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(SPOILERS) Question about book

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(SPOILERS) Question about book
Post by BarryKirk   » Mon Nov 14, 2016 12:16 pm

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I saw a passage that an 8 story hotel in Siddarmatk had an elevator.

What would have powered it?
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Re: (SPOILERS) Question about book
Post by Weird Harold   » Mon Nov 14, 2016 1:52 pm

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BarryKirk wrote:I saw a passage that an 8 story hotel in Siddarmatk had an elevator.

What would have powered it?


A "Hamster Wheel" powered by humans or animals? Could be powered by a water wheel also. Either would be permissible under the Proscriptions.
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Answers! I got lots of answers!

(Now if I could just find the right questions.)
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Re: (SPOILERS) Question about book
Post by Louis R   » Mon Nov 14, 2016 3:57 pm

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I would guess water - simpler to control. We know that the idea of roof-top water storage with windmill top-up is common. OTOH, IIRC it's implied that the accumulators at Delthak were an original application of storage to water power. However, it could well be that the original aspect was the storage of water tapped from a river via aqueduct, rather than pumped to the roof on a much smaller scale.

Weird Harold wrote:
BarryKirk wrote:I saw a passage that an 8 story hotel in Siddarmatk had an elevator.

What would have powered it?


A "Hamster Wheel" powered by humans or animals? Could be powered by a water wheel also. Either would be permissible under the Proscriptions.
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Re: (SPOILERS) Question about book
Post by BarryKirk   » Tue Nov 15, 2016 11:45 am

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The only reason I brought it up, was that prior to elevators it was rare to have buildings over three stories tall.

It sounds like this building was a little older than the introduction of steam to Siddermark.
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Re: (SPOILERS) Question about book
Post by Louis R   » Tue Nov 15, 2016 12:57 pm

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Quite a bit older, I'd say. It caught my attention as well, for exactly that reason. If the cars were in pairs, I'd say it was a hydraulic mechanism similar to a ship lift design. Don't see any way to do that with 3 cars, though, if all are running at the same time. Although, come to think of it, you could do it that way if each car had it's own counterweight car in the shaft behind it.

BarryKirk wrote:The only reason I brought it up, was that prior to elevators it was rare to have buildings over three stories tall.

It sounds like this building was a little older than the introduction of steam to Siddermark.
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Re: (SPOILERS) Question about book
Post by DirkF   » Wed Nov 16, 2016 1:16 pm

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Or it could be an elevator based on the "paternoster"-design.

If done correctly, those require a lot less power for movement due to being their own counterweight, and the first were made around 1870 in the real world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paternoster
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Re: (SPOILERS) Question about book
Post by Louis R   » Wed Nov 16, 2016 6:26 pm

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That's entirely likely. I'd forgotten all about that, never having seen one. Given the lack of description, anything fits.

DirkF wrote:Or it could be an elevator based on the "paternoster"-design.

If done correctly, those require a lot less power for movement due to being their own counterweight, and the first were made around 1870 in the real world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paternoster
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Re: (SPOILERS) Question about book
Post by WeberFan   » Thu Nov 17, 2016 12:43 pm

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BarryKirk wrote:The only reason I brought it up, was that prior to elevators it was rare to have buildings over three stories tall.

It sounds like this building was a little older than the introduction of steam to Siddermark.

I'd agree that it is not likely steam. As other posters have said, likely water or hamster wheel. And with counterbalancing elevator cars, the force required would be pretty small (as stated).
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