World's Largest Round Vault Door

Doug MacQueen · 2013-08-10T14:59:35+00:00

Did a job there a couple of days ago and found a couple pictures I hadn’t seen before. Doug

VaultDoors

Here is the Time Lock which we don’t see very often. Does anyone know the make and model?

mercury

VaultDoors wrote
Here is the Time Lock which we don’t see very often. Does anyone know the make and model?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]13439[/ATTACH]

I’m not an expert, but it looks like it is a Yale Quadruple-M.

There are some shown here : http://www.my-time-machines.net/yale4mvt.htm

…Mark

[unknown]

Doug MacQueen

Pretty sure those were Quad N models. “M” size movements but the M case is longer. The N case style has the bottom attachment. If you scroll down the listing in mytimemachines to Hollar, there are 3 shown used with Hollar automatics.

mercury

Doug MacQueen wrote
Pretty sure those were Quad N models. “M” size movements but the M case is longer. The N case style has the bottom attachment. If you scroll down the listing in mytimemachines to Hollar, there are 3 shown used with Hollar automatics.

Check out the example labelled “C” in the link I provided. It is described as a Quad-M, retrofitted with L type movements. The case looks right.

Examples “A” and “B” do have a longer case, but I believe this is because they have the optional “Open attachment”, which allows the time lock to be set, but will not engage when the door is closed, unless the Open lever is thrown upwards, arming the unit.

…Mark

[unknown]

Doug MacQueen

Here is the M. I don’t have an N or that other model catalog picture

mercury

Doug MacQueen wrote
Here is the M. I don’t have an N or that other model catalog picture

Having looked at that, I would suggest the lock in place on the door is a Style K4 Quadruple-M, which lacks the Open attachment & is described below the picture you posted of a regular Quadruple-M.

…Mark

[unknown]

Doug MacQueen

You are really making me work for this. K series are medium sized models. M and N are large ones.

mercury

Doug MacQueen wrote
You are really making me work for this. K series are medium sized models. M and N are large ones.

I’m sorry, I’m not trying to be difficult or argumentative & I really appreciate the replies. Whether I am right or wrong we are talking across purposes. Maybe I am not explaining myself clearly.

I am not referring to the K series time locks that use smaller L size movements.

As I understand it, the M series time locks were available with or without what is called the “Open Attachment”.

The top two time locks A & B in the following link (http://www.my-time-machines.net/yale4mvt.htm) are described as Quad-Ms, and have the open attachment & it occupies the area to the right of the movements. The open attachment is described and discussed in their description.

The third lock pictured, “C” is shorter than “A” & “B”, because it lacks the open attachment. The description for this lock states that it is a Quad-M, that has been retrofitted with L size movements.

If you look at the catalogue page you posted, it states clearly that the picture is of a regular Quadruple-M. Below the picture, it provides measurements for two Quadruple-M series time locks. The regular, and a Style K4 Quad-M (not K movements), that lacks the open attachment.

I understand that a series N lock uses M size movements & is designed to operate an automatic bolt motor and it seems that it has a very similar shape to a type M that lacks the open attachment.

Thankyou for your patience.

…Mark

[unknown]

Doug MacQueen

No I get it, you want to learn about this and I’ve got some info. When I did bank service work on these timelocks I didn’t even know the model names. I had never noticed that K4 at the bottom of the M catalog page. Why they put that in there just confuses things. It isn’t a K4 M, only a comparison in size of a K4 with the M if you needed a smaller lock. As to the C example I don’t think it is a M model, especially when you read the fine print in the M Special. Also, I still stand by the N model on the Fed door, even though it was specifically designed use with an automatic. Doug

timelocks

mercury wrote
I’m not an expert, but it looks like it is a Yale Quadruple-M.

There are some shown here : http://www.my-time-machines.net/yale4mvt.htm

…Mark

I’ve been asked to comment on this photo, It’s quite poor but it could be a quad N as someone has suggested, but the surrounding vault door looks way too small to support this type of lock, could it not be a quad L? Either way, as Mercury noted, it is exceeding rare to see a quad for an automatic bolt motor. After reading this thread I realized I had mistaken my ID for the Yale quad originally called a Quad L but is a Quad K as the Yale literature states. Thanks. Please let me know other mistakes you find. I want he web site to be as accurate a reference resource as possible.

[unknown]

timelocks

timelocks wrote
I’ve been asked to comment on this photo, It’s quite poor but it could be a quad N as someone has suggested, but the surrounding vault door looks way too small to support this type of lock, could it not be a quad L? Either way, as Mercury noted, it is exceeding rare to see a quad for an automatic bolt motor. After reading this thread I realized I had mistaken my ID for the Yale quad originally called a Quad L but is a Quad K as the Yale literature states. Thanks. Please let me know other mistakes you find. I want he web site to be as accurate a reference resource as possible.

An amendment, I did not realize the photo was a segment of a door, again a poor photo, but I now see it is from the Cleveland Fd.so yeas I’m sure i’s a triple M.

[unknown]

VaultDoors

Here is the video where I captured the photo of the CFR time lock: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cantonviaduct/11642255633/in/set-72157639180762246

VaultDoors

Here’s a picture of the CRF door (from another thread) with a caption that says the time lock is Sargent & Greenleaf…

Doug MacQueen

I wouldn’t put too much stock in the S&G ad. I ran across a different one where the timelock was obviously a Yale. However I have seen the locks on the Fed door and if memory serves they are S&G. The timelock in the video is obviously a 4 movement lock with an attached box on the bottom of the case. That is what we can see. The only assumptions I will make is that the timelock will be the largest available and it certainly looks like a Yale, not a S&G. Based on catalog pictures, only one model fits, the N 4. If it was a medium sized lock it would be an L 4 if one was ever made. The N 4 has a bottom operating connection hence the reason for the attached box. The confusion here is all based on timelocks website showing the M models, and discussion regarding M models with and without the “Open attachment”. According to the Yale catalog ALL M models came with the “Open attachment”. Now he includes a lock marked “C”. It does not have have the “Open attachment”. Is it an M? Doubtful but more importantly “M” models do not have a bottom operating connection as do the N and L models. Hopefully this clears things up. Doug

VaultDoors

wylk wrote
This plus some of the clutter makes me think this was taken during installation.

This one has June 12, 1924 stamped on the back:

The caption on the back reads, “THIS GIANT DOOR of a big vault in the Federal Reserve Bank, at Cleveland, is a third larger than any other vault door in the world. Its total weight is 195 tons and it is four feet thick. The delicately adjusted mechanism of the door makes it easy to swing by the pressure of the hand.”

and this one has March 30, 1933 stamped on the back (smaller pic size):

[unknown]

VaultDoors

I hadn’t noticed this before but the CFRs emergency door is to the right of the main door; visible behind the ductwork:

It appears to have been housed in a glass paneled room that is no longer there:

Here’s a shot of the ductwork running right up the staircase. I don’t recall the old videos mentioning ventilation. It looks low enough where you would need to duck your head when walking under it or else…🙁doh):

VaultDoors

wylk wrote
The South Vault (1935) lies beneath the oldest section of the building and is built of a better grade concrete with 3 foot thick walls. Its entrance is of the cylinder type, and when closed, it forms a vacuum inside. The vault plus its housing weigh 80 tons and is in the form of a suspended chamber encircled by a narrow walkway. Prisms allow security personnel to look beneath and around it.

Do all Federal Reserve Banks have cylindrical type doors like the ones at the Cleveland Fed, Philly Fed, NY Fed, and the PA Treasury?

[unknown]

Huw Eastwood

VaultDoors wrote
Do all Federal Reserve Banks have cylindrical type doors like the ones at the Cleveland Fed, Philly Fed, NY Fed, and the PA Treasury?

I think from memory that Dallas, Seattle and maybe Kansas had rectangular doors, there may be a couple of others.

[unknown]

VaultDoors

VaultDoors wrote
Do all Federal Reserve Banks have cylindrical type doors like the ones at the Cleveland Fed, Philly Fed, NY Fed, and the PA Treasury?

Oops, the Cleveland Fed does not have a cylindrical door. The Philly Fed, NY Fed, and PA Treasury are the only cylindrical doors that I am aware of but suspect there are more.

[unknown]

wylk

VaultDoors wrote
Oops, the Cleveland Fed does not have a cylindrical door. The Philly Fed, NY Fed, and PA Treasury are the only cylindrical doors that I am aware of but suspect there are more.

I show the Philadelphia Fed as having a round door similar to Cleveland:

Other than the NY Fed I believe all other reserve banks have either round or rectangular doors but there are several for which I’ve never found descriptions and/or imagery.

[unknown]

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