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  1. #51
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    Quote Originally Posted by wylk View Post
    I'll try!

    The file containing the Modern Marvels "Doors" episode was made available in the form of a .m4v file, one of too many file formats for movies. For some reason, after it downloads, some computers (Windows computers?) rename it to a .mp4 file extension. I'm not certain this is bad, the two formats are either similar or identical; for more info check the Wikipedia entry on the .mp4 file type. I think it is at least impolite to rename a file, I really dislike when software tries to do me a favor by thinking it's smarter than everybody.

    With either extension, the file will not play for me.

    Just like there are too many file formats, there are too many movie players.

    If I try using Windows Media Player (WMP), I get an error message that is its generic "something went wrong" message (Windows Media Player cannot play the file...). If I try to play it using Apple's Quicktime player, I get an "error 23132: an unknown error occured". Another popular player is "VLC media player" from VideoLAN.org (it was recommended to me by a friend to play formats that Windows Media Player won't play such as DVDs) but all it does is flash the first frame of the movie and go black. I've also tried a video conversion tool called WinFF which converts .avi files to .mov and many, many other combinations of formats but with "Doors" it immediately fails with "Invalid pixel format '-1'". I tried a web site that purports to diagnose and repair .mp4 files but it failed, too, with the error message "Error". I tried downloading the iTunes app and finally have an idea of what's wrong: "This computer is not authorized to play "Doors"" and it then asks me for an Apple ID and password.

    So, I think the actual problem is that the file that VaultDoors kindly made available uses digital copyright management to ensure that only he can view it (to ensure that people pay for it, and to prevent them from distributing it for free). Unfortunately this causes bizarre and unintelligible failures of many other video-playing software packages.
    Ok, sorry about that guys. I wasn't aware it would only let me view it. It's available online from Amazon and other sites for $1.99. If you plan to buy the .m4v version be aware that iTunes does not have frame advance but QuickTime does by using the arrow keys. You can hold the arrow keys down for slow motion which is what I did since the CFR clips run so fast.

  2. #52
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    Quote Originally Posted by Doug MacQueen View Post
    The dial turn knob got clipped off by the door as it was being shut during the filming of a video several years ago. I think it was the one newer video mentioned here but I can't get it to work on my computer. Maybe it can be seen in the video. Doug
    Per this drawing by Holmes, remote combination vaults have only the dials on the outside and the locks (with bolt throwing mechanism) on the inside. I'm not sure if this is the case with the Cleveland Federal Reserve vault.

    Click image for larger version. 

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  3. #53
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    Oct 2009
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    This one I am sure about. The locks are in the inside of the jamb. Separating the locks and the timelocks was only part of the concept. The other was to cover the locks, which are normally visible on the classic doors. The fear was that the locks could be possibly manipulated through a hole in the vault wall. Where this fear came from is unknown, but very often improvements were the result of actual attacks. On a vault the size of the Cleve Fed I can only imagine this manipulation would be accomplished with a gun, which now that I think about it could possibly work. So the locks are completely covered by an access steel plate. Doug

  4. #54
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    Cleveland, Ohio USA
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    Just an update on the CleveFed door. Was over there very briefly yesterday and checked out the timelock for any external connections and there are none. In between the lock dials is one small toggle switch which did look like it would be electrical but no light came on. The power may not be supplied at this point since the door is not in use. I will be going back again soon and hope to convince them in letting me study it further. I was into the lock box years ago but other than it and the timelock door, everything is so heavily built and concealed, I am not sure just how much I can do. Doug

  5. #55
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    I went on a tour of the bank years ago when I was a kid. I should probably go again soon! Thanks for all the information in this thread, Doug.

  6. #56
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    I ran across some old notes (on paper!) regarding the Cleveland Federal Reserve. There was an article at http://www.bxmagazine.com/article.asp?ID=265 but that link has died, so try https://web.archive.org/web/20080313...cle.asp?ID=265 instead. Regarding the vault, it was reported:

    The most important feature of any bank is its vault-and the two-story, 12,000-ton, 3,560-sf Cleveland Fed main vault is second to none in the world. The door alone weighs 300 tons. The 100-ton swinging section is precision balanced to allow a single person to close it. When closed, the door is held by 16 steel bolts, each 6 inches in diameter and weighing 246 lbs. The 47-ton hinge casting is almost 19 feet long and reported to be the largest hinge ever manufactured. The vault actually occupies a "building within a building" constructed before, and separately from, the remainder of the facility. The concrete walls of the vault "building" are 6.5 feet thick and reinforced with interlaced fabricated steel. It would take an ambitious safecracker indeed to take on this formidable opponent.

  7. #57
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    Quote Originally Posted by wylk View Post
    Here's a construction image and most of the related text from a book "Monuments to Money" which is a history of bank architecture.

    Attachment 7873

    (You may need to save the image and view it outside your browser's attempt to show it, to get the best readability and image quality).
    Here is the 'The Vault' article in "Monuments To Money" where Fredrick S. Holmes is quoted throughout:
    Attached Files Attached Files

  8. #58
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    I found a nice video on youtube, actually a collection of still images plus narration, regarding the vault at the Cleveland Fed:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dIIyjoeJaQ

    Here is one of the still images:

    Click image for larger version. 

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  9. #59
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    This thread is largely about the well-known door at the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank which was constructed in 1921-1923.

    A similar door was installed at the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank constructed in 1931-1935. I found a couple of construction images in an eBay auction (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-B-W-...item3ce8ea43bc). Like Cleveland's, this door is a large round York door, 36 inches thick per typing on the back of the photo.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Notice the frame-mounted controls and the push pins on either side of the 3:00 bolt. In this image we can also see that at least two of the top bolts are hollow, as has been discussed elsewhere, probably for electrical alarms and monitoring. There is also a bracket around the 3:00 bolt, unlike Cleveland's.

    This is also an interesting image because the door is nearly finished but clearly there is more work to be done. The cosmetic cladding is missing, and marks on the door itself (and in the frame) can be seen. There is no glass yet, and the hollow bolts are missing their electrical contacts. The pressure bar is incomplete.

    I have never found any description of the door, such as tonnage, but it looks a lot like Cleveland's. The taper might not be as steep. So it may not weigh as much, but it might qualify as a close second.

    The building now houses part of the Thomas Jefferson Hospital but the ability to view this vault is unknown. I would expect there were other vaults in the building but there is no information on those, either.

  10. #60
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    I did find a little more about the Philadelphia Federal Reserve vault. In an application to the National Register of Historic Places (https://www.dot7.state.pa.us/ce_imag...001437_01H.pdf) it is stated there are two vaults in the basement:

    The North Vault (1921) consists of 8 individual cells, each once held a different denomination of uncirculated Reserve currency. Its door weights (sic) 51 tons and its steel-rail reinforced walls are 4 feet thick. This vault lies beneath the 1919 section of the building.

    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.

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