[GreenKeys] Secret DC Basement in NYC - Great History

[billriches]

In 1966 I was in NYC for a few days staying at the St Regis hotel and they
had some really ancient elevators.  Being nosey I bumped into a maintenance
man and asked a few questions about them.  He took me on a tour up to the
elevator penthouse where some of the motors were still original - creepy!
Then down in to the basement where their power circuit breakers and other
hardware lived.  I noticed that they had meters for AC and DC voltage and
current.  Why DC I asked - he said some of the large air handler motors were
dc - 25 to 50 horse power and since they still could purchase DC from the
city it was cheaper than replacing the motors - some that were from the late
1900s and still running.  He said a few have been running since when they
were installed - 365 days a year and never required any service.  My visit
was when the big garbage strike was in NYC and the hotels were storing
garbage in their basements. Quite oderific!

73,

Bill, WA2DVU
Cape May

-----Original Message-----
From: GreenKeys [mailto:greenkeys-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of
Jones, Douglas W
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2015 1:50 PM
To: Don Robert House K9TTY
Cc: Greenkeys
Subject: Re: [GreenKeys] Secret DC Basement in NYC - Great History


On May 12, 2015, at 12:09 PM, Don Robert House K9TTY wrote:

> Interesting story.  It tells the story that the converters provided DC
current for hundreds of miles.  
> 
> The Secret Basement in New York City
> What a story, great history !
> 10 stories beneath the city
> 
> <http://www.chonday.com/Videos/newyobasemese2>

They got one fact wrong:  Those rotary converters only provided power for
trains in Manhattan.  Rotary converter stations were rarely as far apart as
10 miles when 750V DC power is used.  The voltage drop on long DC feeders is
too much.  Still, for the Nazis, shutting down Grand Central Terminal and
the Park Avenue tunnel would have snarled a good part of the passenger
service (including troop trains) in the US.

		Doug Jones
		jones at cs.uiowa.edu

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