Made a special trip to Wuppertal during the summer to have a go on these. They're good fun, work really nicely. Getting a picture that looks this natural is an achievement, though - it's a really industrial part of Germany, you get a lot of views of lagged pipework.
Nitpick: I think trolleys are specifically street cars, which Wuppertal unfortunately dismantled several decades ago. Wherever I look they're referred to as trains. This specific one is the Kaiserwagen ("Emperor's carriage / wagon" is probably the most fitting translation), which you can rent out for events. They're not used for regular transportation.
Etymology:
1823, in Suffolk dialect, "a cart," especially one with wheels flanged for running on a track (1858), probably from troll (v.) in the sense of "to roll."
So I'm gonna go with your definition - trolley has wheels. Ugh, dammit, this has wheels on top.
Maybe trolley in the sense of usage? As in, used like a trolley or streetcar?
Don't use them to transport elephants though
Wow, very cool piece of history. I didn't know of them, so thanks!
A couple videos of them, in 68mm from the era no less! https://youtu.be/2Ud1aZFE0fU
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