the annual enthusiast’s tram event at Crich Tramway Village, which could well result in both attractions losing potential visitors as the limited audience for such events are spread between the two locations.
Hopefully this revamped event will set a precednt for future events at East Anglia to make better use of the tram collection. With five operational trams – Blackpool 11, Blackpool 159, Amsterdam 474, Sheffield 513 and London Transport 1858 – currently on site, it is to be hoped that all five will be used in service over the two days to give tram enthusiasts further incentive to visit this often overlooked gem of British transport museums.