Behold what might be one of the most cursed modes of transportation ever: The MAN ENGINE!
Imagine stepping back and forth between two oscillating columns of small, wooden, and likely slippery footholds as you descent into or ascend out of a mine - holding your pit lamp in one hand during the entire trip.
Oh, and if you missed an oscillation and caused a traffic jam, you had to pay a barrel of beer as a fine.
Still, this was considered to be a great improvement when it was invented in Clausthal-Zellerfeld in 1837 - it cut down commuting time in the shaft from a daily 3 hours (1 for the descent and 2 for the ascent) to a mere 40 minutes (20 minutes each way). This was also important for the miners, since - then as now - commuting time was not paid work time!
Seriously, though - why haven't I come across this in a #dnd / #ttrpg scenario? Do I have to write one myself?
#Germany #mining #history #Harz
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_engine
@juergen_hubert Idon't fully understand how it works, but I wouldn't want to descent down under earth for 40 minutes on that thing. 
@juergen_hubert That was really unexpected *mindblown*
"In the deepest mines, which could sink to more than 350 fathoms (640 metres)"
Imagine you have to go down on such a thing for 640 meters. 🙀
@dbread I plan to visit this mine in August, which still has operational man engines:
@juergen_hubert Impressive :)
Make some pictures but please don't fall down!
@dbread Wikipedia has an animated version of that last image:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_engine#/media/File:Man_engine_animation.gif