Derelict Express lifts (unusual tactics!!)

[@SmokeyBCN]

Trenchard Street car park gives one of the best viewpoints of Bristol, ironically because the view doesn't contain Trenchard Street car park.

[@spoop2111]

I don't have a remote interest in Lifts, but these videos are calming and interesting to watch. Love them!

[@Pyro.Technic.801]

Its so good to see you are still up loading videos. Last i watched the channel was about 8 years ago. Yay new content to binge.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Thanks for coming back to watch - yup - we're still here, although 8 years ago Chay was 10 years old - he's 18 now!

[@davidbelfalas7845]

I know that car park in Bristol, there are still quite a few original Express lifts in Bristol university which I have the pleasure of working on as a technician for Stannah ,I started my apprenticeship with Express in 1973

[@mrmattandmrchay]

That's the reason why we were there :) You may recognise the lifts in the "coming soon" at the end of the video?

[@RODALCO2007]

Great video, regardless, your commentary is always very good.

[@mr.struppi9903]

Oh god, I love your enthusiasm and also your ideas how you could film an elevator even when it is nearly unreachable!!! I watch you videos since I was 6 years old and I still love these fascinating machines! (I always annoy my friends and family with the technic that is needed to bring people up and down safely, when we ride an elevator.) A big Thanks to you for making me understand these machines! (I‘m now able to construct relay circuits on my own, which I already did when I was bored in school (but normally I love school really much)). It always gets better and better!!! Thank you so much Mr. Matt for so many years bringing up your time and effort for high quality (not quantity) videos that can be enjoyed by interested people (just like me)!!! Best wishes from Germany!

[@djadventure]

Aha Noch einer aus Deutschland Look Another Guy from Germany

[@timpage3142]

Express Lifts. Made in Northampton I believe. Long gone now and the site has become yet another housing estate but the lift test tower, all 418 feet of it, still stands in the middle of this housing estate and is used to test lifts for other companies I believe. I was told that the windows on the lift tower were deliberately shaped like the call buttons on the Express Lifts themselves. You cannot miss the tower on a trip past Northampton on the M1.

[@dykodesigns]

I love the gritty architecture of this building. It’s got an industrial type style to it with that very utilitarian calcium silicate masonry. The concrete lintel on the motor room window has signs of rebar corrosion. I guess the lifts where put out of service to reduce building maintenance costs. It appears that those lifts have not been in operation for a very long time.

[@alex13902]

A trick you can use for reflections is to add a polarising filter on your camera. Hope this helps! Glad to see you have got down my neck of the woods :D

[@mrmattandmrchay]

I never actually went to film this, just noticed it so we were completely unprepared for this one. But good idea, but I think just an extended piece of cardboard preventing the reflection from the glass would have been sufficient.

[@Petertronic]

Enjoyable and atmospheric exploration despite not getting the access you would have liked. You gave us some good peeks with the extended gopro though. And Lift Tracker has a new subscriber!

[@Lift.Tracker]

It was very cool to find these lifts, as we had no idea they were there! A very nice added bonus to our trip to Bristol. It would be brilliant to be able to get a closer look at those lifts and see the car interiors, as well as the car tops. I bet they still have the original inspection controls in tact!

[@ZZ9ProductionsOFFICIAL]

poor old express lifts being abandoned :(, shame they aren't working but looking forward for whats coming soon!

[@jordanwilkey932]

What a lovely car park in Bristol you have chosen , wondered what was left hidden behind those roller shutters on the one side

[@brunoais]

I see really good videos coming! It was really nice to receive the share of this adventure and see how a boarded up lift ends up looking like inside. Given there's a similar-enough elevator already in your repertoire, it's already nice to see how it could have looked like

[@gabrielhodon04]

Lovley video

[@marcomommsen1971]

Wow ! Great Video. Thanks

[@CableWrestler]

To remove the reflections on the glass, use a circular polarising filter over the lens.

[@adammoorby99]

A brick works too 😅 just don’t let CCTV see 😂😂

[@CableWrestler]

Nice to see your confidence has grown Infront of people.

[@Misyta37]

It’s a little sad how these lifts got completely forgotten since these lift engineer’s have put tremendous amount of work and effort, RIP. EDIT: This probably means a lot for them too since how elevators came along.

[@gatomatias1]

You should get an urban explorer to sort this snags. Nice video!

[@leethomas84]

This place takes me back, student nights at “The Rock” next door (think it’s the Bristol o2 now)

[@fr33dyfazb3ar]

I’m unsure if you can access these lifts, but you could try asking a professional lift engineer to probably try unlocking the motor room, or powering on the lifts!

[@mrmattandmrchay]

The doors are boarded up to start with, you'd have to pull down the boarding (then refit and paint it to the way it was before afterwards). An engineer would charge for that service, and I am not the owner of the building. Before anything gets powered up, would have to pay for electrical safety certificates, any parts that need replacing, etc. Conclusion - forget it! :)

[@idl3k_elev]

Sad to see these lifts have been left derelict but at least they are still original. Wonder what is the reason for that, too expensive to maintain and/or keep them running?

[@Lift.Tracker]

There’s a second set of lifts at the other side of the car park which were fully replaced about 20 years ago, so that’s probably how long these ones have been derelict for! You’re right, it was probably a cost cutting thing. Didn’t want to pay to have these ones modernised, and they also didn’t want to pay to maintain them.

[@daviddunbar5754]

Sadly Arnold Weinstock's son was more interested on liquidating the GEC assets for his personal gains than running companies. RIP Express lifts, a fantastic manufacturing structure within the UK.

[@6g854]

i sure do love loving elevators

[@alpan2000]

In the building a live in there is a shindler lift i believe from 1960, Would you happen to have the electrical diagram or know where to find it? thanks

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Hi, sorry, I have nothing here.

[@MichalM]

Poor Express lifts. I wonder what the inside looked like. Did anybody film these before they became derelict?

[@Lift.Tracker]

I highly doubt it. These were made derelict at least 15 years ago I’d bet!

[@stephenhunter70]

I wonder if the real reason for shutting them down and boarding up the entrances had more to do with cost cutting than safety.

[@bobbyrayofthefamilysmith24]

Probably due massive service that owners didn't want to pay for

[@jix177]

Great job!

[@thedjer9190]

*Grabs popcorn*

[@slendermanRblx]

Those bolts might come off on the shutters. Try a can of WD40 and an adjustable spanner or if you measure the bolts get the exact spanner or for quicker action a ratchet or for a even faster (abeit more destructive and kinda illegal since it would be considered damage) take a battery powered angle grinder. for getting through the open window. Bring a long extendable ladder, Try and find somebody who can do parkour to jump through or see if you could send a small drone through.

[@lukedavis436]

a sorry sight to see....i do wish manufacturers could make "retro edition" lifts

[@SamSitar]

some lifts are made to look old when they are not.

[@hariranormal5584]

5:39 you can definitely see three faces here... spooky liminal

[@davethetallguy]

My cat woke up at the French pigeon coo 😂

[@mrmattandmrchay]

lol! I'm surprised no-one has commented on my pigeon joke!! 'coo' and merci beaucoup!

[@mrunixman1579]

Interesting stuff about lifts, not been in any lifts for few years now.

[@bookslim6291]

Unusual Elevator

[@sandippatel2472]

Great video sir, please upload fast as you can

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Filming, editing, uploading, titling, etc - all takes time, especially the editing part. Family, job, friends all come first though :)

[@sw6188]

I see the little kiddies have been busy doing their toddler-scribble all over the building. Most kids grow out of drawing on the walls. Some obviously never learned that it's not acceptable.

[@sandippatel2472]

Its been 2 months you have uploaded any videos please upload as soon as possible we are waiting

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Ill post an update in the community page later today hopefully

[@PurityVendetta]

As I'm not a lift expert I find these videos fascinating but the dereliction and abandonment of what seems like a perfectly serviceable piece of useful machinery is a metaphor for the decaying little britain we have to live in. I do wonder how disabled people manage to use the car park with no lift.

[@Lift.Tracker]

There’s a second set of lifts round the other side of the carpark which were replaced about 15 years ago, so that’s probably how long these have been derelict for!

[@ottorose832]

YOOOO trenchard street :))))) did you see my duck?

[@liamemmaairraidsiren9046]

Hi Matt it's me Liam

[@rodev93]

Dam I wish you could get in but you have to put safety first

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Quite a difficult one that! The motor room - you've have quite a job of undoing the boarding and then the original doors (plus there is a camera outside!)

[@rodev93]

@@mrmattandmrchay ofc there have to be a camera 😂

[@TerryClarkAccordioncrazy]

Can't fault you for lack of effort.

[@simontay4851]

Come back again at night when no one is there. Bring a socket set to open the shutters.

[@Lift.Tracker]

Would be pretty cool, but there is a security office at the car park unfortunately. And at night is probably when they’re going to be most ‘on guard’!

[@mrmattandmrchay]

I did think of that, but bet those bolts would be a nightmare to remove. Then they'll probably be a lock of some kind that I've not seen! Not worth it though just for a lift lobby, if it had been the motor room, then it would have been worth it!

[@nikolai1317]

There would have been a way to get to the doors at the least but that ment having to climb and trespass

[@tmastersat]

You do know those videos are not clickable right. You have to add a link to them in the description otherwise we have to search for them

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Hi, thanks for the info. I've just gone through them all, they all work ok. KZbin automatically shortens the link in the description, but I cannot find anything wrong with them - all working here

[@psirvent8]

Why haven't you tried flying the drone through the window ? Also what about disability rights (Or whatever law about building accessibility in the UK) when they decommission lifts in car parks that are still in business like this one or the one in Purley for example ?

[@Lift.Tracker]

There’s a second set of lifts at the other side of the car park which were fully replaced about 20 years ago, so that’s probably how long these ones have been derelict for!

[@maxine_q]

Not a good idea, if you actually make it through the window and crash in there you're not getting it back any time soon, if at all. Probably not allowed either.

[@aklifts]

Bad ideas but, maybe put a plank and climb in the window, other idea is to take off the bolts.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

I bet those bolts would be a nightmare to remove. Then they'll probably be a lock of some kind that I've not seen! Not worth it though just for a lift lobby, if it had been the motor room, then it would have been worth it!

[@akira-j.bouvier-akiyama6753]

That's a weird, sloppy paint job.

[@ahmededits5443]

They could have modernised them

[@Lift.Tracker]

There’s a second set of lifts at the other side of the carpark which have been fully replaced with Otis 2000 lifts

[@civertron9784]

Lol, what a horrible building.

[@psirvent8]

Typical UK multi storey car park I suppose

[@ksbs2036]

It's utilitarian. All function, no regard for form

[@blablabla2d]

wow im early

[@Tassiedevil127]

Someone needs to get these Elevators running Because Handicaps can’t risk themselves being plowed in the car ramps

[@CDNSpartan]

There is another set of elevators on the other side of the parking garage