Skilifts.org / SORT Forum

Quite a while ago I saw a very cool lift control in a base area at Big Boulder in PA Poconos. It had a big throttle lever like on a model train layout. The operator had total variable control and he would slow it down as little kids would shuffle onto ramp and then speed it up to scoop them onto the chair. The one time I saw it in operation, the operator was fantastically skilled at matching the chair to the customer. Obviously, he could stop it entirely.

Has anyone ever seen anything like this anywhere else?

This was most likely a drum controller that was used a long time ago. It was basically a series of contacts that would send the voltage through a series of resistors that would regulate the speed of the motor. It was not really designed for speeding and slowing the lift for loading passengers but for normal starts and slows. The resistors would get hot if left in anything but full speed. It was a very early way of lift control which has been replaced by variable speed drives.

It also may have been an MOP, motor operator potentiometer. Fincor used these for a number of years. Worked pretty cool and since it was a servo motor, no fast speed changes. The problem with them was the limit switches also attached to the servo linkage. It was pretty easy to totally mess up how it operated...