Elevator with no car door

A very old lift that seems to have been partially modernised judging by the smooth takeoff and deceleration, and a little hint of an inverter whistle when moving.

This is at an old seaside accommodation with a long history. My friend who lives here says the elevator has never broken down in all the time he's been here. That's probably because it's not a "modern" one.

The last time I was in an elevator with no car door was when I was a very young kid, at the first library in East Kilbride.

[Muonium]

I always touch the shaft when I'm alone in the elevator too

[yjjk]

Lots of these in Finland, in the 70s commieblocks (including the one where I live). I ride one every day and it still gives me the heebie-jeebies - not least because it has a sticker saying "NEXT INSPECTION DUE 9/2020"...

[wryyyy]

These type of elevators are quite common in Finland. Most buildings built in the 1960s and 70s had these, made by Kone, and unless they've deemed too worn out during renovations, these buildings still retain them. Some still have the neat electro mechanical button panels. However, these lifts pose a quite huge danger if moving big objects in them, it's critical to make sure the shaft wall does not touch the object, cause it can possibly get caught on the door edge and make it pivot suddenly.

[del]

My grandparents' building in Finland used to have one until it was replaced ~15 years ago. There was a big warning about not having any furniture near the door, since if it caught one of the cracks, it would wedge you in. Need to be careful with clothing too. Come to think of it, the old scissor type doors still in use in old buildings may be quite dangerous with scarves etc.

[dosgos]

These lifts are all over Europe. Some have retrofitted safety doors. Just respect the door area.

[OhNoHesDrivenRoundIt]

I've come across a couple of these, but my favourite one I saw during the time I worked in a hospital.
The lift was used to get from the rest of the building down to the mortuary in the basement.

Inside of the lift, there was a laminated paper sign reading "Staff are not allowed to ride in the lift along with the hearse".
This meant that whenever they had to carry a deceased patient to the mortuary they had to push the hearse into the lift, press the button for the correct floor, get out, use the stairs to go down to the basement and hope the hearse wouldn't roll around and trigger the laser light barrier and stop the lift halfway down.

Was good fun though.

[Ralesk]

Ah yes, these scary things. In Sweden you'll have a "VARNING FÖR KLÄMRISK" sign plastered somewhere on the wall with a rather gruesome figure that gets killed by his wheelie bin :D

[MrLakridsbat]

A lot of lifts not meant for guests/residents are that way in sweden. Theese are mainly for deliveries or staff. They usually have a warning sign with a person being crushed by a trashbin that catches on the shaft on the way down.

[mezb]

Leicester de montfort university used to have a lift with no doors at all. Don't remember what they were called but constantly moving, just step on and off, oh.. it's a paternoster lift. I used to love that thing.

[ddrjoe]

The nostalgia, I had the same in my old apartment. Every time fun when somebody was moving in or out and got stuck with furniture that fell over.

[IceBergGeo]

Single passenger lifts, meant for people with disabilities, are often like this. Although, they also require a constant press of a button to travel.

[timhartherz]

Looks like a small version of the industrial lifts we had at the older part of the powerplant i used to work at.
The maintenance guy responsible for them used to push hard against every Door as we passed by to test the locks.
They were extremely reliable.

[Piqus]

Typical elevator from years ago in Poland. Lots of fun (and fear of being caught) when I was a kid, drawing endless stripes with a felt pen or crayon as the lift was moving.
You can still find this type in some buildings, albeit they're being replaced with newer models. Cheers!

[tornagawn]

My wife’s Aunt lives in a flat by Hampstead Heath, the lifts are open mesh with those fantastic concertina doors. The Pryors, East Heath Road….

[rogerneale]

I love those old lifts.
I also love a paternoster lift but haven't been in one for ages

[wezzlefish]

Used to work in a place with a similar pneumatic lift for disabled access, but you had to hold down the button the entire ride. Customers couldn't understand it, and would "get stuck" because they either press it and it would move an inch and lock the door, or would let go before it had aligned enough to unlock the next door.

[Dingomush]

That’s a nice one. I’ve seen some that were right out of the horror stories when I worked in the refineries and at the steel mill. Spent some hours stuck in them too!…..

[runeodin]

In Denmark, these were very normal in my childhood and early youth ('80s and ´90s). Since then, some regulations have been introduced, so some internal doors have become mandatory - often this is fulfilled by retrofitting old elevators with internal sliding or folding doors (it is often pretty easy to see that these doors are not original).

[andresilva]

more reliable than some of the newer ones. At least the doors don’t jam or misengage, which is the main reason I call the lift engineers about twice a month.

[Ben-ktrc]

Nice of Clive to give the shaft a stroke