Old shops with overhead cash "railways"

Judgement Day

Anybody know of any shop in the South East that had or has this ancient overhead cash system? Large department stores, drapers etc. would have had them. Even the remains of them would be of interest to me. All information gratefully received.

RadioRetro

Don't know of the wire system but Shaws in Wexford in the old days had a vacuum system with tubes running all over the place. All gone now as the old building was demolished to make way for the current store.

Woolworth's (where Penney's is now) also had the vacuum system but it was out of use when I saw it as a young lad.

Not much help but...

sundula

I know someone who used to do plumbing maintenance for Dunne's and he said there was a old fittings and parts of a vacuum transit system on the first floor of the old dunnes on the main st. How you get access or find out more is another question. The manager of that store was moved to a manager job in Redmond Sq. so you could try and ask him, his name is Tony, dont know his surname but he may still be working in Red Sq. branch.

Lola92

Not exactly south east so I don't know if this will be of any help to you but there is a restaurant in Temple Bar in Dublin called the Bad Ass Cafe that has an overhead system that looks just like that.

I think they use it for transporting orders rather than cash though, might be worth looking in to.

Judgement Day

Thanks, I know about the Bad Ass Cafe but sadly it's closed and, apparently, in the throes of renovation. I fear the worst but haven't been able to get there to see for myself.

Lola92

Oh no I used to go there regularly enough when I lived in Dublin, the wire system was a big part of it's charm (plus amazing chicken wings ). It would be such a pity if they took it out.

acein1

there used to be one in "bolgers of ferns" back in 1953 when i worked there,fantastc," wish id had a digital camera then",kept the office girl busy on a friday ,serving 3 departments,( hello hanny if you see this)

Fatswaldo

There used to be a system like this in the Shelbourne Co-op in Campile. I remember being absolutely fascinated by it as a little lad. Unfortunately though, this building was demolished recently. Would still be plenty of people around Campile who would remember it or worked with it though.

Mahatma coat

The Co-op building in Foulksmills Had one too, I'm not sure if its still there, but the building hasnt changed in a long time so there may be remnants of it.

bullpost

Hearns Dept Store in Waterford had one. Think there is a photo of it in this flickr stream:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/88051129@N00/

Judgement Day

I tried googling the Co-op at Foulksmills but no good - is it closed down?

barclayb

There is a website on cash carriers with some former locations in Ireland (and probably the source of the picture above): www.cashrailway.co.uk

groveman60

I too remember the overhead wire system they had in the Shelbourne Co-Op in Campile all those years ago. It was fascinating and allowed time for a chat with the person serving while you waited for your change and receipt to arrive with great speed down the line. Because these wires had to be straight line-of-sight to the office they sometimes had to go through holes made in shop walls.

barclayb

Not quite true that the lines always had to be straight. The Bad Ass cafe had a curve on one of their lines and a special "curve car" with short wheelbase to negotiate it! See pictures in the Cash Railway Website.