ESCALATOR IN GARAGE SPEEDS CAR SERVICE (Dec, 1932)
Filed under: Automotive, Scary — @ 11:44 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Dec, 1932
| Buy on Ebay
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Dec, 1932
| Buy on Ebay
This looks really fun, but I think you might have a tough time getting insurance after the first few workers get crushed.
ESCALATOR IN GARAGE SPEEDS CAR SERVICE
Workers in a San Francisco, Calif., garage, with a 1,000-car capacity, can deliver a customer’s automobile from the eighth floor to the sidewalk in forty seconds. This is made possible by a vertical escalator and a long ramp down which cars are driven. Each worker, going for a car, steps on a tiny platform attached to an endless belt and rides straight up. To descend, he steps on the other side of the escalator and rides down. Electrical motors keep the escalator running constantly.
These are still used in places like parking garages. They are called belt manlifts.
Comment by chrisbellamy — January 23, 2007 @ 7:14 pm
There’s a picture, including safety mechanisms, here:
http://www.humphrey-manlift.com/products_a.asp
Comment by Stannous — January 24, 2007 @ 10:46 am
This ‘one man lift’ is still in operation at Ellis Brooks Chevy in San Francisco. I ride it every time I’m in the building, as it is the quickest way to get from floor to floor.
Comment by unkamort — September 6, 2007 @ 3:48 pm
Still in production and widely used. Lots of grain mills have them. Company that I work at has a couple about 8 stories tall, kind of scary to look down and think what would happen if you slipped.
Comment by Bob — October 2, 2007 @ 8:21 am