# What kind of elevator did I see as a kid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 1, 2019, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997 "2019-08-01T14:16:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2019, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997/21 "2019-08-02T00:34:45Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I don’t think there have ever been any paternosters in the United States. I believe there may have been one or two in the US, but they were very rare here. I want to say there was one at the University of Michigan, but Google isn’t turning anything up so my memory may well be incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2019, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997/22 "2019-08-02T04:50:45Z")
> [@dougrb](#): > > There was a technique for getting on and off them (smoothly). Does anyone know what would happen if someone didn’t get off before the top? The E-stops I hit were around the perimeter of the base and I just fell into one. Check out [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoCQ6tq5wJE). It’s not really likely to be fatal, just a little foolhardy. Like crossing between cars on a train when the sign says not to. It’s a bit like the old musicals when the male leads jumped off the tram before it stopped. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2019, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997/23 "2019-08-02T08:03:06Z")
I could have written the OP. The hotel we stayed at in 1970’s NOLA was the Fairmont-Rosevelt. It is possible that the manlift equipped parking garage served other hotels as well. I remember being as fascinated by the manlift as it sounds like the OP was. I can’t say for the parking garage, but the hotel was still in business in the early 90’s. Don’t know if it re-opened post Katrina…it was only a few Blocks from the French Quarter, so it might have done. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2019, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997/24 "2019-08-02T08:23:03Z")
There’s one in an old (but still active) downtown medical building/hospital in San Antonio. It’s where I had my cataract surgeries this year. Only the garage attendants use it. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2019, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997/25 "2019-08-02T09:42:43Z")
I’m not finding a lot of fatal accidents with them. Maybe they’re so scary users are careful. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2019, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997/26 "2019-08-02T09:45:22Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > And one at the University of Sheffield in the UK > > [Sheffield University's paternoster lift in motion - BBC News](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-south-yorkshire-42997131/sheffield-university-s-paternoster-lift-in-motion) Yes, I spent a lot of time riding in that lift. You could go right over the top or round the bottom, if you were brave enough. (Contrary to popular myth, it didn’t invert as it went round the ends 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2019, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997/27 "2019-08-02T11:06:03Z")
Continuous belt manlifts aren’t a patch on the oscillating 2-rod man engines that used to be used in Cornwall. Those weren’t “step on, step off”, they were “step from on moving platform to another … all the way up the mineshaft” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2019, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997/28 "2019-08-02T12:52:34Z")
Oddly enough, these were mentioned in another current GQ thread (the one on [Jewish Sabbath restrictions](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=878974), where they’re mentioned as a way to make an elevator that doesn’t require someone to activate it to use it). ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2019, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997/29 "2019-08-03T03:32:24Z")
Behold…the manlift in it’s mundane glory. :rolleyes: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Ar-JuiNmnwA/maxresdefault.jpg "Scary Man Lift'''") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar-JuiNmnwA) ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997/30 "2019-08-03T16:03:27Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Continuous belt manlifts aren’t a patch on the oscillating 2-rod man engines that used to be used in Cornwall. Those weren’t “step on, step off”, they were “step from on moving platform to another … all the way up the mineshaft” This thread made me think of those as well. I wasn’t thinking of Cornwall though, they used to be common in mines all over Europe. But I’m having a hard time figuring out terms to google them. Anyone know what they were called? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2019, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997/31 "2019-08-03T22:41:44Z")
I think that “oscillating 2-rod man engines” is what they were called. They don’t seem to be talked about much, though. ---
**Author:** ![allyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@allyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/allyn)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2019, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997/32 "2019-08-04T03:53:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I think that “oscillating 2-rod man engines” is what they were called. They don’t seem to be talked about much, though. Found this on wikipedia… > **[Flatrod system | Lifting rods](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatrod_system#Lifting_rods)** > > The lifting rod system ran vertically up the mineshaft, either to transfer power to the individual sets of shaft pumps (when they were known as pump rods) or, in the case of man engines, to operate the man engine rods. In some cases the lifting rod system performed both duties. It consisted of roughly 19 to 20 centimetre thick squared spruce timbers. The poles were dovetailed at the ends and sides and were fixed to one another with correspondingly mortised wooden joints (Holzlaschen). These joint... ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2019, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997/33 "2019-08-04T13:43:01Z")
> [@allyn](#): > > Found this on wikipedia… > > [Flatrod system - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatrod_system#Lifting_rods) That is one cool animation there. If you’re at all interested in this stuff, I urge you to have a look. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2019, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997/34 "2019-08-04T15:54:44Z")
> [@allyn](#): > > Found this on wikipedia… > > [Flatrod system - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatrod_system#Lifting_rods) Or this one: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man\_engine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_engine) Apparently in Norway we used the German name, _Fahrkunst_, having imported German engineers to run the mines. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2019, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997/35 "2019-08-04T16:19:04Z")
> [@naita](#): > > But I’m having a hard time figuring out terms to google them. Anyone know what they were called? > [@Chronos](#): > > I think that “oscillating 2-rod man engines” is what they were called. > [@ftg](#): > > That is one cool animation there. If you’re at all interested in this stuff, I urge you to have a look. They’re called “[man engines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_engine)” (same animation on that page) - the two-rod kind is one type, there’s also a single-rod type, which necessitates stepping off the rod to a stationary platform at the top of each stroke, then waiting to step back onto it at the bottom of the next stroke. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997/36 "2019-08-08T18:57:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I think that “oscillating 2-rod man engines” is what they were called. They don’t seem to be talked about much, though. Probably because it sounds like a bizarre form of pornography. > [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Belt Manlift sounds like a bad writers idea of a macho name. [Slab Bulkhead! Big McLargeHuge! Punch Sideiron! Blast Hardcheese!](https://mst3k.fandom.com/wiki/Dave_Ryder) ---
**Author:** ![MaryManufacturing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dec6dc/32.png) [@MaryManufacturing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryManufacturing)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997/37 "2019-08-19T18:26:19Z")
If anyone has any questions regarding belt manlifts, let me know, we have been manufacturing them for over 100 years! ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997/38 "2019-08-20T04:31:01Z")
It never fails to amaze me how the most obscure things can be asked about here, and sooner or later, someone who invented/built/designed/installed the thing pops up. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997/39 "2019-08-20T07:17:58Z")
I worked at a parking garage in Portland, Oregon in the early 70’s that had one of those moving belt things. I want to say it was somewhere around 5th and Taylor, but things have changed so much I don’t really know. It was an old 24-hour garage that served a couple of hotels as well as general shopping and offices. What is odd to me now is that I was able to use it without any problem, but I’m very afraid of heights. I guess the view is so constricted as you are on it that you don’t get any sense of being at a height. Also I was a LOT skinnier then. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997/40 "2019-08-20T12:44:44Z")
Me, too. Parking garage at an Atlantic City casino. It was used almost exclusively by the valet parkers but, as a security guard, I rode it pretty regularly. I’d never heard of or seen such a thing until then. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-elevator-did-i-see-as-a-kid/837997.md?page=3)