An Elevator Quiz Works on So Many Levels (Pt 2)

Answer: They don't stop

A paternoster elevator consists of a chain of open compartments that move continuously in a loop, allowing passengers to step on or off at any floor without the elevator stopping. The name paternoster comes from the Latin 'Our Father', a reference to the transporting loop resembling rosary beads.

The patent for them was obtained by British architect Peter Ellis in July 1866. They were popular in the early 20th century, but most remaining paternosters are in Germany and the Czech Republic. New construction on them stopped in the mid-1970s, due to safety concerns. Uh...yeah, duh!

Answer: St. Louis Gateway Arch

The Gateway Arch has a tram system that operates like a combination of an elevator and a Ferris wheel, facilitating a smoothed ride along the Arch's curved structure. Each tram has eight cylindrical compartments seating five passengers, making for a capacity of 40 passengers per tram, with two trams operating at the same time.

As the tram heads upward, the compartments rotate to keep level, very similar to how Ferris wheel cars operate. The Arch's tram system was developed by Dick Bowser in just two weeks after he took on the task, with the instruction being that the Arch's exterior not be altered.

The ride up takes 4 minutes while the ride down takes 3, allowing for up to 11,000 passengers a day.

Answer: Brazil

The Lacerda Elevator in Salvador, Brazil, was built between 1869 and 1873 and was originally hydraulically powered before switching to electricity in 1906. At 72 meters (236 feet) tall, it's one of the tallest elevators in Brazil, and transports passengers from the Cidade Alta above to the lower city of Cidade Baixa. Four shafts can carry up to 128 passengers at a time in about 30 seconds.

Answer: Lake Lucerne

Lake Constance (Bodensee) is in Germany, Lake Neusiedl is in Austria, and Lake Vänern is in Sweden.

The Hammetschwand Lift (153 meters/502 feet) is on the Bürgenstock plateau, overlooking Lake Lucerne, and takes passengers to a lookout point 1,132 meters (3,714 feet) above sea level. It was built between 1900 and 1905 by Franz Josef Bucher, for the Bürgenstock Resort. The ornate metal lattice tower is a popular tourist attraction.

Answer: Berlin

The AquaDom was one of the largest cylindrical aquariums in the world, holding 1 million liters of salt water with tropical fish in it. The elevator was able to accommodate 30 passengers, surrounded by the marine life as they ascended and descend, with a 360-degree view of the aquarium.

However, on December 16, 2022, an explosion of still-unknown cause, resulted in its destruction. 264,000 gallons of water were released and almost all of the 1,500 tropical fish died. Thankfully only two people were injured.

Some speculate that freezing temperatures could have caused a crack in the acrylic glass tank.

Answer: The Luxor Hotel elevator in Las Vegas

The elevator at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, which has a 39-degree incline in order to properly travel up and down the pyramid-shaped building, holding 30 passengers at a time.

The Great Pyramid of Giza does not have a modern elevator system, but some archeologists theorize that some sort of man-powered internal vertical shaft might may have been used during its construction.

The Bailong elevator in Hunan, China, is located in the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, and is the world's tallest glass elevator at 1,070 feet. It consists of three double-deck elevators, making the trip in just 1 minute and 32 seconds.

Answer: The Burj Khalifa

The elevator in Dubai's Burj Khalifa lift is one of the highest traveling elevators in the world, at 2,717 feet (828 meters), having faced design challenges with heights beyond 500 meters due to the weight of the cables. The building's 57 elevators travel the maximum altitude a single elevator is capable of, including double-deck elevators that can travel 10 meters per second (33 feet per second).

The Langham in central London, opened in 1865, is considered Europe's first grand hotel, claiming to be the first London hotel with hydraulic lifts.

The elevators in One World Trade Center, NYC, aka The Freedom Tower, travel 1,293 feet (394 meters) to reach the 102nd floor. The elevators in Taipei 101 in Taiwan, reach a height of 508 meters (1,667 feet).

Answer: Jio World Centre in Mumbai, India

The elevator with the highest passenger capacity is located at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai, India, with an amazing capacity of up to 235 people at a time. Its floor space of about 277.5 square feet (25.78 square meters) and it weighs a whopping 16 tons. It services five floors of convention/exhibition center at a speed of 1.3 feet per second. The Kone Corporation designed the innovative elevator.

The 5 elevators in the Umeda Hankyu Building in Osaka, Japan hold up to 80 passengers. The double-decker elevator at the Nanjing Greenland Financial Complex in Nanjing, China can also hold up to 80 passengers at a time. PVE30 Home Elevator with its 30-inch exterior diameter and an internal cabin diameter of 20.5 inches, carries only one passenger at a time.

Answer: False

Automatic elevator doors were first patented 50 years earlier, by Alexander Miles on October 11, 1887. Earlier designs did exist, such as John W. Meaker's automatic door system patented in 1874, but it was Miles' design improved safety and efficiency much more notably, allowing both the elevator and shaft doors to open and close automatically. Without that synchronicity, there was more danger.

The first electric-powered elevator, it should be mentioned, was built by Werner von Siemens in 1880, and exhibited in Germany, but the design wasn't fully developed for commercial use.

Answer: Muzak

In 1922, American Army Signal Corps Major General George Owen Squier created "Wired Radio," a business that delivered music to subscribers piped in over wires. Squier had already been granted several patents for transmitting information signals over electric lines, when he hit upon the idea of transmitting music the same way.

He sold his patent rights to the North American Company utility conglomerate, which used his technology in a company they called Wired Radio Inc. Squier was still involved as a consultant when he came up with the portmanteau for the project combining "mus" from "music" with "Kodak." The first transmission of Muzak to customers took place in New York City in 1936, two years after Squier's passing on.

It has also since been called "elevator music."