@Biverix
I rode one of these once in Belgrade and honestly it was TERRIFYING.
@lexslate2476
It's what you get when you combine the elevator and the escalator in such a way as to prevent the safety features of either of them from being implemented.
@RS-ls7mm
While interesting, in the US this would be a lawsuit generator.
@blinkvideo
My brother and I delivered phone books in the '70s here in the Twin Cities, and saw a lot of cool things not generally open to the citizenry. One was an old flour mill on the Mississippi near downtown Minneapolis. Pretty much the whole place was run by a series of belts, snaking up and around the entire plant. There were two paternosters that we saw (still operating!). Not as fancy as the ones pictured here, these were basically steps bolted to a wide canvas belt that slowly moved through four floors. We spent a fair amount of time just joy-riding! Really clever how the whole mill used one giant engine to power all these belts and pulleys that ran the whole place!
@NicknameOnly
I first encountered these lifts when I was studying at the London School of Economics in the early 1980s. I was convinced that there were two separate lifts and if I didn't get off at the top floor in time, the lift car would flip upside down into the dark before it started over again. My husband, who knew how they worked, came with me one day and made me take it to the top floor with him and NOT get off. That's when I found out that the lift just moved laterally. V anticlimactic.
@jdnelms62
I never heard of these until this video! Seeing them in action, I can understand why they never were approved in America.
@donald6815
We had something where I worked called a man-lift. It was like a conveyor belt, going straight up and down. There were foot pads to stand on, and a hand grip to hold onto. You had better get off at the top, or it would carry you right over to the down side, only standing on your head. Scary thing, it was.
@Osoyoos48
At the ripe old age of 4 or 5 I was on one of these in the early 50s in Germany. As I grew older, I was always confused as to why elevators had doors. It wasn't until I was in my 60s that I read an article about the paternoster elevator and finally realized where my confusion had originated. One of the many grand and glorious memories of my childhood that I still cherish to this day in my 70s. Never forget the past; it is the pathway to the future.
@themoonissquare323
Yeah, they are almost perfectly designed to make a fire go quickly through the entire building.
@Sven.Bornemark
Brilliant! I only heard about these elevators from my father, who thought they were a very good idea. Now I feel like an expert! :-)
@danmartin633
looks like a good way to lose a limb.
@Timzart7
I rode one as a student at the U. of Vienna in the 1970s. I just looked it up and as of 2015, still going. That surprised me. My first impression of it was that if you weren't careful, you could lose a limb or be decapitated. But you get used to it. It was more convenient not having to wait long, and open feeling compared to a regular elevator.
@Dikkker
Cool – the Paternoster in the opening shots is in a building I worked in for 5 years. I used this thing multiple times daily and loved it! Memories :)
@Larry
There's one of these in Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow, London. Used to be fascinated by it as a kid.
@lgkfamily
My first thought was it was called paternoster because you said a prayer for your safety right before trying to get on or off the thing.
@richard999
For those who never used one, it was perfectly safe to go over the top or under the bottom - the actual ‘cage’ moved sideways and across and they had a light in the area for those frightened of the dark 😀
@Aramanth
Finally the mystery is solved! In the film The Omen, there is a scene at about 1 hour and 6 minutes in where Gregory Peck's character is talking to a nun at a hospital & she got on one of those contraptions... well now I know the name of it: Paternoster Lift! Thanks for posting this clip! ⭐
@LeftyPem
These are shown in use in the 1920s film Metropolis.
@mbirth
My company has a building where there's still a paternoster working tirelessly. The maintenance people love that thing as it nearly never fails since the motors are constantly running at the same speed. Very very low-maintenance and employees love them to easily switch between floors. There's also an industrial version where there's only steps (and a handle) on a rubber band going up and down - called a "belt manlift". This is used to get workers quickly to different floors.
@PJD_55