Lift enthusiasts

[flymo]

I must get really bored sometimes or need to get out more as sometimes as sometimes in the lift in my block I start to play a game where the stops on the way down represent the stops on the Newcastle - King's Cross line. I live on the 27th floor out of 30 of my little empire here in Hong Kong and there are 2 lifts on this floor. One is odd floors only, (sort of a semi-fast service) and an all floors (the local stopper).

OK so I board at the 27th out of 30 so that is like getting on at Newcastle where floor 30 is Edinburgh. Take yesterday for example, I got the 10:28 'stopper' and it called at floors 20, 18, 11 and 3. So that would be sort of York, Doncaster. Newark and Stevenage. Some mornings even the 'semi fast' stop a few times and I even had to shove in a Finsbury Park stop as it stopped at floor 1. Mind you last night I caught the 20:45 'stopper' and it was King's Cross first stop. Marvellous.

Hang on there are some men in white coats at the door. Well that's me off to the loony bin....hock:

 

[Anon Mouse]

I must get really bored sometimes or need to get out more as sometimes as sometimes in the lift in my block I start to play a game where the stops on the way down represent the stops on the Newcastle - King's Cross line. I live on the 27th floor out of 30 of my little empire here in Hong Kong and there are 2 lifts on this floor. One is odd floors only, (sort of a semi-fast service) and an all floors (the local stopper).

OK so I board at the 27th out of 30 so that is like getting on at Newcastle where floor 30 is Edinburgh. Take yesterday for example, I got the 10:28 'stopper' and it called at floors 20, 18, 11 and 3. So that would be sort of York, Doncaster. Newark and Stevenage. Some mornings even the 'semi fast' stop a few times and I even had to shove in a Finsbury Park stop as it stopped at floor 1. Mind you last night I caught the 20:45 'stopper' and it was King's Cross first stop. Marvellous.

Hang on there are some men in white coats at the door. Well that's me off to the loony bin....hock:

You really need to get out more mate! I'm sure there is plenty of alternative recreational activites in Hong Kong!

Get your camera out and take some snaps of DF11's on the through trains from Shanghai for example, those beasts are lush! Or get the tram up the peak or some Star Ferry bashing! Or maybe (if its still as I imagine) Wan Chai district should have some canny attractions (mind you my knowledge of Wan Chai is based on a classic move from 1959) I am sure what you chose to do there will be plenty of lifts to sample!

 

[Blindtraveler]

I must get really bored sometimes or need to get out more as sometimes as sometimes in the lift in my block I start to play a game where the stops on the way down represent the stops on the Newcastle - King's Cross line. I live on the 27th floor out of 30 of my little empire here in Hong Kong and there are 2 lifts on this floor. One is odd floors only, (sort of a semi-fast service) and an all floors (the local stopper).

OK so I board at the 27th out of 30 so that is like getting on at Newcastle where floor 30 is Edinburgh. Take yesterday for example, I got the 10:28 'stopper' and it called at floors 20, 18, 11 and 3. So that would be sort of York, Doncaster. Newark and Stevenage. Some mornings even the 'semi fast' stop a few times and I even had to shove in a Finsbury Park stop as it stopped at floor 1. Mind you last night I caught the 20:45 'stopper' and it was King's Cross first stop. Marvellous.

Hang on there are some men in white coats at the door. Well that's me off to the loony bin....hock:

and for complete realism, all you need is the in-car announcer voice to be phil sayer!

 

[HST Power]

and for complete realism, all you need is the in-car announcer voice to be phil sayer!

The lift now approaching Floor One is to London Kings Cross. Via Hong Kong.

 

[Anon Mouse]

The lift now approaching Floor One is to London Kings Cross. Via Hong Kong.

Back onto the service's I would like to see thread. London St. Pancras to Hong Kong calling at Brussels, Colonge, Berlin, Warsaw, Moscow, Ulaan Bator, Shenyang, Beijing, Shenzen and Hong Kong

probably take about a month mind so better not use 142's!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

How about a league table......well, maybe not just yet:roll:

My favourite company is OTIS.
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Back onto the service's I would like to see thread. London St. Pancras to Hong Kong calling at Brussels, Colonge, Berlin, Warsaw, Moscow, Ulaan Bator, Shenyang, Beijing, Shenzen and Hong Kong

probably take about a month mind so better not use 142's!

Spoilsport!!!....and I bet you really wanted the 142's with seating to match.

Another "great train " title could also be "THE TRANS-SIBERIAN PACER". Now listen carefully, I shall say this only once. Every Monday, at 03:00, a Russian train crew call at Newton Heath and couple up 6 x Class 142 units together and drive them to a secret port, where they will be transported to another secret port in Russia, where they will be put on this train and kept there for ever, after running the service.

After 15 of these Mondays, Newton Heath find that all the Pacers have gone, never to return. The Government is informed and a three day Bank Holiday is announced to celebrate the event

Sorry, I have to go now...some men in white suits have just come to collect me and to take me back to the Greta Garbo home for wayward boys and girls

 

[Blindtraveler]

nice one!

 

[Yew]

Paul, Doesnt russia use a different guage to us?

 

[ainsworth74]

The Russians do indeed use a different gauge which is 4ft 11 5⁄6in (1,520mm) compared with standard gauge 4ft 8 1/2in (1,435mm).

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I have seen a charge for a council-run beach lift before.



KONE for some reason makes me laugh!

I've just of thought of my favourite lift - it's in the Kalvertoren Shopping Centre in Amsterdam - it's got a slightly slanted structure, it's glass and seems to disappear into the roof!

....like the one in the first film of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" at the end of the film
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Paul, Doesnt russia use a different guage to us?

.....as the Good Lord said.."With Pacers, all things are possible". Their bogies are magical....but seriously(?), this is exactly what the Russians will be doing on the sea voyage. But I bet you liked my plot line..and how the story ended.

....been reading too many John Le Carre novels again
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The Russians do indeed use a different gauge which is 4ft 11 5⁄6in (1,520mm) compared with standard gauge 4ft 8 1/2in (1,435mm).

Pacers get over this problem when they enter "bouncing mode" which seems to be switched on ALL the time. Whats three inches amongst friends...never let the facts get in the way of a good story line.

But congratulations on bringing the matter back to reality and for quoting the correct gauge

 

[All Line Rover]

I absolutely hate lifts and get really nervous and on edge when travelling in them.

I can't imagine many of us visiting Bulgaria or Hong Kong simply to try out the lifts, but for people such as yourself who aren't too fond of them, I recommend you try:

a. The lift at Waterstones Birmingham High Street - try going from floor 5 (I think) to the ground floor without stopping. It just drops like a theme park ride! Even going up is really fast. My mother hates it, and I wouldn't recommend going on it just after eating as I did so once and felt quite sick.

b. Either lift at Crewe Railway Station. They both start going up (or down), making a noise as they do so, and then the noise suddenly stops! I used to get really nervous when I was younger as I always thought they had broken down - it turns out that they keep moving, but silently! I have no idea how they can do that.

 

[Blindtraveler]

ooo thrill ride lifts now too! As think may have said before the ones at jurys in hotel birmingham are smashing

 

[Mojo]

I can't imagine many of us visiting Bulgaria or Hong Kong simply to try out the lifts, but for people such as yourself who aren't too fond of them, I recommend you try:

a. The lift at Waterstones Birmingham High Street - try going from floor 5 (I think) to the ground floor without stopping. It just drops like a theme park ride! Even going up is really fast. My mother hates it, and I wouldn't recommend going on it just after eating as I did so once and felt quite sick.

I have used this lift on a number of locations as a University student in Birmingham. It is very fast but annoyingly it then goes very slow so the overall time is just as slow as a normal lift!

 

[All Line Rover]

I have used this lift on a number of locations as a University student in Birmingham. It is very fast but annoyingly it then goes very slow so the overall time is just as slow as a normal lift!

The slowest lift I have EVER been in is the one at Waitrose in Westfield (you know which Westfield I'm talking about ). It's made entirely of glass. The height is only a metre or so but I though I'd try it since it looked fancy! But it crawls down at a snails pace (about 1cm a second!). I was in it for about a minute! It was very embarrassing!

You're right about the lift in Waterstones. It slows to a crawl when it reaches each level - very different to some lifts I've been on where the doors start to open before the lift has even stopped! I don't know about you, but I don't find glass lifts claustrophobic at all. I only dislike very small enclosed lifts, such as the one at the back of Waterstones Birmingham New Street (the stair case is so grand there's no need to use the lift anyway).

I know this is off-topic, but I find the two Waterstones branches in Birmingham to be absolutely excellent. Even better than London, perhaps. Another nice one is the Glasgow branch - there are plenty of places to sit. There is also a Costa Coffee on the top floor with a raised square balcony above looking down, containing plenty of seats and surrounded by shelves of books. You can have a nice hot chocolate, a piece of cake, and read some books for free while waiting for your train! One of the worst Waterstones I have been to is Manchester - there are very few areas where you can sit down.

 

[Anon Mouse]

The Russians do indeed use a different gauge which is 4ft 11 5⁄6in (1,520mm) compared with standard gauge 4ft 8 1/2in (1,435mm).

But they swap bogies to allow through trains to pass, or in Spain there is Talgo style trains that can change guage en route when the trains moving! A Pacer Talgo sounds intersting though!

 

[Yank 119]

I don't believe the OP has given us his reasoning for being a lift enthusiast as of yet, or did I miss something?

I would quite like to know his reasoning.

 

[jon0844]

The lifts at King's Cross St Pancras are incredibly slow too.

They also seem to be taken out of service a lot, suggesting they're not very reliable, which must be a PITA for people who need to use them. With only one lift for each level change, if one fails some people are now unable to get anywhere.

 

[HST Power]

The lifts at King's Cross St Pancras are incredibly slow too.

I can't think of anything that isn't slow in Kings Cross!

 

[All Line Rover]

The lifts at King's Cross St Pancras are incredibly slow too.

They also seem to be taken out of service a lot, suggesting they're not very reliable, which must be a PITA for people who need to use them. With only one lift for each level change, if one fails some people are now unable to get anywhere.

I've not been very impressed by the new lifts at King's Cross. A is better than no lift, though, and it must be quite hard to build lifts so far underground.

 

[jon0844]

I can't think of anything that isn't slow in Kings Cross!

True, the slowest thing is probably the people - dragging their huge suitcases around!

I've not been very impressed by the new lifts at King's Cross. A is better than no lift, though, and it must be quite hard to build lifts so far underground.

I am sure it was quite hard, but they did it - yet that doesn't mean they need to be out of service as much as they are once they are built!

 

[All Line Rover]

I am sure it was quite hard, but they did it - yet that doesn't mean they need to be out of service as much as they are once they are built!

True, but perhaps it's difficult to get machinery down there when they need fixing! (As all lifts do.)

 

[jon0844]

Is a newly constructed lift shaft any harder to access than any others? (BTW, I don't know the answer to that). They must surely be the right size and depth, and how many lifts have access points anywhere other than the doors themselves, and above?

 

[HST Power]

True, the slowest thing is probably the people - dragging their huge suitcases around!

It's like the Kings Cross Grand Prix when getting in and out of the station, I'm one of those people who likes to walk quickly and dodge the endless commuter traffic!

 

[Barton Keyes]

Archimedes built the first elevator in about 236 BC. Not many people know that.

 

[jon0844]

I do, it's still in use in our office building. Well, actually, I suspect it's one of Archimedes' prototypes.

 

[HST Power]

I do, it's still in use in our office building. Well, actually, I suspect it's one of Archimedes' prototypes.

If it was the original....

 

[Anon Mouse]

The lift from the subway to platform 2 at Newcastle is incredibly slow

 

[HST Power]

The lift from the subway to platform 2 at Newcastle is incredibly slow

Don't get me started on that one!

I haven't been to Newcastle for a while, I might go up in August, and hopefully they'd have sped it up a bit but I'm not hopeful!

 

[Anon Mouse]

Don't get me started on that one!

I haven't been to Newcastle for a while, I might go up in August, and hopefully they'd have sped it up a bit but I'm not hopeful!

The last time I used it it took 5 mins for the doors to close then it bounced alarmingly before it went up!

 

[HST Power]

The last time I used it it took 5 mins for the doors to close then it bounced alarmingly before it went up!

I'll be taking the stairs then!