World's Largest Round Vault Door

[timelocks]

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.

[VaultDoors]

Here is the video where I captured the photo of the CFR time lock: https://www.flickr.com/photos/canton...57639180762246

[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]

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):

[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...

[VaultDoors]

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?

[Huw Eastwood]

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.

[VaultDoors]

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.

[wylk]

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.