Filmed on April 14th, 2022.
MIP = Mod in Progress
These were some rather "interesting" elevators located at one of the tallest and biggest buildings in Montreal's Textile/Garment District. This building was built in 1965, and these elevators were obviously Otis with Circle Touch originally. Within the past 10 years, some Generic Company came in and gave these a slap on mod (presumably around 2015 as that is when the building was last renovated according to the property owner's website) with MAD BP Fixtures, and well, fast forward to 2022, and they're getting modded again! This time with a full blown modernization with Dewhurst US91EN Fixtures and all new motors, controllers and equipment.
This video features rides on both the "original" and modernized cars as the modernization was in the "awkward" stage of the project when I was here.
And I have to say, as much as I hate to see Vintage Otises bite the dust, this modernization seems to be BADLY needed!!! I'm sure as many of you guys know, Old Otises with the Touch Buttons are infamous for having controller glitches from time to time, but this is EASILY the worst case of controller malfunctions in a Vintage Otis I've EVER SEEN!
The old elevator not kept stopping on random floors, but it would take you to floors going to the opposite direction of which direction you called it to on the call station, it had a pretty serious case of "the door disease", and if you hit a button inside the cab going to the certain floor, even if you go up the direction you want to initially, it will stop on a random floor and they go the opposite of where you want to go making you question if the elevator is possessed.
Not to mention, the fixtures aren't that responsive and considering the mod isn't even 10 years old, the cab and COP are quite worn out and the several of the lights in the COP are burned out.
Normally, I would be upset about Old Otises biting the dust regardless of how needed the modernization is, but given the fact the fixtures on this one aren't even original, I literally do not care about these going ONE BIT.
As for the new elevator, it's a MASSIVE Improvement over the previous one. MUCH NICER CAB, MUCH NICER and Cooler Looking US91EN Fixtures, VERY VERY Smooth, I like the chimes it has, No random stops and overall just way more reliable, better running and better looking.
I'm sad to see The original call stations, lanterns and bells go, but aside from that, the old elevators won't be missed one bit. And based on the conversations I had with the tenants, I think they'd agree with me.
Not much else to say here, I didn't catch what brand the techs behind the mod are working for, however they did tell me the Freight Elevators here would be excluded from the mod. I didn't get a chance to check them out as all of the doors I could find leading to them were locked, but if I make it back to MTL again at some point, I'll definitely try to check them out as I'm willing to bet they're pretty cool.
As always, I hope you enjoy the video, and let me know what you think in the comments below!
Installed in 1965. (Otis with Circle Touch/Heat Sensitive buttons)
Modernized:
1st Modernization: Circa Early to Mid 2010s. (Unknown Company with New MAD BP COPs, New Lanterns/Indicators and Call Stations in lobby, New Cabs. Motors, Controllers, Doors and most of the call stations and lanterns on the other floors left as is.)
2nd Modernization: 2022 (Unknown Generic Company with Dewburst US91EN Fixtures, New Motors, New Controllers, New Cabs, New Doors, New Lanterns, etc. Basically a complete replacement.)