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Thread: Largest Vaults?

  1. #11
    GordR45 Guest

    Default TelPay Building Winnipeg

    Hi back,

    Last weekend was Winnipeg's annual 'Doors Open Winnipeg' event and the TelPay Building was one of those open to the public for the event, though otherwise NOT. A friend with a real camera took some pics for me and I think I used my iPhone as well. It was a whirlwind weekend with many, many sites of interest on our itineraray. Got a few shots of the safety deposit vault of the Main Branch of Bank of Montreal, as well as some of the many vaults in the Millenium Centre, the former Western Canada Main Branch of the former Bank of Commerce.

    I'll post one or two of the TelPay door.

    I don't see a 'Gallery' or 'Photos' tab anywhere where members can simply put up pics of interesting vaults and safes unrelated to specific forum Q & A or topics for discussion.

    Cheers,

    Gord

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
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    UK
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    293
    Country: UK

    Default

    Hello!
    Photos can be attached to individual posts - click on "Manage Attachments" in the Additional Options box underneath where you enter text.
    Would be good to see them.

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
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    Seattle WA
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    Country: United States

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    North Massapequa, L.I. NY
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    6
    Country: United States

    Default Size does matter.....

    I get a kick out of collecting pictures of vault doors that I come across on the net.
    I consider a lot of them to be works of art.

    I worked on modern doors that had no character - look at this latest acquisition...

    mechanical & aesthetic beauty >>>

    That double door seems redundant or could the main door lead to other rooms ???
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Fine Art copy.jpg  

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
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    1,485
    Country: United States

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by keyedup View Post
    I get a kick out of collecting pictures of vault doors that I come across on the net.
    I consider a lot of them to be works of art.
    Ditto. Remington & Sherman are among the most impressive. The door you posted the image of is also visible in other Adam Crowley images at http://adamcrowley.photoshelter.com/...000bTVhJzA2ZVs.

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Cleveland, Ohio USA
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    1,433
    Country: United States

    Default

    Late in the 1800's it was felt that splitting up the protection by having a second set of doors to be a good idea in protecting against nitro. Eventually in the 1900's, as the outer doors got heavier to the point of being too thick to successfully blow open, the fairly heavy inner doors morphed into thin day gates. In the case of this Remington Sherman, I think the thick inner doors was a holdover to prior accepted practice. But then again the goal was to make them appear to be impenetrable to the point that you don't even try, because even a small nitro attempt could easily result in a lockout and/or ruining the the door. Doug

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Wild West Woolwich
    Posts
    103
    Country: UK

    Default Largest vault doors?

    Not strictly on topic but these claim to be vault doors and they are rather large.

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Huge-Bronz...item4d0db2e546

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
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    1,485
    Country: United States

    Default

    I finally found an image of what I think is the largest bank vault, located at 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza. I recently bought a set of Mosler's newsletter "Mosler Messenger" and in the November 1961 issue is an article:

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Chase Manhattan Bank 2a.JPG 
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    Other sources claim the vault is 100x350 feet or 35,000 square feet. In older times you could get a tour of the building including the vault but I can't find any mention of this today. The building does not seem to have a web site which is somewhat common for larger buildings these days.

    The building was recently purchased by a Chinese company: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/19/ny...laza.html?_r=0

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
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    1,754
    Country: Wales

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    wylk- I think you're onto the right one with this- it was listed in an old Guinness book of Records I had and Chase Manhattan sounds right- try the 1980 edition or possibly 82 or 83- can't remember exactly which one it was, but can remember it made reference to the total floor area and number and weight of the doors etc. The layout of the Guinness books changed drastically afterwards- in favour of the growing number of entries by eating 6000 hamburgers in an hour or bouncing a tennis ball non-stop for 73 years etc, so they lost all of the 'reference' format and appeal- since the record for the 'largest bank vault' is a pretty obscure one I would doubt it's been listed in recent editions, but I haven't looked at one in years so could be worth a try.

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