1961 Fortuna Mek. Verksted (rb. 2015 Schindler) MRL traction elevator @ Grand Hotel Oslo, Norway

Filmed on 18.10.2024.

This is elevator number 3 at Grand Hotel Oslo. This elevator is banquet connector elevator. Garderobe level (G) has wardrobe and parking garage. Garderobe level (G) and banquet level (B) on south side of the elevator have accessible toilets. Waiters’ level (K), banquet level (B) on south side of the elevator and 8th floor are for staff and they have to show their keycard on the keycard scanner for going to these floors. 1st floor has lobby and access to liftstairs and stairs down to reception, Restaurant Palmen and Grand Café. Banquet level (B) has banquet on north side of the elevator. Floors 2 to 7 have guestrooms. 7th floor has Conference Center, access to stairs up to fitness center and Artesia Spa and access to elevators and stairs up to Eight Rooftop Bar. Floors 2 to 7 are for hotel guests and they have to show their keycard on the keycard scanner for going to these floors. Waiters’ level (K), banquet level (B) on south side of the elevator and floors 2 to 8 were open for public before. This elevator was originally made by Fortuna Mek. Verksted in 1961 and later rebuilt by Schindler in 2015. The elevator was traction with machine room before the rebuilding but now it was changed to MRL traction. The elevator was extended up to reach 8th floor in the rebuilding. Also the technical closet of MRL elevator was installed on 8th floor. Floors G to 2 had no actual floor numbering, just signs ”Garderobe”, ”Waiter”, ”Foyer”, ”Serving”, ”Celebrations” and ”Mezzanine” back then but now garderobe level is considered as G, waiters’ level as K, foyer as 1st floor, serving level as banquet level (B) on south sude of the elevator and celebration level the same level on north side of the elevator and mezzanine as 2nd floor. Outer indicators were mechanical and their arrows showed the position of the upper cab. The elevator was double-decker before the rebuilding. The lower cab was for upper-class guests and it had wooden bench and the upper cab was for regular guests and it had no bench. Both cabs had same floors with each other. The bottom pit below garderobe level was waiting area for the lower cab when the upper cab was on garderobe level. 7th floor was the top pit used as waiting area for the upper cab when the lower cab was on 6th floor. Doors were added on 7th floor in the rebuilding. The lower cab had been abandoned already before the rebuilding and then only the upper cab could be used but the lower cab still moved with it. Now the elevator was made single-decker in the rebuilding. Capacity of the elevator before the rebuilding was 12 persons or 1000 kg but after the rebuilding elevator capacity is 11 persons or 825 kg. The elevator serial number was 3913 before the rebuilding but after that it’s 20039265 now. Indicators showed floor 4-5 as 45th floor before when the elevator just got rebuilt for some programming mistake. The elevator has split leveling between floors K and 1. The elevator has no data about original installation year nor serial number. Grand Hotel Oslo is one of the most famous hotels in Norway and it was designed by Julius Fritzner and originally opened in 1874. Grand Hotel Oslo was redesigned and extended in 1913 by Ole Sverre.

Video of the upper cab of the original elevator was filmed by Heritage Elevators:    • Original 1961 Fortuna Mek. Verksted DOUBLE...  

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Location: Grand Hotel Oslo, Sentrum, Oslo, Norway

Original brand: Fortuna Mek. Verksted
Rebuilder: Schindler
Type: Schindler 6500 MRL traction, Linea 300 fixtures with Grand Hotel customization
Year installed: 1961
Year rebuilt: 2015
Floors served: 10 (G, (K), *1*, B, (2, 3, 4-5, 6, 7, 8))
Former capacity: 12 persons or 1000 kg
Current capacity: 11 persons or 825 kg
Former serial: 3913
Current serial: 20039265

B=Banquet
K=Kelnergang (Waiter)
G=Garderobe