Non-magical fantasy subways

[aramis erak]

Pater Noster is presumably also a prayer a Christian might say before getting into one of those apparent deathtraps.

Pater Noster is "Our Father"... the name of the most common Christian prayer, and the first clause of said prayer, and the Elevator type was supposedly so named because people were said to be praying it before getting on.

 

[Duke_]

Pater Noster is "Our Father"... the name of the most common Christian prayer, and the first clause of said prayer, and the Elevator type was supposedly so named because people were said to be praying it before getting on.

I know, that's why I said it (raised Catholic). Wikipedia said it's because the design resembles prayer beads on a string, but just because it's on Wikipedia doesn't necessarily mean it's true, so your version is plausible to me too.

 

[aramis erak]

I know, that's why I said it (raised Catholic). Wikipedia said it's because the design resembles prayer beads on a string, but just because it's on Wikipedia doesn't necessarily mean it's true, so your version is plausible to me too.

The Pater Noster is 6 of the 59 beads of the Dominican Rosary, and 9 of the Dolour's Rosary's 50-some. (those are the two most common Rosaries in Catholic use, with the Dolour Rosary common in convents, but the Dominican being the one almost everyone things of. The most common prayer in both is the Ave Maria... and the first prayer of both rosaries is the In Nomine. If it were named for the beads, it'd be the Rosarius.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

My university library had a paternoster. Terrifying thing, I took the stairs.

I’ve only seen them on TV or similar media. Big HELLNAW for me.

 

[Duke_]

The Pater Noster is 6 of the 59 beads of the Dominican Rosary, and 9 of the Dolour's Rosary's 50-some. (those are the two most common Rosaries in Catholic use, with the Dolour Rosary common in convents, but the Dominican being the one almost everyone things of. The most common prayer in both is the Ave Maria... and the first prayer of both rosaries is the In Nomine. If it were named for the beads, it'd be the Rosarius.

The citation on Wikipedia is from the Oxford English Dictionary (though the direct link on the original citation is now dead). The OED is a pretty good authority in my eyes.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I believe "resembles a string of prayer beads" is the correct explanation for why a Paternoster us so named. "Say a prayer before using" is a joke explanation it acquired later.

NB, prayer beads appear in multiple religions, with different prayers associated to them.

 

[JohnSnow]

Water, wind, or animal power, either directly, or pulling some kind of cable to chain that the cars can latch on to.

As those who know anything about San Francisco's cable cars can tell you, the gearing can get very complicated, so you can definitely hand-wave that.

 

[aramis erak]

Water, wind, or animal power, either directly, or pulling some kind of cable to chain that the cars can latch on to.

As those who know anything about San Francisco's cable cars can tell you, the gearing can get very complicated, so you can definitely hand-wave that.

It's also worth noting: Older streetcar systems on rail initially used equines... just like mine cart rail.