Are there any paternosters in the United States?

If there are, they’re not called paternosters. I have never heard that term in my life. What are they?

I had to google around for a while to find a video of one. This is a paternoster. It’s door-less elevator that you just step on and off as it’s moving…

Wow that’s crazy, I never knew these existed. Sorry I didn’t answer your question but I thought this was neat.

@HungryGuy Whoa, that’s pretty cool. Seems like a good idea. I’ve never seen one in the US, nor when I went to Hamburg (where the video takes place).

I have seen them in various older garages in San Francisco where they park your car for you. There is one in the Russ Building at 225 Montgomery St in SF, and another at the St Mary’s Square Garage on Kearney Street.

I was fascinated with them when I was a child.

I forsee many a possibility for drunken accidents on those things. Now I imagine that it is moving in some sort of circular motion around a track or something since the one side is constantly going down and vice versa.
So my question is, what happens if you ride it to the last floor and stay on?

Whoa, that’s a bad idea!!

Yes, they’ve been outlawed in many places in Europe after morons clowned around and lost limbs and got decapitated…

My husband says there is one for valets in a parking garage in Washington, DC, but can’t remember what establishment. An escalator is a form of a paternoster. I looked on OSHA’s website and they have regs for them, so they must exist in the US.

@uberbatman – They’re on a continuous cable, so if you stay on through the top or bottom, you’ll go through the machinery and around and back up/down the other side. Perfectly safe if you keep your hands inside the car. Plus, there’s emergency stop buttons within reach everywhere.

@HungryGuy so it shifts horizontally at the top and bottom?

@uberbatman – Yes. Here is what it looks like to stay on and go around the top and back down again.

@HungryGuy ahhhh i see, makes sense. Thanks for clearin that up. For some reason I kept imagining people getting squished or flipped upside down lol

Awesome! Learnin’ something new everyday.

I feel like the Ministry of Magic has some but then again, it’s in the UK.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir – I think the Ministry of Magic had antique, but otherwise ordinary, lifts.

I’ve not seen any.

This looks like a lawsuit waiting to happen. What happens when, not if, someone trips and doesn’t make it all the away on or off? Or if someone loses their balance and leans toward the opening? Are there sensors to stop it immediately?
It also seems like a waste of energy since it is running continuously.

What advantage does it have over the much perfected OTIS product?

@worriedguy – The newer ones have optic sensors or trip-wires just below the ceiling edge that stop it if a limb or head is extended to prevent morons from getting decapitated. But that has happened on older ones.

Wow, that looks both incredibly efficient and pants-shittingly scary. I have enough trouble with escalators, thank you very much.

Never seen one in the US – or anywhere else.

I can’t imagine trying to navigate one of those with children.

they are very handy for garage staff that have to go up and down from floor to floor, and can;t wait for a regular elevator. people get on and off at what ever floor without having to wait for others.

The ones I have seen in San Francisco have a box that you stand on, with a handhold at about 5 feet. And you would get hurt if you didn’t get off at the top or stuck your arm out. They ARE dangerous.

It seems like the older ones might be blabbermouth-proof.
I.e., if someone on the noster wants to yak it up with someone who’s not, then they’ll have to get off it instead of delaying its progress.