Floridian Elevators's video: EPIC ANTIQUE VERY RARE 1950s General Traction Elevator at The Courtside Building in Baltimore MD

Filmed on May 26th, 2023. I hope everyone has had a VERY Happy, Fun & Safe Labor Day! Today, I figured we should Celebrate by riding something that most people in the Elevator Enthusiast Community have NEVER seen before which also happened to be a VERY FIRST for me as well! This right here is my VERY FIRST General Elevator I've gotten the chance to ride EVER and these are VERY VERY HARD TO FIND!!! I know what you guys are thinking..... "Juls, are you forgetting everything!?!? You've ridden plenty of General Elevators before!!!" but let me explain.... Yes, I have ridden plenty of General Elevators before, however, something that many people in this community aren't aware of is that there's actually 2 ENTIRELY DIFFERENT Companies known as General Elevator, one of which was based out of Orlando, the other was based out of Baltimore. Previously, I have ridden other General Elevators, but they've all been installed by the Orlando based company, and they all use either EPCO, GAL or Armor fixtures. THIS HOWEVER was my VERY FIRST General Elevator installed by the BALTIMORE BASED Company, and there are approximately LESS THAN 10 OF THESE that are known about that are STILL ORIGINAL making this a VERY VERY RARE Find! And unlike the Orlando General Elevator, Elevators installed by Baltimore General Elevator feature their own Exclusive Company fixtures as well as a VERY VERY COOL Custom "General Elevator" Door Track! This elevator featured both of those things, and more! Not only did it have the VERY RARE & VERY COOL General Black Button fixtures (which were in MINT CONDITION BTW!), but it also features a Unique Indicator, a Door Operator that sounds like one you'd find on a 50s Otis Black Button, a VERY ANTIQUATED Charming 50s Cab, and VERY LOUD RELAYS and a VERY LOUD Motor Generator that sounds like a Diesel Generator! It also goes pretty fast for 4 floors, and this thing just has SO MUCH Character that most Elevators that serve the amount of floors it does just simply don't have! The building housing this elevator was built in 1918, and as suggested by the other doors, this elevator did in fact Replace a Manual/Gated Elevator. While it would've been cool to see the Original Elevator, considering the fact that the Modernization here is still VINTAGE and not only Vintage but something that is VERY HARD TO FIND, I'm not complaining and HOPEFULLY this elevator won't be Modernized again! This elevator is a true Testament to American Engineering and Craftsmanship by smaller businesses back in the 1950s, and I really hope it continues to be preserved and kept original for years to come. This thing just has SO MUCH CHARACTER and is just SO COOL & UNIQUE in so many ways, and I have to give huge thanks to Gabe aka ‎@suejoshappy  for originally telling me about this thing! This elevator is a MUST RIDE when visiting Baltimore, and get this, there's still one more General in Baltimore I filmed that I haven't uploaded yet! Yes.....you heard me right, I still got one more in the backlog.... I'll leave that one for another video. But for now, enjoy some rides on this EXTREMELY RARE & INCREDIBLY ANTIQUE Elevator that has a TON of Character & Personality! Installed in 1918. (Unknown, Manually Controlled) Modernized/Replaced in Circa 1950s. (General Elevator with General Black Button fixtures, New Cab, New DC Geared Traction Motor & Generator, New Inner Doors, etc. Only the outer doors left original.)