Riding the Elevator of Death
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- Опубліковано 31 січ 2019
- What are paternoster elevators? What happens when you go over the top? And can we build our own nonstop elevator? We take a ride on one of the last of these rare lifts in the Prague City Hall to learn more about engineering and design.
Engineering Europe, Episode Five | The Elevator of Death
#EngineeringEurope #Prague #CzechRepublic
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Translations:
CZECH: Ondřej Špika a Martin Hofman
GERMAN: Aaron Kerker
POLISH: Piotr Matuszak
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I was terrified of these when I was young because I always thought that passengers who went up beyond the last floor got flattened. There used to be many of these scattered all across Germany.
Nah, they just get devoured whole by thousands of tiny Razor Toothed Leprechauns.
They recently cleaned the leprechauns out of this one.
Same
The-the bodies, or...?
@@plateshutoverlock I-
I thought the elevators were going to flip upside down when they were going back down
2:51 we got a mad lad doing a handstand in the elevator
Lmao
Lol didn’t notice that
I was thinking the same thing looking at that mad lad LMAO
Australian
He doesn't know anymore what's up or down
My anxiety and paranoia would NEVER allow me to ride on that. I'd much rather run up the stairs 50 times thank you very much
I'm scared of escalators so I relate lol
I already rode a patanosta in Berlin and it was a fun experience! Not as bad as I thought it would be
Feel like I might like it better than escalators, I can't go on them
Same, but its still tempting
frrr imagine u wanna get out and get stuck and it keeps going down so u end up cut in half or smth 💀
It should be re invented with modern tech with sensors to automatically stop if someone gets stuck between the floor and elevator so that they don't get killed.
:)) there are already such sensors in place- mix of mechanical&electric.... Its not so dangerous as it looks... :)
@@hyneklos Many used 'trip wires' to detect arms or limbs straddling inside and outside of the cars.
They Have Now
This elevator has them. He just didn't show it. Those are the grid at the top of the entry and part of the floor. If your arm is outside it will move grid up, disconnect circuit and the elevator stops. Similar for the part of the floor. There are hinges so if you go up and your feet is up it lifts that part of the floor and disconnects circuit.
This is how safety flaps work: ua-cam.com/video/-Y1ME8n5tCU/v-deo.html&t=95
"Death is a to negative user experience to make this viable"
1940?
Lmao
This...
so fucking robotic you can get.
“Godzilla had a stroke trying to read this and fucking died.”
*too :^)
*_Ah yes, The Mumbo Jumbo Slimeblock Piston Elevator._*
Lol, everywhere I go there is mumbo
Yes
@@maddoxshull7481 you cannot escape
r/unexpectedhermitcraft
Indeed
I had SO much creepy pasta vibes when he was going past the fourth floor oh my gosh
I was thinking about the elevator game for some reason
I was thinking of Final Destination
@@dantethespoon1087That show left me shaking 😩
@@Vinixx333 hio
I know right, he stepped back on and my brain screamed at me that something bad was about to happen!
I thought for a second that the elevator folds in like an escalator at the top. When he said that it ends on the 4th floor and then stepped back in, i legit got anxiety for that dude and thought that I'm about to witness death.
I thought he was going to get flipped upside down.
He obviously knew what was going to happen.
He just worded it to intregue the viewer.
Yeah me too lol
I thought the same 😭
When we were kids, everyone tried to scary us that we can't survive going to roof with paternoster or you will go upside down on other side and such stupid myths. :-D
For everyone trying to come up with fixes to make these usable, I present you: People in wheelchairs or people holding large items who can't see their feet
I would assume that these elevators would not be the only ones present in a building, if they were to become mainstream. There is no reason why two types of elevators are not allowed to be used at the same time.
@@bowmin1 Agreed. One for fast transport, for busier foot traffic (Prague's Paternoster Lift) and one for handicapped or for people who can't see there feet (traditional lift).
A 'slow down' / 'stop' button like the ones in revolving doors would fix their issues
Cripples aren't real people and who watches their feet?
@@RockLeeOfTheMounties i hope you are joking or just trying to stir things up, and don't actually think this
Lol, found you though Tom Scott and the paternoster video was one of my first from him too. Congrats on the guest spot!
Awesome! Thank you!
same :)
On tom Scott’s video he said you couldn’t go up it or it would tip but he took a camera instead
find a dictionary too
E
Imagine accidentally trip as it’s rising and get your leg cut off
Edit: holy crap it actually happened!
Edit2: sorry I meant it actually happened in the video
Sorry to hear about your leg.
@@renakunisaki 🗿🤚
How painful was it
@@sadsadist185 why is it that the first thing you replied is how painful it was
@@invincibleash2011 do I have to explain myself
4:04 Denmark had no arrow on that map... I'm triggered. We have about 10 of these in mint condition around the country.
Whoa. Which buildings? ;)
404 Denmark not found
Used one in Denmark. Fredericksberg kommune(council) building had a working one 5years ago while i was there,.used by staff and visitors)
There is one in Parliament, one at Rigshospitalet (the biggest hospital in Denmark) and one at Danfoss headquarters (big industrial company)
Yeah. Was a bit ticked off by that too. There`s one in Christiansborg. Went with my aunt who works there as political commentator for BT while visiting for a couple of days.
Yes, the lifts are less safe than the classical type, probably on principle alone. But Paternosters used today are usually equipped with numerous pressure and light sensors. Those stop the entire system when you would get caught between the cabin and the platform, preventing... ehm... amputations.
Next time in Prague, go to the Czech Technical University in Dejvice. There are three Paternosters there, and also you can ask the other mechanical engineers about the safety features. ;)
Technical University in Kosice (Slovakia) also has one in the main building. I have never heard about anyone getting injured there and the university had about 10k students back when I studied there.
There are paternosters at CTU? Probably not FIT I suppose, because I have been there and haven't seen any.
If a product is inherently flawed(and dangerous), and needs to be corrected by software or hardware it probably is a safety hazard. Boeing 737 max should be a case study. Don't 'duct tape' over inherently dangerously flawed products.
That would defeat the purpose of it being efficient. Might as spend the couple minutes waiting on a safe elevator than constantly hitting bumps on these.
This is one my literal worst nightmare, my arms getting teared off by elevators-
Man i am so scared that ill have to go there one day, i live in Prague >_
I think classic paternoster lift is more safe than some modern elevators, especially in countries where theys don't care much about safety.
@@silverwoomy0 use stairs
@@basharabunijem7029 good idea, just spare me using this elevator xd
The one in the UK has lasers if the beam is broken the lift stops automatically
Too bad. Really bad.
Spoils all the fun of pain screams and bone shattering.
Hope they return to sense and bring back the thrill.
good idea...
@@pedrocarvalho4999 wtf
just gonna tape over that laser and shut the entire fucking lift down while someone is inside it
Where is the one in the uk
Tiktokers gonna turn this into "the elevator challenge" where they try to jump on or off at the latest moment
Don't give them ideas
Would be good natural selection is strong on this one
....
Good. Let them try.
to be honest thats a good idea, as others have said natural selection applies very strongly in this case
Ah. I've found the elevator from my nightmares finally.
Major problem with this aside from death and injury is that it’s not accessible to everyone. Most people with disabilities would have great difficulty using these elevators.
So? There are also normal elevators.
Johanna Guerrero ☠️
@@okaro6595 most buildings do not have the capacity to install more than one kind of elevator
In the USA, we say that it is not ADA-compliant (Americans with Disabilities Act).
This is like a compact escalator. I don't see why they can't have this as well as a conventional elevator unless they are really hurting for space.
They can sacrifice some office space and install an elevator shaft there. If it's next to windows, they would have to put up signs on the outside of those windows that say "SHAFTWAY" (for the firefighters). Many old buildings in NYC have evevators installed this way.
3:23 imagine being that guy coming down and seeing a pair of legs laying there
You would also hear pretty loud screaming and bones cracking
Someone: why don't you use the elevator
Me: going by stairs is healthier...
Exactly ;)
I’ve literally had nightmares about this elevator.
Yeah, right
imagine falling asleep there and just going around for hours
This comment made me ugly laugh😭😭
kinda relaxing doe
And then you fall over and your head sticks outside while your body's still inside and it's still moving.
i imagined it
I want to go to Prague just to ride this elevator
same lol
They're in many places in the Czech Republic.
There are quite a few in Prague including one in the radio building.
+1
There is also one at the YMCA building and the CTU University Campus at Dejvice.
In the Paternoster Elevators videos there is always this phenomenon sociologically interesting, two groups colliding:
Group A: Express their fears, and are vehement in thinking about dangers, disabled people and pets using this.
Group B: Complains about the recall of these elevators by pointing "stupid people", calls about natural selection.
Which is really stupid because the reason that humans survived in the first place is that we said "Fuck survival of the fittest, I'm taking care of you."
Group B also knows that nothing ever will be as efficient as a paternoster. Oh and they also know, that paternosters are basically safe (5 people killed in 23 years of service - tons of such systems in those days) and that disabled people have normally access to regular elevators in such buildings.
@@kaitlynboss3497 The correct principle is "Survival of the fit enough."
@@vaclav_fejt fit doesn't always mean physically fit.
@@kaitlynboss3497 True, but I didn't say that.
They have one of these in Copenhagens parlement building. I went on a guided tour with my mothers workplace, and the guide told us the he was one time showing a highschool class around. A boy asked him, if someone stayed in the elevator, did it turn around so the person would stand on their head going back down? A passing politician had heard this and had taken the stairs up to the next level, jumped into a handstand in the elevator and smiled at the class as he passed them upside down
That sounds scary I wouldn't be able to stand on there normally let alone do a handstand
Madlad
I remember riding one of these in Germany when I was 3yo. It scared the hell out of me, which is why I remember it. My uncle loved to give people a hard time, so he convinced me if I didn’t hop off in time it would flip upside down. I was (marginally) less scared to jump off vs risk staying on.
It’s sort of like a vertical ski lift.
I need sleep
Brain: you sure?
Me at 3am:
We went on this by accident, didn't know it was a thing. I nearly died on it 😂 I freaked out as I thought it was going round on itself and dived out last minute and nearly had my legs chopped off
That sounds terrifying! Glad you got out alright
Too bad you didn't actually touch the board covering the top of the opening. You would have seen the original safety feature at work. The board is not firmly attached, it's only kept in place by its own weight, and removing that weight stops the whole thing well before you have a chance to touch any fixed part. It also triggers an alarm, summoning a worker to inspect it and reset the safety.
I watched one video about “the coolest elevator” and now my entire recommended is filled with these
Same
Exactly
This just made me realise that I shouldn't try to replicate real life elevators into minecraft, becaues in minecraft there's more freedom and less safety issues to worry about. It should mainly be about the functionality, and there is a lot possible of that there.
This is a nightmare for people with anxiety
yes, i’m trembling even though i didn’t even go on the elevator.
"there is a reason that some call it the elevator of death"
Yes, they are prone to hyperbole.
Actually it sounds pretty made up for more views and comments... In my country nobody ever called it the elevator of death.
Amazing video!! Really liked how well structured is the information given!!
I have chills just by seeing this elevator. The anxiety of misstepping is just one thing I would never get over with in these elevators.
It’s actually quite safe. These elevators use a lot of neat safety measures. Here’s an example from the 1980s ua-cam.com/video/-Y1ME8n5tCU/v-deo.html
Actually information are not gjven correctly, we dont call it "Elevator of Death", it is not dangerous at all.
Miguel, you are also afraid of Escalators?
Building: we have a paternoster elevator
Insurance company: 😲😲😲😲😲
Imagine being in a wheelchair and having to enter and exist this elevator.
I'd rather use the stairs with a wheelchair
In reality, there is a button for that. It summons a reception guy who will stop the thing at the level and then ride with you and stop at the end stop. Same goes for anyone carrying cargo.
Knowing me, I’d sit there all day going around and around
I have been working in an office where we had a paternoster. Everyday I finished my lunchbreak by making a loop :)
Pressure sensor that stops when something is caught between elevator and hallway? Also space the doorways so that you can climb out of any one of the carts when it stops due to an obstruction? There has to be ways to modernise these
The breaking system would have to be powerful for that to work. The whole chain of elevator boxes has a lot of mass and it would have to stop in less than a quarter inch to avoid breaking limbs. Even if you do manage to get it sorted though, OSHA (and foreign equivalents) are unlikely to ever approve any building that uses one, just because of the potential for small children to injure themselves by wandering into a box that hadn't fully arrived at the floor they were on, or by falling off after the box had gotten higher.
This video is little bit misleading. It does have safety flaps and safety pressure sensors (switches) which stops the whole elevator immediately preventing you from getting injured. You can see it in this vid: ua-cam.com/video/-Y1ME8n5tCU/v-deo.html
Simple electronics with cheap laser or infrared sensor that checks if the closing area is clear of objects would do the trick. Give it 50 cm of critical threshhold and 20 cm breaking distance and limb is spared.
@@martinsvozil4004 Any idea how the safety flaps handle getting stuck between the roof of a cabin and the floor when going down? The video doesn't explain that situation. Also, what if something wider than a flap gets stuck? (e.g., a leg or a head)
If you are stuck enough to trip a pressure sensor, this multi ton machine wont be abled to stop before its gone the extra 10 centimeters needed to cut your arm off.
I first came across a paternoster lift at Oriel Chambers in Liverpool during the 1960s as a young boy. Then when I went to Salford University in 1982, there was one there too, in the Science block. Very effective at getting people around in the quickest time. There was a young male student in a wheelchair who mastered the paternoster at Salford - he reversed in and then launched himself out forwards. I was never aware of any accidents occurring, and it was a reliable system.
I went on one of these in Switzerland in a shop when I was about 11. Me and my friend decided to stay in. He joked about ot folding up and us getting squashed. I got scared and we were already passing an unused floor, I decided to jump out even though the lift was above floor level. Waited to hear my buddy getting squashed, but was relieved to see him come down the other side!
Edit: spelling.
Chilling story!
This design ia great. Disabled people can just use strairs
We have some more in the Prague technical university and we noticed, there are wooden planks conneted to buttons that, if person got something stuck in the doorway, would stop the lift. It sounds makeshift but it looked as being part of the lift from the begining. I think rather than being dangerous, the reason for abandoning the design is purely the accessibility for elderly and diasabled. I´ve seen older university staff and visitors strugling to get in while it was moving, not mentioning people in wheelchair.
Yup, the problem is accessibility, not safety. The author is trying to make the video more interesting by ignoring the safety features. :-/
Attenborough Tower at University of Leicester probably still has this lift style. Always a student prank telling people they'd come down upside down if they didn't get out at the top. Happy days!
I was a student at Leicester 3 years ago. I used to ride the Paternoster everyday in my first year in the tower sadly though in the following year the university shut it down and it hasn’t operated since to the best of my knowledge.
They are used commonly in the USA in flour mills and grain elevators, where they are called “ man lifts” actually quite fun and memorable experience.
Yeah... imagine trying to use this elevator while piss drunk & stumbling. Death trap waiting to happen imho.
You won't just die though. Paternoster elevators have safety features like every other elevator system. You'd have to be really unlucky to actually get yourself killed in one.
There is a safety feature that stops the lift when there's an obstacle.
But unfortunately it was not enough for two idiots with a ladder...
Back in the mid '70s, I used to play with my brother and my friends on one of these lifts/elevators which used to be in use in St Thomas' Hospital in London - there wasn't any entrance security for hospitals back then. The reason those devices were banned is because some people are stupid.
Everyone makes mistakes or has a run of back luck sometimes. Just because you were never maimed doesn't make you superior.
@@snigwithasword1284 I think you really have to mess up to get maimed if you're able bodied. But this lift is dangerous for pretty much any physical and visual disability
@@misham6547 let's not forget about our children and animals.
@@susieballard4957 teach you’re kids right and you won’t have to worry.
Man, you are old.
My dad had this elevator at work, I loved using it when I was small, though I was afraid of the sound it made and never went top or bottom because of that. Didn't know they were such a rarity, interesting.
Awesome! So happy Reddit called Atomic Frontier to my attention. Sub'd!
I really wish these were brought back (in a modernised form)
Crazy. I worked in a house (13 floors) with a Paternoster for 14 years. So I can´t understand the problem with it. It was a very comfortable way, 11 seconds per floor and you met a lot of other people... :)
I found this video quite up lifting. It seriously lifted my spirits.
You'd have to be brave AF to go past the fourth floor without knowing what was going to happen.
Why didn’t you just come see the one we have in the Arts Tower in Sheffield? 👀
No one:
Literally No one:
Me: Death by Elevator
I love the little easter eggs in your animated segments.
People are afraid to use elevator because the risk of death, but they use cars all the time.
@@RedNova. Well, when elevator gets stuck you are not that likely to die and cars run out of fuel, have dead battery and all sort of other issues as well.
same with planes
I came across one of these weird contraptions today at work, when heading to a newly appointed break room for traindrivers in Brussels South station. The elevator was switched off however, so I couldn't ride it. Hopefully it will be switched on when that building gets used more after the current crisis.
I had to go to rolls Royce in Derbyshire for work about 15 years ago and was fascinated by these lifts! I'd never seen anything like it before. I wanted to stay in and go all way up and over but when you get to the top floor there's a sign saying you must exit! So I stopped in and another sign said warning, risk of serious injury or death!!! It was at that point I shit myself and jumped out! 😂😂
There used to be a paternoster lift in the Oxford St branch of Marks & Spencer until about 20 years ago. It was meant for staff use rather than for the public (obvs), but was simply behind an unmarked door which anybody could use if they knew it was there. I spotted it through the open door one day and used it every time I went to the store. It was great fun.
My school here in Copenhagen has a paternoster. We literally use it every day. It's awesome! :)
Great channel btw. Tom Scott sent me!
We were visiting family in Cleveland a couple of years ago and I use a scooter to get around due to a disability and the place my uncle insisted we go for lunch was easy enough to enter but leaving was a completely different story. Has to go way in the complete back and use the weirdest elevator we had ever been on. Barely fit hubby and me. It kind of reminded me of this but at least it stopped. But I remember both of us were freaking out hoping we didn't move the wrong way bc there wasn't a cage all the way around so if you didn't keep all your appendages inside you could lose one. They got away with this bc it's a historical building. Historica, buildings do not have to be ADA compliant so for the rest of our visit I made it very clear only modern buildings. LOL
The easiest fix for this kind of elevator: Make it bigger than two people, mirror on the back wall to see floor numbers. Mirror on the ceiling on each floor to see edge. Light sensor to stop when broken then resume when whole.
I'm still, after all these years, still have somewhat of a phobia of dark places, so the fact that there doesn't appear to be any lights in the car itself would make me not want to ride in one, let alone riding in one over the top! But I'm glad you did, and took your camera with you. Now I know what it looks like!
It's so impressive how much work and information you put into a video that doesn't even reach the 5 minute mark.
This is so cool. Subbed!
Thanks Michael! Hope that you enjoy the rest of our stuff too :)
This elevator gives me the ultimate anxiety. I thought I would get a heart attack for a sec when it went up further than the 4th floor,
Years ago I went on the one at GEC in Borehamwood, UK. It was a weird experience stepping onto a floor that was moving up! And yes I did go over the top to see what happened.
The university I went to still has one of those and it's still active today. I loved riding on the thing - so freaking convenient.
Not very wheelchair accessible, though, so the building also had a normal elevator nearby.
Tady je český koment který si hledal 😀
I believe there is still one operating in the library (Arts?) building at Sheffield University.
4:02 "If less fun..." Bro, I'm glad these aren't common. I already get uneasy stepping into a normal one for Pete's sake! It's definitely not fun!
Very nicely put together video and very entertaining as well. Thanks for posting this.
I'll take the stairs.
I've seen videos of these and at one place they had collapsible floors on hinges that if you were going up and your foot stuck out of the lift it would just push the floor up. Same on the cars. The tops were open enough so you couldn't get anything caught. There were also emergency stop cords on each level.
They could be programmed to stop for a few seconds on each floor to make it easier to get on and off
And have doors that open when they stop.
@@renakunisaki That just sounds like a regular lift with extra steps
Yeah and why don't we ad buttons so people can travel to whichever floor they wa-
Oh wait
That's exactly against the concept of these elevators
@@SodiumChloride_NaCl You've never waited 1+ minutes for a stupid lift to reach you? Especially in taller buildings! I'm not saying it's a good solution to every building but some could probably benefit from a similar, albeit safer, design as this.
Your presentation is great, thank you.
Great content as always!
This is the best
I think it's unfair to label it the elevator of death. I think it is sublime in its concept and operation, a continuous flow, no stop start, up, down, however I do agree with Mr. Johanna Guerrero.
I've ridden on one of these many times as a student at the library of the university of essex in the UK. Sometimes I would go all the way around above the top floor and below the bottom floor. Great fun.
When I was at the University of Sheffield I went on theirs. Its 22 storeys high, the tallest operating in Europe! I thought it was pretty cool. The other drawback with the the paternoster was standing in the cabin watching the conventional elevators across the room zoom up and down at much faster speeds. Its about 13 seconds between floors.
This is the actual reasons paternoster elevators are being phased out. As another thread here pointed out, the safety thing is pretty much sorted out, but there is no remedy to having to compromise between the requirements on travel speed and on speed when getting on. And with taller and taller buildings being built, the travel speed of the paternoster just isn't feasible. It's a matter of wait time vs. travel time in the conventional vs. paternoster elevator debate. Not sure about maintenance costs though, that might be another issue. But there's still the cool factor of the paternoster, which for me outweighs most of the cons!
They are not dangerous, they have sensors that stop them once something gets stuck between the elavator and the floor outside.
"What happens if we keep going up"
My mind: *despairs forever into the old elevator black hole*
Reality: BIG WHEEL :D
Love your videos, I’m shocked they don’t have more views. This Channel should have millions of subs
Haha, we have one of these still in working condition at Kecskemet Hospital in Hungary. It's even scarier because there are more signs as you go up and the chain is fully exposed. No wooden fancy stuff...
When he went in the elevator when he was at the forth floor I was scared💀
This looks awfully like a Minecraft elevator I built in 2013, lol
Paternoster. As an elevator technician, I love these
Such a neat design!
I’m sure folks in wheelchairs are thrilled with this design.
It's the motorcycle of elevators.
I love simple videos like these!!
very interesting, and the best video on the topic as per clarity of explanation
These are perfectly safe if you do not act stupid. You should think it like being in traffic. You need to focus on what you do.
When I was looking at the elevator I was instantly thinking of somebody accidentally pushing somebody onto the elevator and there body being split into two when they fell onto Half of the elevator and half of the floor- yeah glad there not going to exist anymore because wouldn’t wanna see a dead split in half body on the floor 💀
I used to work at Deutsche Eisenbahn Consulting at Frankfurt at the river Main when they still had a working pater noster. My first time, when the door to the building electrically opened and I was invited to come up to the 4th floor by my future boss. I stepped in and was greeted by either a stair case or guess what. Working here I would have to use the pater noster. So why not now? On the 4th floor I was greeted by a cheering crowd who had placed bets whether I would take the stairs or belong to the group. Today I can say this transportation was more safe than open lifts. I have never heard of people stuck in a pater noster because of a blackout and there are no closed spaces claustrophobic people might be afraid of.
Very interesting, great delivery. Glad I found your channel
"Almost zero wait time" - Let me invite you to the Czech Technical University, Faculty of Electrical Engineering. Come at 9:10 in the morning after the pandemic. You'll see a huge queue for the paternoster. :-)
Ohk... Who is here from HUNTING FOR SILENCE ??
Im sure it's 'storm of bells'
@@romelatamkeen6529 you right it's storm of bells
Mee 🤣. I did not expect an Ifrit here
Silly question: what is 'storm of bells'? 😂
@@AtomicFrontier a book it's on wattpad😅
I am sure there are many of these elevators round the world. Not just Prague. When i was a kid, the local hospital had these for the hospital staff. Public not allowed to ride in them though.
About 35 years ago they had a working version in the main postoffice in Rotterdam, Netherlands. I have been using it a few times, good fun.