Paternoster Lifts: Dangerous, Obsolete and Quite Fun (including over the top!)
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- čas přidán 7. 06. 2015
- tomscott.com - / tomscott - There aren't many paternoster lifts left in the world: they're inaccessible, tough to maintain and a bit more dangerous than a regular lift. But some of them still exist: so if you're ever nearby, do stop by the University of Sheffield's Arts Tower and have a ride up and down. Just don't go over the top.
Thanks to Chris Dymond, who was my camera operator for this trip to Sheffield!
The sign should've said: "You didnt listen, did you?"
The sign said 'further travel not dangerous'
@@dingdong2103 there was one after saying keep clear stand back
oh nice 666 likes
I am gonna write that, nothing actually happened if you stay
“There are no Easter eggs here, go away!”
Perfect place to put a hidden floor. I was half expecting to see a room full of mythical creatures playing poker or something.
😂
You can only see them if you're worthy.
I want to write that story now. Badly. Someone at least needs to put it in the next James Bond.
Margaret Madole It would still make more sense than Spectre.
for the real hidden floor you have to ride on top of the lift.
This is one of those things that could work brilliantly if you assume everyone is:
A: able bodied
B: not an idiot
C: not pushing around a cart
Not trying to load a stretchered patient into it.
Or walking a dog on a lead which is afraid to get on. Nearly hung the poor beastie.
That's a major modern design flaw. ALWAYS assume that everyone using it is an idiot, then design accordingly. :P
@@spankyjeffro5320 Maybe that was the point of a lot of potentially dangerous, but only if misused, designs. Discouraging idiotic behaviour and possibly some eugenics on the side.
We had one of those in one of my old workplaces. Used to take the apprentices up to the top floor, "forget" to get out, and then do a handstand whilst screaming loudly as it went over the top. Hilarious to see their faces as you came back round upside down, but yes, dangerous. Also, that was back in the days when I could still do a handstand.
Bro a menace
Mad, but to do at least once in the life.
@chu Harry which is why he did a handstand and pretended it did.................
@chu Harry congratulations, you found the joke.
Was anyone ever injured?
I just imagine a grizzled old janitor nonchalantly sweeping up severed limbs every day of his job.
25 likes after 3 years? This comment is underrated.
@@OHYS Because that's fairly normal in Sheffield, and nothing really to do with the lift in the Arts Tower.
ClarinoI hahaha
None other than Scruffy Scruffington
@@OHYS
Don't worry. The algorithm decided this video is ripe and the likes are coming in.
As a student at the University of Sheffield, I can tell you that the paternoster is not as terrifying as it might look on camera. I use it instead of the stairs when I'm in the Arts Tower - bit of fun in between lectures. A lot of students do refuse to use it though, more because they're scared of it than anything else. Travelling over the top or round the bottom is not inherently dangerous - university just prefers you not to do it. Many people have, I accidentally went round the bottom on my first go!
The One Show on the BBC tested Sheffield's paternoster against the ordinary lifts in the building a few years back, and it moves students a lot faster. Particularly those needing to get to the basement floor for a coffee before quickly returning to their lecture. Great to see a bit of Sheffield though, Tom! (:
Could one ride it all day without getting off without looking suspicious?
In computing terms the paternoster is lower bandwidth (fewer people per car) than the regular lifts but that is offset by the lower latency (shorter wait for the car to arrive), meaning higher throughput overall. Years ago they used to run the standard lifts with an attendant at peak times and they would only stop at certain floor numbers - you were expected to get the express lift to the nearest available stop to your destination floor and then the paternoster just a couple of floors up or down from there.
It's like a roundabout...
The reason for not riding over the top or bottom might be something about load (weight) on the mechanism at that point - obviously the lift car has a certain weight but that's known and designed into the system. Passenger weight is more unpredictable... Does anyone know the real reason?
@@AAAyyyGGG pičovina je tojedno vole
There was one at a hospital I went to as a medical student. It was great - no need to wait for the main lifts. Of course, everyone rode it all the way around at least once, despite the “get off now or you’ll die” warning. There was a “don’t worry, just stay at the back of the cab and you’ll be fine” sign as you want over the top.
Had one at my hospital when I was a student nurse in the 80s. I mis-stepped and landed flat on my face with my legs sprawling outside and terrified I'd have my legs sheared off. Never again! Still have the occasional nightmare of going 'over the top'
I'm thinking their main concern is the extra weight causing the transfer mechanism to wear out faster, and I guess if it ever was going to break down it would be right when an unusually heavy car goes around. Potentially leaving you stuck in the top bit.
@@karinmurphy592 Going over the top is not dangerous. The one I've used specifically had a sign mentioning it was safe.
Hospitals seem like the right place for this. It keeps out those pesky paraplegics cluttering up your lifts, and for those who inevitably will injure themselves, it's a very short trip to A&E.
Ten years ago I briefly worked in a hotel in Amsterdam (the former Scheepvaarthuis) that had a paternoster lift! It wasn't in use anymore since they get significantly more dangerous when you throw drunk/high tourists with suitcases in the mix, but they were still fully operational. They were turned on upon request or for special occasions, but every time we did guests would complain about the noise. Older people who had formerly worked in the building always came in to see them, and often expressed disappointment about not being able to ride them one last time.
Theres one of these in the danish parliment. Theyre apparently very useful for escaping journalists.
We Finns have one too! or at least we had, I dunno if it is being replaced during renevation.
I wonder if the Danish Parliament paternoster is still marked "I Fart" (meaning "running").
typograf62 It translates to “in motion” and no. Those old buttons were only used on ordinary lifts as anyone can see the paternoster’s continuous movement, thus leaving such status lamps superfluous.
Quite useful to have in parliament. When the revolution comes, this thing can be used as an "assembly line" style guillotine...
I’m Danish and can confirm that “i fart” means “in motion”, although the direct translation is “in speed” I believe it’s meant to be interprétated as “in motion”
This may be a bit stupid, but i was imagining that at the top the whole thing got turned upside down and you would end up getting tipped over after what tom said, then when i saw the sign an was really confused. Thank god the video clip cleared things up!
Riotlight There's an old legend about introducing new students to it by letting them watch you go "over the top" -- disappearing standing upright, and reappearing standing on your hands!
Riotlight I thought the same :)
Riotlight In the city I used to live in, Hattingen, there is a paternoster installed in the city hall that actually *does* turn the "baskets" upside down!
But it has a mechanical weight detector that stops it if there is anything in the basket before it does that last leg above the last exit.
The board at 1:13 says "Further travel NOT dangerous." That seems to indicate it's perfectly safe to stay in the lift when it changes direction at the top.
anjalixz Probably because it is safe
but it causes them trouble
I have literally had nightmares involving elevators that worked like this. I had no idea they were real.
same
You probably died in one of those in your past life
Same here! My entire life I've been having nightmares about these things and have only just discovered that they exist(ed).
Oh god I'm glad I'm not the only one
Not the "fault" of the machine!
I love it, putting personal irresponsibility back into daily activities.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
This lift is bloody brilliant. On a school trip to Sheffield University, our English teacher encouraged us all to under-ride the Paternoster (while she distracted the staff member escorting us round the Uni). It was as much fun as a lift can possibly be. Which, surprisingly, is quite a lot.
what was it like going under? I am yet to see any videos of going under, only over
Zephane It was very much like going over, just the other way around really. I think there was a little mechanics showing but other than that was just dark.
What a lovely teacher
Underriding can be useful, if you have no shame about queue-jumping.
FergieTheSeagull hahaha, what an awesome.
Daub some red hand print smears along the top of the shaft as it goes around, just to freak out people who decide to ride it in a loop ;-)
James Grimwood I will do it if I can
Easy there, Satan!
James Grimwood and put a large garbage disposal at the bottom.
i did ride it as a loop alot as a kid
“Last floor to alight. Further travel not dangerous” that just encourages people to go up.
It's probably something to do with not wanting people hurriedly trying to get out when it's unsafe to do so. They'd rather someone go over the top than lose a limb
Because you can safely ride through the top and bottom in a paternoster. The fear of unbalancing the system shouldn't be a thing.
Just tried that the other day in Hamburg. We still have a few of them running
@@Whywouldyounot You are right! My dads Workplace had one. An old wooden kreeky one. And when I was a Kid, I was super afraid of going over the top because I thought it would turn upside down.. After I figured out it doesn't I had to proof my bravery and could go up and down and around all day. Never caused an issue! ^^
@@Whywouldyounot I was in Hamburg today and went to an office building in Neuer Wall just to ride on a paternoster :)
I wondered about that also
I like how there's graffiti on the walls past the point of no return so obviously some rebellious teens took this for a joy ride
I saw the MEWT contribution
I'm gonna guess that 95% of university of Sheffield students take the ride over the top. I can't think why one wouldn't.
over 35 years ago, when I was about 9 or 10, our school allowed us to go into Newcastle University to learn basic on print-based teletype terminals running into a HP 2000 Mainframe. The department at the time had a paternoster, and these computer classes were after hours, so there was always a massive temptation to try going over the top. 9-year old me, however, was a wuss and chickened out, despite the imagined promise of gateways into future worlds or at the very least, the sight of some cool machinery. Thank you so much for satisfying a 35 year old curiosity!
I went to exactly the same computer course! Many years later I became a professor at Newcastle, but they had replaced it with a normal lift 😐
@@petercumpson6867 Dang those pussycats!
Chicken! Of course you can go around the top - and bottom is even scarier as it gets dark
I assume it's called a Paternoster because you have to say a prayer before you get on the bloody thing.
It's called that because it mimics prayer beads, but it might as well be for that reason.
i think its more of a:
pater-noster
patro = floor/storey
nosit = move/lift(up)
so lifting-storey
Actually, it is because the design of the paternoster reminds of a rosary beads used as an aid for reciting... well, the Pater Noster prayer - but I know the name reminds of that in Czech because they are still used in some places here (we have one in one of faculties here - in Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology)
I'm more convinced by the 'pater noster, qui est in caelis' explanation myself.
Jindrich Petr Kantor
Pater-father
Noster- our
We have about 50 working paternosters in Czech Republic. Come and see them!:)
I have! Prague City Hall (yes, I was respectful). I also saw another near Wenceslas Square, but you needed a code to get in the glass doors (a needed precaution against overuse, I’m sure!)
@@erinmcgrathejm4985 or the one in Zlín's 21 building, where the office lift exists
No. I refuse to ever embark on something with such an obviously flawed design.
Quite a few in Hungary, too.
Is that because you're famous for defenestration?
The “escalator” of “elevators”.
1:08 It says it isn't dangerous to go over the top
samramdebest Yep. I never said it was! But I really didn't want to get trapped up in the top, there. [Edit to make clear: "dangerous" refers to the open shaft you can fall into and the exposed floors that can trap parts of you!]
***** I gather that it wasn't successful?
samramdebest the contradictory implications of the laminated sign at 0:58 and 1:07 are silly!
***** This is in Sheffield, not London.
***** It's not dangerous to the person but it can damage the lift - they don't contradict each other.
Well, SOMEONE has been to the top that shouldn't have been, judging by the graffiti scrawled on the wall. xD
Rabid Raccoon Yep, quite a few of us used to; as long as you are balanced and dont move about, its fine. (1987 BSc Physics).
@Programming Noob Probably because they unbalanced the whole thing and got it shut down.
@@shawnpitman876 how is that possible?
@@junienet rule of archemides, if the weight going down is equal to the weight going up there is very little energy needed to move them, now on the main chain on the lift the weight of people going on and off would be evenly distributed but over the top I imagine the lift would move much more freely and either get caught or just prove too much for the motors to safely handle
Nah... It can't be balance on the chain... it would have to be designed so that suddenly 2 people on every floor but the top decided to get in and go up, while at the same time nobody was going on. Incredibly unbalanced, but within the realm of possibilities for the system.
More likely there's a fractional chance that if a car going over the top got really unbalanced, it could hit the side of the shaft going down. On the normal shafts they could have runners/guides to prevent tilting but moving laterally over the top that's harder to do. I'm sure it's perfectly safe to go over the top (or under the bottom) while standing in the middle.
My father lived in Germany in the 60s while in the USAF and told me about these. I never really could grasp the concept until now. Thanks for this footage and for going "over the top". Much obliged.
That wave is probably the cutest thing I’ve seen this week
There's one at Northwick Park Hospital, But I've always been to scared to go on it.
That and I never knew until recently what happens when you get to the top floor.
***** And so we meet again Mr. Bundy...
I kinda feel like a stalker, but I guess we just have similar interests.
*****
Indeedy, maybe we both just have good tastes in videos :D
***** It always brightens my day to see your presence of videos I like. c:
Nico Icon
aww, bless you :D
Hi Larry! I'm here too...
I looked up and Hitachi is currently developing a more high-tech one. They call it the "Circulating Multi-Car Elevator System"
It's on CZcams too
MixEcoSystem I think i've seen that, isn't that the lift that also goes across floors as well as between them?
MixEcoSystem i thought of that when i saw this, though the hitachi system doesn't seem to have the constant kind-of-unstoppable motion of this, and passing places etc for the self propelled lifts. the more i watched this video the more i thought the only real similarity was the fact it operates in a circuit, idk.
MixEcoSystem this one certainly looks a lot more "we'll be seeing them in 5 years" than the one i (and i think ben too) was thinking of, which is a bit more "maybe in 20 years", imo. the parallel steel ropes looks a better idea right now than MULTI's self propelled lifts, though the MULTI one still allows for lateral motion and taller shafts, so would be nice to see eventually.
+ben dover The Wonkavator!!
@@kronasoosanork But that's a Wonkavator! :)
When I was at University of Leipzig (Germany), there was a Paternoster. There it was not forbidden to go over the top or under the lowest floor. And it is not dangerous, as you can see in this video.
Well it's warned about as some paternosters are actually just belts with a platform and flip at the top.
I can name at least three different places in Prague that have these, two being publically accessible. Growing up around them, they never struck me as something unusual.
I live quite close to Sheffield, and I've been in that lift. It's kinda thrilling. You know, for a lift.
Would you say it was... Uplifting...?
TheGamesters
Wa wa waaaaaaa
Stealthwilde r
With some improvements and some safety features, I can see these things actually being really good. It never stops and it doesn't have to go back and forth to whatever floors the riders are requesting. Of course, you'd need a couple of conventional elevators for handicapped folks or people who otherwise might have an issue getting on and off, but it's really nothing more than a vertical escalator. Maybe optical sensors plus some digital logic and there would be no "guillotine" risk.
Which is exactly what all of them have.
Don't forget about idiots
I wouldn't use optical sensors, I'd use pressure sensors, so not to get false positives
@@DanielSultana That thing's gonna be loaded with inertia though - by the time it detects pressure, it's far too late.
Maybe a pause and go mechanism for rolling cargo?
Haha, we have several of them in Prague. Once me and my friend went round and I was also a bit scared. Some young people here are fascinated by those elevators because there are urban legends how it goes around - that it turns upside down, compresses at the top and the bottom etc. It's quite fun to be honest. I had to try and see for myself!
That brought back awful memory of watching my brother leaving me in the elevator alone while my hands were holding a heavy box. I don't remember how many floors I passed while I was standing there thinking I will live the rest of my life stuck in metal box carrying another box.
That sounds _fun_
I'd say that camera ride was a little over the top. ;-)
Drops2cents that joke was a let down
A rollercoaster of emotions
@@TheJeleb Look, we could go round and round all day about this...
PA-DUM-SHA
That joke crossed the line
I like that this is titled "Things You Might Not Know" instead of the more common CZcams type of title "X Things you didn't know about _____" the X and the _____ being variable. Tom doesn't seem to assume that everyone but he is ignorant.
There's one in the building of the main post office in Brno, CZ. As a kid I was fascinated by it and with my classmates we would scare ourselves by imagining what happens beyond the top and bottom floors (the cabin folding close, flipping over, spikes, ...). When we were a bit older we would ride through the transition areas as a dare. In the one I know, there is a massive metal wheel on top which turns the whole thing. It is covered in old bubblegums. Once, my friend and I got stuck there. The whole thing stopped and we were trapped until found by the post office workers. I haven't gone through the top or bottom since :o)
I remember being caught in one as a child perhaps about five years old. It was at a department store in Bristol (I think) and I got seperated from my parents and went round and up and down without jamming anything: presumably I was too light. Eventually I was freed by my parents and I was in a right old state. It is astounding to me that any of them are still in use.
I could kill the better part of a day with this thing and a portal gun.
How? push people into the top?
The carts are on fixed rails, so good luck teleporting them.
@@mibdev Not to mention that if something a portal is on is moving, the portal instantly disappears.
@@neilisbored2177 unless ypur cutting pipes with a laser in portal 2
@@neilisbored2177 relative to each portal, If both portals are moving at the same speed the wouldn't be moving relative to each other, so they shouldnt disappear.
@@macaroon_nuggets8008 Time to get technical. In the game code, if any portal is moving (since this is a game there is a concept of absolute motion, and the walls REALLY are stationary), then both portals fizzle and disappear. However, if the rule allow_moving_portals or something like that is set to true, than portals can be moving without fizzle. However, physics near a moving portal is strange: objects cannot pass through, and if you try to go through, as soon as you touch the portal you instantly teleport fully across to the other side.
This looks really frightening. I would constantly be afraid that I would trip and fall onto the entry and then get snapped in half by the wall as it went up or down.
+yonoid818 Those ropes will stop the elevator as soon as you come into contact.
+FernestHall well, in theory anyway
Kyle McNicoll
...and in practice. Do you think the people, who invented and improved it (over decades) were total idiots?
+yonoid818 Well, there's no risk of that, but if you're nervous then don't ever ride these things. MILDLY GRAPHIC INJURY WARNING: I rode this exact lift a couple of years ago (going down), was too slow getting on and really hurt my leg when it got caught on the rapidly-ascending floor. My brain couldn't handle trying to raise my foot to drag it onto the lift and it not doing anything because the floor beneath it is also rising. I ended up panicking and trying to hop on by pushing off of my foot that was still on solid ground - and lemme tell ya. Putting all your weight on the bony protrusion on your instep when your leg's bent at about 60 degrees, before landing a good foot lower down than your brain expects and therefore staggering directly onto that leg, is NOT PLEASANT.
2/10, would only recommend if you're not a clumsy tit like myself.
+LiberatorXIII , yes, I saw videos of people stuck (died) in regular lift exactly like that. You couldn't get into the lift if one of your foot is on an ascending surface. There's case where the brake on the lift fail, so when you step into the lift it trigger the brake, then the counter-weight pull the lift up and squish half of the person.
I still have the occasional flashback to the paternoster in the University of Sussex which was the most terrifying thing I had seen up to that point in my life. This was 1979, and it still ranks in the top five.
False
Evidence
Appearing
Real
I was an international student there 2 years ago and I was too scared to use that thing. It did help reduce the morning student traffic which was unreal.
We had them at Salford University when I was there. One thing we use to do was to go to the top floor and someone would go in and come out doing a head stand. Then we'd push a poor fresher into the lift and watch their face as panic set in as they went higher and higher
+Martin O'Donnell I might have to try this!
That'd be bloody useful for the new adelphi now, the lifts there are absolutely useless
Huh, I guess it's a good thing nobody panicked enough to try to jump out. You'd probably have found the accidental homicide charges for throwing someone into moving machinery less amusing.
Also please never work at a factory.
I went to Salford University in the 80's and went back a few years later (after failing spectacularly) and the whole building had vanished. I had considered jumping off the top floor at one point when things went awray
@@barrylongden7 The maths tower has gone?
Hitachi wants to make a modern paternoster lift with enhanced safety.
I went to Birmingham Poly in the 1980s and took the Paternoster up to the top of B block whenever it was working! I loved it. As a small child I was trapped in a lift and became frightened of them, but because the Paternoster was open I didn’t get scared, even when it stopped and you had to be helped out. It helped me get over my fear of lifts. So glad to hear thar Sheffield Uni still has one.
In Czechia, there's about 70 páternoster lifts in total, however only a handful are working and available to the public. I've been to multiple and can say that you might eventually get used to it. The oldest one is in Prague in the building of Czech Radio, it was made in 1920 and installed in 1929 with 18 cabins, reconstructed between 2007-2008. The tallest one (58.5 m) is in Baťa's Skyscraper (AKA Building No. 21) in Zlín with 30 cabins. It takes 195 seconds to get from the 15th to the ground floor, its velocity is 0.3 m/s. It was installed in 1938 and reconstructed between 2018-2019. Apparently the package and letter delivery system was also using the same technology with an automatic tilt mechanism. The second tallest (56.8 m, 35 cabins) is in the Liberec region municipality building in Liberec, installed in 1971. It was reconstructed last year, but 2 months ago, some workers demolished two cabins and the engine room when a ladder they were transporting got stuck (severe safety violation, there are modern lifts in the building), so it's in non-working condition unfortunately. It is not known when it will be running again.
Hey Tom,
University Of Essex, Colchester, have a Paternoster in their Library which if memory serves is 6 floors, so not quite as big as the one in Sheffield. It was still in operation when I graduated in 2005, and I believe it is still going strong - UoE CZcamsrs feel free to correct me...
It has always been a bit of a 'Right of Passage' for new students (freshers) to be told the perils and dangers of going 'over the top' and 'through the basement' before being dared, or challenged, to 'endure' a full cycle all the way round - in reality you just see the huge chain pulling the cars around and, so long as you keep protrusions clear, there is no danger whatsoever despite the multitude of horrifying warning signs!
(My favourite was to tell them that it 'flips over' at the top and bottom, so you have to be ready to rotate and get back on your feet - seeing them brace for the sudden change, then come around smilingly perturbed was delightfully satisfying!)
So yeah, thanks for enlightning the world to the existence of the Paternoster Lift, and keep up the good work. :-)
Best Regards,
Tigger
You should've went in to demonstrate that it flips over, then when it was at the top do a handstand
John McCulloch I can confirm it is still there and still operating, though I don't remember anyone trying to terrify me or other freshers, quite the opposite actually :)
Graduated from Essex last year and it’s still going strong
I remember thinking of something like this elevator when I was young. I didn't think it actually existed, much less had a name.
The building where I did an internship at 16 had a paternoster and you were allowed to go over the top, it was honestly so cool
I like you for writing "you might not know" instead of "you don't know".
This brings back memories of uni to me. I know everyone is talking about going over the top, but the real challenge is how many can you fit into a single carriage. It takes timing, teamwork, commitment and for the last person in, some very quick decision making. We managed four but didn't dare do more.
I've ridden in that, it's a lot of fun and I wish they were more common. They're perfectly safe if you're able bodied and you don't prat about.
@@fiftyskoopaklub2982 That's up to you, there's always conventional lifts, or the stairs. You don't have to be that precise though, it's not moving hugely quickly.
@@fiftyskoopaklub2982 when I used the lift in 1970s, there was a claim by a few conspiracy theorists that the lift chambers folded flat when they went over, or that they turned upside down. Maybe disappointingly, they don’t!
there used to be one at Leicester Poly (uni) in a building that has since gone called the James Went building. Really amazing to go in and even more amazing how quickly you got used to it. I do indeed have the pleasure of riding over the top and indeed the bottom. What i found was lots of graffiti from students who had "dared" to be naughty and risk the whole thing closing. Which, considering there were no lifts as an alternative could spark of riots with students having to go up and down stairs. And no i didnt add my signature to the very exclusive club. Well, maybe once :)
am i the only one that thought when the elevator was going over the top that it flipped upside-down?
no
That's what I was told when a friend took me on it just before it went to the top part. To his dismay I didn't buy his grabbing the walls and bracing while trying to explain it would turn upside down.I wasn't aware they stopped people going over the top though, I think this is still ignored to this day.
No, why would it do that.
Well it would discourage people from pissing the it
Do you think the same way of a ferris wheel? Same principle.
This would scare the s*** out of me. I'd be perpetually terrified of falling. Or getting trapped between the wall and the lift. Or forgetting to get out and going over the top.
Mt_Xing forgetting to get out and going over the top would be an all too real concern that would no doubt paralyse me with fear.
You'd be in for some over the top over the top action.
Mt_Xing Its not dangerous to go over the top. If you got scared or stressed its better to say in the bucket going over the top instead of rushing out and hurt yourself that way.
Im not saying its /dangerous/ to rush out of the paternoster, please dont curl up inside, never to get off again.
Unless you are looking for a way to get yourself purposely injured, all those fears are completely unfounded.
@@ShroudedWolf51 Unfortunately Irrational Fears are generally involentry, not easily overcome if at all, and get stronger the longer one is in such a situation.
That style of elevator honestly never occurred to me, and frankly it's genius. I really don't see why they can't co-exist with "normal" elevators. Could make a world of difference in large and highly populated buildings where waiting for an elevator is a significant time sink. Like many large downtown office buildings.
Because in a disaster you still need stairs so now you're talking stairs for emergencies, a basic elevator for taking heavy gear to your higher floors, and this for foot traffic. It's just too much wasted space in a building as none of these can cover all necessities and this is the one most expendable.
@@Skylancer727 I don't think he said anything about not having stairs or "a basic elevator". I think fewer "normal elevators" may be needed as people who had only a brief case would used these would be constantly moving. I think the maximum a building should be for this should be about 10 floors otherwise just have regular elevators.
well, there are several in CZ left and operational :D now I feel even more special
Exciting AND very dangerous? Someone get BigClive in there right quick!
It's not pink though, so can't be that exciting or dangerous.
For Clive it would have to be a dodgy Chinese "pre-exploded" paternoster.
Exciting, yes. Dangerous...no. Not unless you are looking for a way to injure yourself on purpose.
ShroudedWolf51 that exposed chain at the top is an accident waiting to happen
It's old, so it must be dangerous - logic of western europeans and americans. :-D
Can we have a counterpart video of going under?
The office building where I worked (built in the mid 1960s) had a postal distribution system based on the paternoster principal. When I heard that name I thought it meant it worked if you prayed hard enough! :-)
Managed to have a go on this at Sheffield University's open day last weekend, and was reminded of your video! Thanks for inspiring me to (eventually!) also visit these amazing places
This is an amalgamation of all of my worst fears.
Anyone notice the "Trapped!!" and other various graffiti around 1:28 when it went over the top? ;)
Uhm... I live in Prague... These are in every old building... Going to the doctor in the center? Yep. Visiting your lawyer? Yep. Going to a pub on the top of a building? Yep.
Leaving drunk from a pub and using this kind of elevators doesn’t seem the best combination...
@@c.ocadizg.4127 The same thought crossed my mind.
There are some in Brno too! There’s one in the main post office.
That’s because the the Czech republic is the antiquated backwoods of Europe.
Can't believe this wasn't on the UseIt guide - will have to go back!
Its interesting that most of the UK Paternosters seem to have been installed in Universities. I've ridden one at Leicester University, which I believe was decommissioned a few years ago. Absolutely fascinating things- I'd never even heard of them until I realised I was expected to ride in one. You never entirely get used to that tiny moment of tension when you jump on and off.
Alas I never went on the one at Leicester when I was a student there, but I remember seeing it and hearing about it! Alas, it’s long since gone.
Thanks for uploading this Tom, it took me back to one I used to use at Heathrow Airport in the 1990's. I'm going to show it to my teenage sons, I don't think they'll be able to believe it, hehe.
Used to be one in St. Thomas's hospital Westminster as well. Wonder if it's still running?
Going over the top didn't seem to be that dangerous at all.
Walter Tromp Nope, it isn't - and the sign sayd so! But if the lift unbalances slightly, safety mechanisms can cut in and the whole thing can shut down. (That happened, unprompted as far as I could tell, about five minutes after I finished filming.) You won't get hurt, but you might be waiting up there a while!
***** Ah, I see. For some reason, I thought that by over the top, you meant that the thing would turn on it's head then it went back down; now that would be something! (probably because in Dutch,, ''over de kop'' means capsizing, which sounds similar to ''over the top'''). Thanks for the video!
Walter Tromp my thought exactly!
Walter Tromp kop sounds kinda similar to how we pronounce "kopf" here. (german for head.)
New meaning found? .-.
***** Can we start a kickstarter for a modern version which does not have this problem? I hate waiting for elevators so much and this looks awesome.
Czech Technical University in Prague has 2 of these. And from what I can see in the video, they also have some extra safety features.
We have one of these in my city. One day I decided to give it a try. Oh boy was that a mistake. Turns out that I'm not afraid to hop on but I'm terrified of getting of. I gotta admit that I went over the top because I didn't realize that I missed the last floor. Whoops.
Thank you Tom! I didnt know these existed!
It was fun telling freshers stories about the paternoster. We once had someone virtually convinced it was hydroelectric powered by a stream that ran deep under the building.
I mean... Having one of these direct driven from an ever spinning water wheel like an old grain mill would be really cool.
I've been in one, it didn't say anything about not going to it's "turn point''. But as I've crossed it, there was a sign telling that it's safe, an there's no problem with that. It was quite a fun to be in such a thing
I’m from Sheffield and went on a school trip to this University when I was younger. Me and 4 friends all went over the top of this exact lift, and then all the way down and round the bottom, in the same lift carriage, and nothing bad happened 👀 no secret floor, no off-balancing, no upside-down lift carriage, no damage to the lift... makes me wonder why so many people think it’s so dangerous or damaging? Maybe it might get damaged if absolutely everyone did it, but I’m sure it’s completely okay for the odd few people to do it 😅
People like to believe to myths and nonsenses. Also parents like to scary kids. :-D
wow, I rode one of those like 30 years ago in Switzerland - and I went "over the top" too!
Hadn't seen or heard of one since then. Thanks for the vid!
Why the hell did I get a wheelchair add before this? Is it really that dangerous?
The video has no control over whay advertisements it does or doesn't get.
ShroudedWolf51 It works the other way around. The advertiser gets to know what you are watching.
*ad
Now imagine trying to get in that thing while riding in a wheelchair.
Two of the machines that I use at work operate on the paternoster principle. The other 8 use a more modern central lift frame that pulls shelves off of, well shelves basicaly, then bring them down to an area where I can pick the items the order I'm working on needs, then puts that shelf back, and then zooms up/down to pull the next shelf off the racks either side of the frame. Rinse and repeate for each order/item.
Clicked on this and unexpectedly learned something about the city I lived in. Will remember this whenever I walk down Paternoster Row. Cheers 😊
This is effing terrifying for me. Like, getting crushed in an elevator is one of the scariest ways of dying, and I'm clumsy enough to die in one of these.
They have at least two of these in Copenhagen, Denmark :-D One in Cristiansborg (the Danish parliament building) and one in the KVUC building at Vognmagergade. I've taken a dozen trips with the latter while I studied there. Including the entire way around.
Funny how many fellow Danes there are here.
There's also one in a hospital somewhere, I've ridden that one.
God damn i saw this video and afterwards had a nightmare about a giant one that just lets you fall off, like im not already terrified of elevators
I just stumbled on this and remember fondly the Paternoster in the Science Building at Leicester University where I got my MBA. I actually didn't know of it during the years I attended but learned of it on visit to campus after graduation and rode it several times on visits back. Unfortunately it was retired something like a year ago. - I have been enjoying your videos but had held off on subscribing till now, but this has pushed me to do so.
There's one in the Umea University Hospital in Sweden as well
I spent a full afternoon in that one once, when I had to stay with mum at work. This was in the seventies, so a pater noster was a totally acceptable babysitter. Glory days :-)
here is a å to fix your comment with.
@HeroesOfTime There is the Umeå University in Umeå in north-east Sweden. Swedes are still searching for a "Umea", perhaps you dreamed it Mr. Hero.
@@MrCuddlyable3 Chill out dude.
Aha! So the cars are NOT inverted as they go over the top -- under the bottom. Again, I learn something new!
Back in the 1970's I was at Leicester University and there was one in the Attenborough Building. As I recall, people did sponsored Paternoster rides during Rag Week - they would sit in a car going round and round for hours at a time, all for charity. Crazy but less hazardous than the more popular 3-legged pub crawl, which I know from personal experience to be the cause of many injuries!
In Prague are 28 paternosters still in daily operation and many of them are accessible by the public. In other Czech cities are too. Mostly under Heritage preservation.
This thing appeared in one of my dreams a couple months back ( i somehow remember it) even though i had no idea these elevators existed.
Same here.
That thing looks like it would take body parts in an accident.
But at least it will bring them back though. ;P
"oh theres my arm"
Can’t remember which year the Arts tower opened, but I can remember riding on it when my girlfriend was in her second year, back in ‘68. We now have two wonderful children and four delightful grandkids. Ah, happy days.
one of the most german things I ever heard was introducing a drivers license for a particular paternoster. I think it was at the university of frankfurt am main, but I'm not sure. they had an accident where someone broke his leg in the paternoster and after that, the university administration decided to introduce a paternoster drivers license. it basically was just a security introduction and after that you got a piece of paper, but still.
This actually gives me severe anxiety, I wouldn't step on that if I was paid to.
The parliament house in Helsinki has one of these! It's pretty fancy.
Took daughter for an open day at Sheffield University last year and we rode this lift. Didn't notice any signs. We went over the top. Highlight of our day.
There used to be a similar lift in Northwick Park Hospital marked for staff use only in the 70s/80s but I remember my dad taking me on a ride. 😍
Works perfectly fine at our office as well. Also a 20 store building... Of course we have like super fast elevators next to it, but... Sometimes it takes longer to wait for one of those to arrive, press the button, wait for the door to close, to make the travel and then to open the door - than just hopping onto the Paternoster, riding the 2 floors and hopping out. So in short: it's perfect for a few floors - or during lunchbreak, when the elevators are busy.
Just when I thought normal elevators were the scariest thing in my life....
we had one at Aston University in the 70's (am I giving my age away?) We could get six or seven people at a time in one car, but it had a weight sensor so if too many people climbed on it would grind to a halt.
I still have dreams that I am on it, and it is traveling too fast and I cannot get off - 50 years later!
BTW, I have seen a much simpler version in vertical food processing facilities such as flour mills, where you have only a foothold and handhold to hand on to. NO WAY you will go over the top on one of those!
You can go to university at any age so technically you arent
We have a bunch in the main building at the University of Frankfurt - and boy are they needed. The building is only 9 floors includin the basement, but my god, the actual lifts are HORRENDOUSLY slow, that everyone not using the stairs, will use the Paternoster. The building is shaped weirdly, it is a curve and has 6 bits jutting out either side. On each of those, there is a Paternoster that goes from the ground floor up to the 6th floor - and, you can go through the top and the bottom, I have on many occasions, simply by being too late to get off before, it is no problem, as it states. They can transport many students to the libraries on both ends of the building and the many offices for professors, and small seminar rooms. I could not imagine that building without it.. I guess we'd all get super fit, because we'd have to use the stairs. The lifts really are freaking annoying.
Been in this and done a secret entire loop through the roof and basement! Didn't realise you shouldn't as I'm sure there weren't signs when I did. Good video!
I've been over the top in that lift. It was less exciting than I had hoped :p
Zach Gerstman You expect a lot more then what the reality is
***** Wow...
I have seen one when the Uni I went to used to have one... I had more problems with getting on/off something that never stopped moving.
There's one at Essex University and I went round the top and bottom several times. It felt illicit to slightly daring to my 18 year old self...
I did manage to do it accidentally a few times while busy chatting 🙂.
They are great fun and so quick and easy if you want to go up or down a floor quickly.
I’ve been to one in prague at the civil hall. Ofc I ignored all the signs and went over the top! I like the fact you have to pay proper attention entering or exiting but this contraption would probably guillotine most kids heads off 😂
Looking at the go pro footage I’d say that one was A LOT newer that the ancient thing I rode
I remember the one at BNFL in Birchwood, Warrington. It went round at unbelievable speed, you had to be quick jumping on/ off.
The library at the University of Essex also has one. It's under refurb currently although finding parts for it has been difficult I've heard.
It's up and running again now with some new features!