I worked in the A&O electrical shop in the early 80's, and the esclators were some of the equipment we maintained. As I recall they worked well going up but not going down. Too many people running down the escalator with gear on would cause the limit switches to trip...
I remember the escalators well. I don't recall any problems with them except for one time.....we had a power outage and I was stuck on it for over two hours!