Remnants of Coal Elevators

Another remnant of the coal infrastructure is the manually operated freight elevator. Coal would have been transported into the courtyards of buildings along tracks located in the entrance ways. Then from the courtyard, the coal would have been hoisted up to each floor on an elevator. This would have been more convenient than carrying the coal up the stairs, and also would have kept the stairwells clean from coal dust.

The guide rails from the elevators remain in many courtyards, but I have only found one place where much of the winch and pulley mechanism is still in its original place next to the guide rails. In this case, there were elevators on either side of the courtyard.

Guide rails remain in several courtyards.

This winch is located outside an antique store in Lviv's center. It was obviously placed there as an advertising tool and is not in its original location.