Paternoster

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This article is about the paternoster lift. For other meanings see paternoster (disambiguation).

Image:Paternoster.jpg A paternoster or paternoster lift is an elevator which consists of a chain of open compartments (each usually designed for two persons) that move slowly in a loop up and down inside a building without stopping. Passengers who are agile enough can step on or off at any floor they like.

The name paternoster ("Our Father") has been taken from the first two words of the Lord's Prayer in Latin. A special bead on a rosary indicates that a Pater Noster is to be said, and from there the whole rosary and, what is more, anything resembling a rosary was referred to as paternoster.

Paternosters were popular throughout the first half of the 20th century as they could carry more passengers than ordinary elevators. They were more common in Europe, especially in public buildings, and less so in Great Britain. However there are still working paternoster lifts at the Albert Sloman library, which is part of the University of Essex, the Arts Tower, which is part of the University of Sheffield, and in the Attenborough Tower, which is part of the University of Leicester in England.

A common misconception is that it is dangerous to stay on in an upgoing cabin after it has reached the top floor or in a downgoing one after it has passed the ground floor level. The compartment remains upright, and travel is possible provided that the passengers remain perfectly still. Nevertheless there are two risks of such a journey. The elevator is liable to shut down if an occupant of the cabin shifts position during the cabin's lateral motion from the upward to the downward shaft or vice versa. Also, the drive chain is exposed above the top floor. In 1989, the paternoster in Newcastle University's Claremont Tower was taken out of service after a passenger undertaking an up-and-over journey fouled himself on the drive chain, necessitating a rescue by the Fire Service. A conventional elevator was subsequently installed in its place.

Today, in many countries the construction of new paternosters is no longer allowed because of the high danger of accidents (people tripping or falling over when trying to enter or alight). Also, an increased sensitivity to the needs of the disabled, for instance wheelchair users, has led to the paternoster's gradual demise. Existing ones remain operative until they are dismantled, so there are still some but their number is continually decreasing. As objects that belong to a vanishing world, for some people paternosters have achieved cult status.

In April 2006, Hitachi announced plans for a modern paternoster with computer-controlled cars and normal elevator doors to alleviate safety concerns. [1]

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Cultural references

An example of a continuous-belt type paternoster of the type used in industrial plants can be seen in the 1966 film Our Man Flint, in which James Coburn uses a paternoster to escape pursuing enemies.

In the 1976 film The Omen, a paternoster can be seen in the Rome hospital visited by Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) in the course of his enquiries into the origins of Damien.

In the 1967 TV series The Prisoner episode "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" the Number Six character (played in that episode by Nigel Stock) is seen taking a ride in a Paternoster lift (located in reality at the GEC Marconi building in Borehamwood).

In David Lodge's 1975 novel Changing Places, the transplanted Californian, Morris Zapp, is chased up and down a paternoster by a psychotic professor of Literature at the fictitious University of Rummidge in England.

There is another Paternoster in the Marconi building in Beeston.

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External links

de:Paternosteraufzug fi:Eduskuntatalon hissi hu:Páternoszter nl:Paternoster (lift) pl:Dźwig okrężny sv:Paternoster-hiss

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