I work in a building with one. It takes 15.5 seconds between floors, wich is a bit slower than our elevators, but because there is no door, buttons and usually no queue it really is very quick.
In the course of the day it makes moving between adjacent floors for meetings completely effortless.
Unless you are disabled, moving between adjacent floors is pretty easy with stairs. And lots of types of disabilities that would prevent the use of stairs would seem to make these risky or impossible to ride. All in all, I'm pretty happy these never caught on.
Three of these were scheduled to be replaced several years ago at my university - the administration however pulled the "voluntarily call the historical conservationists" trick and they are still operational.
We had a pair of Paternoster in my place of work (in addition to two pairs of elevators) until a year ago. They've since been replaced by a small pair of elevators, which work fine, but the paternoster just had more character. Power usage was given as the reason for replacing them.
How easily these can be used by people with disabilities? Someone in a wheelchair or on crutches who can't move fast enough would be frustrated or, at worst, seriously injured by one of these.
I believe this is the reason why, at least in Germany, no new paternosters are allowed to be constructed, and existing paternosters are usually converted to conventional elevators during renovations.
Why is that relevant? Of course they cannot safely be used by such people - they'll just have to use something else - like stairs or regular elevators.
"Like stairs." Did you take the time to put any thought into that?
Also, jamming multiple elevator shafts into a building is usually non-trivial. If you have to choose between a paternoster and a regular elevator you will always pick a regular elevator because it helps people with movement disabilities (among other reasons).
There are 3 places left in Germany where they're allowed to operate. One of those places is Leica in Wetzlar. It's absolutely fun to ride it, much faster than conventional lifts, but it's understandable that they're being shut down for safety reasons.
Stuttgart's Rathaus has two. Uni Stuttgart had one that I know of, but last I heard it had been stopped.
I always make a point to go to the Rathaus and ride them when I visit.
The floors fold up where the lift's floor meets the building's floor to prevent crushing your foot. It also has a switch which immediately stops the paternoster and sounds an alarm. I had not realized that and stopped the system while showing it to my son.
I guess it's similar to the Czech Republic - old ones are allowed to remain in operation, but you can't build new ones except for the places GP listed.
I had the “pleasure” of using one in Germany. I had the worst sense of dread when I was getting into and out of them. But I think I just needed to get used to them I guess.
I did a work experience placement at a UK hospital about twenty five years ago, and they had an operational paternoster lift.
It took about two days of regularly riding the thing before I plucked up the courage to ride it all the way over the top.
Oh my I hadn't even thought about what happens at the top or bottom. Was it completely enclosed? Do you end up going behind the lifts that are facing the opening or is there a divider?
What if the power shuts off at the peak? Or worse, at the bottom in the less trafficked basement level? So many questions.
For questions of this type, YouTube can be good. Here is a random video I found by typing "paternoster over the top" (it's one of the suggestions once you type "paternoster") into the search box: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoCQ6tq5wJE
It's like a conveyor belt - one side goes up, the other side goes down. Going over the ends means you reverse direction and continue on the other side.
You get to see a sign that this is not dangerous, then the wheels driving the machine, and the cabin may shake a little bit. However, it does not flip over, and a few seconds later, you'll be on the way down and able to get off at whatever floor you like.
> What if the power shuts off at the peak? Or worse, at the bottom in the less trafficked basement level?
Then you're stuck in there just like you'd be stuck in most other elevators (or slightly less, since you might be able to get into the engine room if you don't mind the fact that it could restart at any time).
Readit News
In the course of the day it makes moving between adjacent floors for meetings completely effortless.
Sure, if you love stairs by all means take them. But no, it's just not convenient on the same level.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9284672
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10058885
Also, jamming multiple elevator shafts into a building is usually non-trivial. If you have to choose between a paternoster and a regular elevator you will always pick a regular elevator because it helps people with movement disabilities (among other reasons).
I always make a point to go to the Rathaus and ride them when I visit.
The floors fold up where the lift's floor meets the building's floor to prevent crushing your foot. It also has a switch which immediately stops the paternoster and sounds an alarm. I had not realized that and stopped the system while showing it to my son.
My mother’s workplace had one when I was about seven, and I was terrified even to think about it.
What if the power shuts off at the peak? Or worse, at the bottom in the less trafficked basement level? So many questions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Paternoster_animated.gif
> What if the power shuts off at the peak? Or worse, at the bottom in the less trafficked basement level?
Then you're stuck in there just like you'd be stuck in most other elevators (or slightly less, since you might be able to get into the engine room if you don't mind the fact that it could restart at any time).
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