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Thames vessel tourists jump into river to escape fire

Thirty people were rescued when an amphibious tourist vessel on the River Thames caught fire close to the Houses of Parliament.

Many people jumped into the river from the London Duck Tours craft. All the passengers and crew were rescued by the emergency services and a passing tourist boat.

Those rescued were mainly "wet and cold", said London Ambulance. Some people had suffered the effects of inhaling smoke.

Three people were taken to hospital "as a precaution" said an ambulance service spokeswoman.

Those on board are believed to have included visitors from the UK, Brazil, Russia, Australia and Sweden.

About "five or six" young children were believed to be among the passengers.

Passenger Donna Wood said she jumped from the craft. "I was scared the boat might blow. It was scary. There was a lot of smoke inhalation, so we jumped in the water. We're Australian, so we know how to swim. But I've lost my bag with my passport, everything I need to get back to Australia."

London Fire Brigade station manager Simon Tuhill said: "Our crews worked really hard to extinguish that fire and get the people out of the water. There were 30 people on the boat and most of them ended up in the water. They were suffering from being too cold and wet. Fortunately it was low tide so they weren't in very deep water."

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Several Metropolitan Police units attended, including the Marine Policing Unit and the police helicopter. A number of people were recovered from the water. All 28 passengers and two crew members have been accounted for."

The damaged boat was pulled away from the scene and the fire service has begun an investigation into how the fire started. The Port of London Authority is also expected to investigate the blaze. John Bigos, managing director of London Duck Tours, said he had no comment to make at present.

The Duck Tours website states: "No river cruise in London gives you the excitement of leaving the road and entering the Thames in such dramatic fashion and no River Thames boat cruise is as quirky as a London Duck Tour."

Duckmarine sinkings

An operating licence for amphibious vehicles in Liverpool was revoked last month, after two vessels sank in the city's Albert Dock. A number of tourists were rescued during the sinkings in March and June. The Yellow Duckmarines were a popular attraction, offering tours of Liverpool.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh travelled on one of the converted World War II craft during the Diamond Jubilee tour last year.

We're Australian, so we know how to swim.

Have I missed anything really special?

Hmmm, how about the paternoster at Northwick Park Hospital?

I think I may have ridden the paternoster in Fairfax House (Co-op department store), Broadmead, Bristol, as a child. It's a vague recollection and it may be that I just saw it in operation in the late 1970s.

Fairfax House is long gone. Replaced by The Galleries' car park in 1989.

I, too, would like to ride a paternoster. Doing the full loop, over the top and under the bottom.

As I recall, there was a fire at Fairfax House some time in the mid to late sixties; I feel sure the Paternosters had been removed when the store reopened after this. The late 70's sounds too late to me...

Duck boat sailings: Investigators call for temporary ban

(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70754000/jpg/_70754572_duckfire.jpg)

Amphibious landing craft used for tourist sailings should be banned until problems affecting buoyancy are resolved, say investigators.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) blamed buoyancy foam for accidents in Liverpool on 15 June and London on 29 September.

"It was... fortunate on both occasions there were no serious injuries or loss of life," said the MAIB.

The operator of the Liverpool boat has since gone into administration.

Chief Marine Accident Inspector Captain Steve Clinch, said: "The sinking of Wacker Quacker 1 in Salthouse Dock, Liverpool, and the fire on board Cleopatra on the River Thames were serious marine accidents involving Second World War DUKW [nicknamed Ducks] amphibious vehicles that had been modified for use as sightseeing tour vehicles.

"Both accidents resulted in the rapid abandonment into the water of passengers, including small children, and crew. It was extremely fortunate that, on both occasions, there were no serious injuries or loss of life.

"Although one accident involved the sinking of a DUKW as a result of flooding, and the other involved a fire, the link between both events is the foam inserted into the DUKWs to provide buoyancy."

Mr Clinch said that in Liverpool not enough foam had been inserted into the DUKW, while in the Thames incident the foam was packed too tightly around machinery, leading to friction and overheating causing a fire.

'Safe operation compromised'

He added: "Attempts to resolve how much foam is required in the DUKWs, and how it should be inserted, have been ongoing for several months, during which time the vessels have continued to carry passengers.

"However, the results of the investigation into the fire on Cleopatra indicate that the current method of inserting foam is not working, as it compromises the safe operation of the vessels.

He said he has recommended to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) that DUKWs should "not be permitted to operate until the required standards of buoyancy and stability can be achieved without adversely impacting on their safe operation."

A spokesperson for the MCA said it had noted the recommendation and it intended to work with operators to "issue appropriate instruction and guidance on how best to ensure the DUKWs have the necessary level of safety".

"We will not be permitting the vessels to operate until we are satisfied that the necessary safety measures have been achieved."

The Liverpool incident led to 31 passengers and two crewmen abandoning the vessel. All were recovered without serious injury.

The Thames incident involved the vessel's master beaching the vehicle before ordering the evacuation of passengers and crew. Again, there were no serious injuries.

University closes rare lift 'with a heavy heart'

A rare Paternoster lift - which has no doors and moves continually without stopping at floor level - is to be removed by a university.

Installed in the Attenborough Tower of the University of Leicester in the late 1960s, the lift was one of the last in the UK.

While acknowledging the device will be missed, officials said it had become too expensive to maintain.  A replacement standard lift is due to be installed by September 2018.

A petition to save the lift, which has attracted more than 2,000 signatures, described it as a "fundamental part" of Attenborough Tower, and a "piece of engineering history".

The University confirmed the news "with a heavy heart".  In a statement it said: "We have done our best to maintain and update the lift, but unfortunately it has reached the end of its working life. We've looked at a range of options and thought carefully about this, but it would be both impractical and uneconomic to attempt to fix it or replace it. Spare parts for Paternosters are no longer available and need to be manufactured each time they are needed."

Before it closed Professor Gordon Campbell, from the University, said: "There are loads of safety features, there is a cord to pull, a button to press and you can also bang on the sides. Although it looks deeply dangerous, it isn't - and of course it moves at a very sedate pace."

What is a Paternoster lift?
- Invented in the 1860s by Peter Ellis, an architect from Liverpool.
- Uses open compartments on a continuously moving loop, one side going up, the other down.
- Name comes from system's resemblance to rosary prayer beads and Latin for ''Our Father', which begins the Lord's Prayer.
- Other surviving UK examples are in the University of Sheffield Arts Tower and University of Essex Albert Sloman library.

A rare Paternoster lift - which has no doors and moves continually without stopping at floor level - is to be removed by a university.

Installed in the Attenborough Tower of the University of Leicester in the late 1960s, the lift was one of the last in the UK.

While acknowledging the device will be missed, officials said it had become too expensive to maintain.  A replacement standard lift is due to be installed by September 2018.

A petition to save the lift, which has attracted more than 2,000 signatures, described it as a "fundamental part" of Attenborough Tower, and a "piece of engineering history".

The University confirmed the news "with a heavy heart".  In a statement it said: "We have done our best to maintain and update the lift, but unfortunately it has reached the end of its working life. We've looked at a range of options and thought carefully about this, but it would be both impractical and uneconomic to attempt to fix it or replace it. Spare parts for Paternosters are no longer available and need to be manufactured each time they are needed."

Before it closed Professor Gordon Campbell, from the University, said: "There are loads of safety features, there is a cord to pull, a button to press and you can also bang on the sides. Although it looks deeply dangerous, it isn't - and of course it moves at a very sedate pace."

We had one of those 'Our Father' machines in the Arts Tower at Sheffield University.  Don't know whether it's still there.  Great fun...and probably not allowed to be installed these days with more stringent H&S rules.  No issues with doors to open of course.  ::)

I guess they've come to be seen by Germans as a defining national feature, hence to be protected for that reason alone.

I met somebody who went to Leicester and told tales of "overriding" the paternoster despite numerous warning signs. Apparently once you go past the top floor it is completely dark as you move laterally before reappearing on the down side.

Any members of this forum remember the department store in Bristols Broadmead shopping area which had one of these contraptions installed within the store. It was the Bristol Co-operative Society's Fairfax House which at some time caught fire, fire investigators apparently concluded that it started in a store room. The store itself no longer exists, The Galleries now occupying the site.

Any members of this forum remember the department store in Bristols Broadmead shopping area which had one of these contraptions installed within the store. It was the Bristol Co-operative Society's Fairfax House which at some time caught fire, fire investigators apparently concluded that it started in a store room. The store itself no longer exists, The Galleries now occupying the site.

There's actually quite a few YouTube videos of this:
Leicester University - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upgVoZKvP3M
Vienna City Hall - https://youtu.be/bCmGz8zgGJc?t=90 (sign says something like "get off, last floor"

A university's Paternoster lift has become a surprise hit online.

The elevator, which is made up of 14 individual compartments and runs on a continuous loop, was installed at the University of Essex in 1967.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-65093471

I came across one of these while browsing and thought I would look and see what else is a bit unusual in the UK.   Have I missed anything really special?
http://www.cairngormmountain.org/funicular-railway-panel/

The UK’s highest railway is to remain shut for “safety reasons” until November.

The Cairngorm Mountain Railway closed in September 2018 amid concerns over the structures supporting the tracks.

Following a £25m reinstatement programme, funded by the Scottish Government, the service was relaunched in January 2023.

However, The Highlands and Islands Enterprise took the decision to withdraw the funicular railway from service on August 25 while a series of “snagging” works were carried out.