This is the first type of motorized elevator that they had in the mines. Before this one the workers had to claim ladders up and down which caused quite a few accidents.
As you can see there are two solid beams with a platform on each. The beams are much longer than you can see on this shot, and they have platforms every ten meters or so. When one beam goes up the other one goes down. So if a worker wanted to go down in the mine he stepped on to a platform on the beam going down. Just before the beam started to go up again he switched over to the platform of the other beam that now was about to go down. Working his way from one beam to the other he could than go down into the mine.
This kind of elevator was called the "Fahrkunst". It is a german word and would translate into something like "The art of travelling", which is a good description since it's not the easiest kind of elevator to use.
2 comments:
louz: Yes, it was certainly not without danger. But compared to having to climb ladders for about an hour after 10 or twelve hours in the mines with exhausting work it probably wasn't that bad :o)
Jeg har en liten animasjon: Fahrkunst
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