The
rope, a prime necessity for the elevator industry, was used by early man
to cross rivers or ravines; later water-balance and steam-driven funiculars
conquered the mountainsides. However the elevator industry was primarily
concerned with lifting materials, then people, vertically. The philosophy
changed when it became necessary to move multitudes a short distance to
underground, or elevated, rail stations and the industry became concerned
with the development of the escalator. Engineers and manufacturers were
energized to create safe, efficient equipment that would continuously
convey passengers, hour after hour, quite different from the swifter vertical
elevators that raised passengers in relatively small batches. It was a
small step, thereafter, to flatten the escalator and design moving sidewalks
and ramps. The funicular, developed in Europe, did well where a fairly
unencumbered landscape allowed the laying of tracks. When this was not
possible engineers created mechanized ropeways that glided over gorges
and rough ground. The large capacity gondolas were counter-balanced in
the beginning but then it became necessity to move greater numbers to
the heights. A circulating string of cable cars provided an answer, similar
to the moving sidewalks and stairways on ground level.. A close relative
to the chain of aerial cabins was the continuous motion paternoster, invented
in England and much utilized in that country and Germany. Finally came
the ground-level horizontal people mover, often described as, "an elevator
laid over on its side". Naturally the companies involved with vertical
transportation saw PRT's as their field to conquer. After World War II
when it became necessary to place millions of Europeans under cover, quickly
and economically, the escalator was manufactured in one piece, as a package.
In a few instances elevators were installed a fair number of degrees from
the true vertical and it could truly be said that the elevating discipline
could no longer be termed "the vertical transportation industry" rather
the "short-range multi-directional automated transport industry"!
The
rope, a prime necessity for the elevator industry, was used by early man
to cross rivers or ravines; later water-balance and steam-driven funiculars
conquered the mountainsides. However the elevator industry was primarily
concerned with lifting materials, then people, vertically. The philosophy
changed when it became necessary to move multitudes a short distance to
underground, or elevated, rail stations and the industry became concerned
with the development of the escalator. Engineers and manufacturers were
energized to create safe, efficient equipment that would continuously
convey passengers, hour after hour, quite different from the swifter vertical
elevators that raised passengers in relatively small batches. It was a
small step, thereafter, to flatten the escalator and design moving sidewalks
and ramps. The funicular, developed in Europe, did well where a fairly
unencumbered landscape allowed the laying of tracks. When this was not
possible engineers created mechanized ropeways that glided over gorges
and rough ground. The large capacity gondolas were counter-balanced in
the beginning but then it became necessity to move greater numbers to
the heights. A circulating string of cable cars provided an answer, similar
to the moving sidewalks and stairways on ground level.. A close relative
to the chain of aerial cabins was the continuous motion paternoster, invented
in England and much utilized in that country and Germany. Finally came
the ground-level horizontal people mover, often described as, "an elevator
laid over on its side". Naturally the companies involved with vertical
transportation saw PRT's as their field to conquer. After World War II
when it became necessary to place millions of Europeans under cover, quickly
and economically, the escalator was manufactured in one piece, as a package.
In a few instances elevators were installed a fair number of degrees from
the true vertical and it could truly be said that the elevating discipline
could no longer be termed "the vertical transportation industry" rather
the "short-range multi-directional automated transport industry"!