During the 1980s, I used to do a lot of work in stained glass. When I lived in Cambridge (MA), the only place to buy glass and supplies was in South Boston. I’d take the Red Line subway from Harvard Square to South Station and then encounter this unusual style of escalator on the way out. Rather than steps, it was more like a series of wooden cleats on a conveyor belt. The escalator (nowadays referred to as “death stairs” or “deathcalator”) didn’t scare me. Instead, I was fascinated by the antique design and noticed that it was only one person wide, much slimmer than modern escalators.
By the time I returned to Boston and thought of photographing them, of course, they had long since been replaced. This is the first photo I’ve seen of wooden cleat escalators.
