The article mentions that it's a problem to ride the elevator past the top or bottom floor, but it is unclear why. I don't see why this should be an issue.
I once accidentally took a tour over the top floor. I read warning signs on the wall that told me to keep all limbs and especially hands in the cabin. Then it became rather dark since there was no light bulb in the cabin. After a short while, when my eyes got adjusted to the darkness and a bit further up I could see why the warnings were there: I could see the whole mechanism that drags the chain of cabins around. Big cogwheels only centimeters away from the door. I kept my distance from the door opening and I arrived at the top floor again where I got off.
Thanks to the warning signs I wasn't really afraid. They made me realize that this sort of thing likely happens quite regularly.
Riding over the top allows a form of queue jumping. If you are near the top and there is a queue to go down, take the ride up and over the top. You'll already be in the car when it gets back to the same level to service the down-queue.
I used to do this in the Paternoster in the Roger Stevens building at the Uni Of Leeds in the 1980s.
Imagine you’re in a building with 22 floors, and your event with a few hundred people just ended on the 18th floor. The elevator has three bays with cars that only carry about 20 people at a time.
While you’re in the crowd waiting to go down, you hear elevator cars race to the top of the building, then when they come back down, the doors open and you’re met by a car that is already packed with people. A lot of the passengers are avoiding making eye contact, and wait a second, some of them look like people you just saw leaving by the stairs in the fire escape!
Apparently, the elevator algorithm is trying to be efficient by starting at the highest floor with a request. Do you wait where you are, take the fire escape up one floor, two floors, or just walk down 18 floors moderately disgusted with the situation?
You probably don't even need to take the stairs. Just press the up button and get on the next up elevator while everyone else waits for down. Then wait for it to reverse direction and ride it down.
You are right, but in practice you have to deal with the repercussions of inspiring leaders among the waiting crowd to police your actions. Going down to the 17th or 16th floor and catching the “up” elevator might not get as many glares.
Where I’ve seen this happen is after speaking events in the university clubs near Grand Central Station in New York. The complete dynamics of the situation probably involve a minor risk to social reputation, and some people playfully trying out game theory to amuse their friends.
The one I know has several signs on the exposed inside walls above the topmost floor all assuring you that you will not be turned upside down, or folded, or run through a meat grinder.
Based on the adage that every (non-)warning sign is there for a reason, I can only assume that there have been incidents of people panicking after they realized they had gone to far.
Just to be clear: it’s absolutely safe to go around. Any other stories you may hear are the inside joke of those five beaurocrats on the top floor enjoying their tiny fiefdom of chaos.
Edit: could people downvoting this please give a reason? I’m really not complaining, just terribly curious what could possibly stroke people the wrong way in this benign post. Or is this the Paternoster conspiracy coordinating to keep their secret?
Just to be clear: it’s absolutely safe to go around.
There is a variation which isn't - the "man lift".[1] Those are dangerous, and sometimes seen in parking garages for staff only.
Those really do turn upside down at the top. They're usually equipped with a switch to shut them down if someone rides past the top landing.
I rode one the other weekend in Prague with my girlfriend, and we agreed to ride it over the top together. Despite doing the same thing 20 years ago when last there, it’s pretty scary - on the last floor there is a big sign saying ‘get out now!!!’ in big red letters, and it is much noiser and shaky as you are close to all the machinery. We held on, proper dose of adrenaline, as the cabin is plunched into rattling darnkess, and the clanking gets even louder. You then get a bit of light and see the big exposed cog wheel and other machinery, move sideways and eventually down. It’s a major relief when you arrive at the top floor again. Great fun!
Apparently troublemakers like to wait until their friends are in the space past the last floor and trip the safety switch, leaving them trapped in darkness. Also, some of the more temperamental installations may not like the extra weight shifting around.
The cabin becomes upside down as it loops around at the top or bottom, i.e, if some one fails to get out at the top floor, they will be tossed around as the the lift loops around to the bottom floor, so I guess.
Even in the care-free days of the early 20th century I don't think a device that would casually throw you around like that would be open to the public!
I remember reading that as a practical joke, people would ride over the top, then stand on their heads before the cabin came back down to the top floor, so bystanders would think it had turned over.
When working in Deutsche Bank in the '90s I frequently used one of these in the building and had the same question (but no Wikipedia). We put a piece of tape on the floor of a car that was going up and saw it on the floor when that car was going down. (Note this was necessary because the cabins were completely carpeted and there was no discernable wear).
There were also no signs stating that you shouldn't ride over the top ... so we did and probably would have even if they flipped.
Thanks to the warning signs I wasn't really afraid. They made me realize that this sort of thing likely happens quite regularly.