Paternoster Lift back in use!

[PR19_Kit]

I can remember the one in Grants from my time in Croydon too.

And the other 'technology' of the time was the vacuum tube thingy, where they popped the money bomb into a small hatch, and it went SLURRRRP up into a maze of pipework overhead, eventually returning, with a KERPLUNK, with your change if you were lucky.

I think Allders in Croydon had one like that, didn't they?

[scooter]

I can remember the one in Grants from my time in Croydon too.

And the other 'technology' of the time was the vacuum tube thingy, where they popped the money bomb into a small hatch, and it went SLURRRRP up into a maze of pipework overhead, eventually returning, with a KERPLUNK, with your change if you were lucky.

I think Allders in Croydon had one like that, didn't they?

A lot of banks here still have a variation for the drive-up lanes.

[NARSES2]

I can remember the one in Grants from my time in Croydon too.

You can probably remember the children's zoo in Grant's arcade as well the Kit ? Eclectic store to say the least. I can still smell the coffee being roasted in their coffee shop and that must be 50 odd years ago !

And the other 'technology' of the time was the vacuum tube thingy, where they popped the money bomb into a small hatch, and it went SLURRRRP up into a maze of pipework overhead, eventually returning, with a KERPLUNK, with your change if you were lucky.

I think Allders in Croydon had one like that, didn't they?

Yup they did.

We also had one in the office, in fact at least two offices, that was used to send telexes from the telex room to it's addressee and also to send your telexes to the room for transmission in the days before faxes. Used well into the 70's as a lot of smaller firms were still using them to send us stuff. I got hit a couple of times as I reached in to take a tube out and a second one came flying through. H&S where were you 

[PR19_Kit]

I can still smell the coffee being roasted in their coffee shop and that must be 50 odd years ago !

Oh crumbs yes, that REALLY brings it back. 

[Rheged]

I can still smell the coffee being roasted in their coffee shop and that must be 50 odd years ago !

Oh crumbs yes, that REALLY brings it back. 

There is still a coffee roaster in the middle of Carlisle.  When Kendalls are roasting, you can smell it all over the city centre!

As to the vacuum thingies, I think they are called Lamson Tubes.  The same company did Cash Ball and Rapid Wire systems ; more info here:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamson_Engineering_Company_Ltd 

[Mossie]

Pneumatic tubes are still commonly used in hospitals to convey samples to labs quickly.  For documents & bills they've mostly been replaced by email.

A girl I used to work tells a story of how she got her hand stuck in one when she worked in bank.  A container got wedged, she freed it but her hand got pulled in.  She wasn't hurt but they had to call the fire brigade.   

[NARSES2]

As to the vacuum thingies, I think they are called Lamson Tubes. 

That's it. Lamson tubes. 

[martinbayer]

What happens at each end?

Fascinating, thanks for the link OGL. 

That drive wheel looked pretty lethal! 

Out of curiosity, I once rode through the top part of that cycle in my sometimes mildly misspent youth. Seeing and hearing that wheel in action up close and personal ensured that I never did that again.

I also always felt somewhat uneasy stepping on and off the cabins.