There are three side-by-side escalators in the Metro station at Bethesda, MD. These escalators are the world’s second longest/highest.

Because the escalators are so tall, and the surrounding area is so narrow, the effect is difficult to capture in photographs:

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS0qego-3yTbWMvb8wnjK8jLAJ9O6KN7BJnHT2Gse3brPcqUPHb

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT3JsyB9W_zgZblxaZw7amZcHFUmk2jS3JyKJzT6rttFAm8VrjJ

Ages ago, I worked nearby this Metro stop and often used it. I never became jaded about the escalators; they amazed me every time.

I was thinking of the Bethesda Metro escalators too @Love_my_doggie !

Me too. Bethesda Metro.

I saw on TV recently Mike Bloomberg has a curved escalator in his office building. I’m pretty sure he said they can be found in Asia too. I don’t know if he has the only one in America?

@JLeslie There are curved escalators in the Westfield Mall on Market Street in San Francisco.

I’d never heard of curved escalators until now. I just found some online photos. The escalators have a graceful look and can be arranged in some interesting configurations.

@janbb @JLeslie The first time I stood at the bottom of the Bethesda escalators and looked up, I literally had a breathless moment. As I mentioned, above, photographs really can’t cause the same reaction.

^^Funny, I used to get on and off at Bethesda once in a while, and the escalators were tall, obviously, but I didn’t know until years later that it broke records. I grew up in the metro D.C. area.

But are there other factors that make some escalators better than others? Is the length and the width (and maybe speed? I don’t know) the only variables?

@flo What other factors could you think of?

I’m looking for the unique or the rarest kind of escalator in the world.

Last time I was in Macy’s Herald Square some of the escalators were still the old ones with wooden slats. They might have changed them all out now, I don’t know.

Edit: I just found this regarding the wooden escalators.

Thanks all. Which is the most technologically avanced ( maybe that would have been the better term in my OP) in the world?

Thanks esp. @Love_my_doggie and @JLeslie for the links