On 31 Aug, 13:15, John B wrote:
I don't know if you've ever worked in manufacturing industry, but if
you can find a complex electromechanical machine that works non-stop
for eight years and doesn't require a shutdown for refurbishment and
extended maintenance, then I'd be interested to see it...

I don't think anyone has a problem with them being maintained. I think
the length of time it takes is the issue. An escalator is probably one
of the simplest machines around , its a glorified conveyer belt. How
it can take 3 months to refurbish one never mind an entire year to
replace one (I suspect it took less time to build the entire station
than that!) is frankly mind boggling. It takes less time to turn
around the space shuttle from landing to launch!

B2003

Kev wrote:

Sorry but I just split my sides laughing.So escalators that have seen
7 years service are being refurbished. Well all I can say is that with
such a short life span you think that they would build a bit more
redundency into the system to cover the once every 7 years major
disruption caused by the refurbishment. Given that most stations have
only one up and one down and that every 7 years both are going to be
out of service for extended periods is a joke.

Although only the down escalator is ever taken out of service...

On Aug 31, 2:29 pm, "John Rowland"
wrote:
Kev wrote:

Sorry but I just split my sides laughing.So escalators that have seen
7 years service are being refurbished. Well all I can say is that with
such a short life span you think that they would build a bit more
redundency into the system to cover the once every 7 years major
disruption caused by the refurbishment. Given that most stations have
only one up and one down and that every 7 years both are going to be
out of service for extended periods is a joke.

Although only the down escalator is ever taken out of service...

Fat lot of use that is though when the station is then closed because
the closed down escalator can't cope with the volume of passengers.

Kevin

On Fri, 31 Aug 2007 05:15:15 -0700, John B wrote:

Again, no they didn't. *Replacing* escalators is a year-long process -
see this interesting piece on the escalators at Moorgate:
http://www.metronetrail.com/default....=1125646086750

What they're doing here is refurbishing:
http://www.tubelines.com/news/perfor..._Q1_2007-8.pdf

I don't know if you've ever worked in manufacturing industry, but if
you can find a complex electromechanical machine that works non-stop
for eight years and doesn't require a shutdown for refurbishment and
extended maintenance, then I'd be interested to see it...

Non-stop? Aren't the escalators switched off at night?

On 31 Aug, 14:07, Kev wrote:
(but never previously made operational anywhere, ever)

I think you will find that the world is littered with operational loop
based systems.


Not moving block, ITYF.

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

On 31 Aug, 14:14, Boltar wrote:
An escalator is probably one
of the simplest machines around , its a glorified conveyer belt.

Have you ever been inside one to have a close look at the 'works'?

How
it can take 3 months to refurbish one never mind an entire year to
replace one (I suspect it took less time to build the entire station
than that!) is frankly mind boggling. It takes less time to turn
around the space shuttle from landing to launch!

There are a lot of parts there to be removed, inspected, overhauled or
replaced, re-assembled, tested and re-commisioned. It's a safety
critical system, imagine the consequences of passengers near the top
of a crowded escalator being thrown down it by a sudden jolt. Then
there's the fact there are often several escalators in one shaft, and
it may not be possible to work on one while an adjacent one is in
motion for safety reasons, restricting on-site work to a few hours
each night. Three months work sounds like pretty good going to me.

On Aug 31, 8:26 pm, wrote:
On 31 Aug, 14:14, Boltar wrote:

An escalator is probably one
of the simplest machines around , its a glorified conveyer belt.

Have you ever been inside one to have a close look at the 'works'?

Seen it on TV. looks pretty simple to me. 1 large motor , some cogs
and the moving steps.

There are a lot of parts there to be removed, inspected, overhauled or
replaced, re-assembled, tested and re-commisioned. It's a safety
critical system, imagine the consequences of passengers near the top
of a crowded escalator being thrown down it by a sudden jolt. Then

Lifts are saftey critical. It doesn't take a year to replace one. At
least not outside the slow motion world of LU.

there's the fact there are often several escalators in one shaft, and
it may not be possible to work on one while an adjacent one is in
motion for safety reasons, restricting on-site work to a few hours
each night. Three months work sounds like pretty good going to me.

If theres one bloke working on it part time then yes. If they had a
whole team I don't see why they couldn't dismantle it in a few days ,
have it up at the factory for a few weeks then back and reassembled
inside a
month.

B2003

On Fri, 31 Aug 2007 05:15:15 -0700, John B wrote:

I don't know if you've ever worked in manufacturing industry, but if
you can find a complex electromechanical machine that works non-stop
for eight years and doesn't require a shutdown for refurbishment and
extended maintenance, then I'd be interested to see it...

The continuous-filament glass fibre industry tends to run for 7 or 8
years without a shut down of its furnaces and fibre-drawing machines.
Some items, like the bushings from which the fibre is drawn, are
replaced at regular intervals, maybe every 12 months, but the
operation does not stop for this work. All the major maintenance is
done when the glass melting furnace is being rebuilt.

I know of one glass bottle making furnace which ran for 14 years
before a shutdown, making champagne bottles and wine bottles all that
time.
--
Terry Harper
Website Coordinator, The Omnibus Society
http://www.omnibussoc.org

On Fri, 31 Aug 2007 12:26:01 -0700, wrote:

On 31 Aug, 14:14, Boltar wrote:
An escalator is probably one
of the simplest machines around , its a glorified conveyer belt.

Have you ever been inside one to have a close look at the 'works'?

How
it can take 3 months to refurbish one never mind an entire year to
replace one (I suspect it took less time to build the entire station
than that!) is frankly mind boggling. It takes less time to turn
around the space shuttle from landing to launch!

There are a lot of parts there to be removed, inspected, overhauled or
replaced, re-assembled, tested and re-commisioned. It's a safety
critical system, imagine the consequences of passengers near the top
of a crowded escalator being thrown down it by a sudden jolt. Then
there's the fact there are often several escalators in one shaft, and
it may not be possible to work on one while an adjacent one is in
motion for safety reasons, restricting on-site work to a few hours
each night. Three months work sounds like pretty good going to me.

I seem to remember a case (might be here, but also might be in the US) where
one stair on an escalator dropped into the shaft while the escalator was
running. Unfortunately, someone was standing on it at the time.

I am all for escalator refurbishment, maintenance, or replacement as
necessary. The escalator replacement at Embankment Station has been
inconveniencing me for about 6 months now, but seeing as I use the station
every weekday, I'm happy to walk down the corridor rather than wait for a
stair to drop out of the escalator I'm using.
--
Chris Hansen | chrishansenhome at btinternet dot com

Kevin: "I'm a atheist and I don't want a pervy priest saying any last rites
over me!"
Bob: "Cross-posting top-posters go straight to hell anyway ..."
from alt.obituaries