Rotary Converter, IRT Subway Substation 13, NYC, 2017.
600 volts of pixels at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/32992380451
#photography
NYC’s IRT subway, opened in 1904, is powered by a 600 volt DC third rail running alongside the tracks. Power is fed to the system via a number of substations throughout the city, where high voltage AC is converted to the lower voltage DC used by trains.
Until recently, this was done with electromechanical rotary converters (essentially a combination AC motor and DC generator). They have been supplanted by solid state rectifiers, but a few of the original rotary converters remain operational.
@[email protected] Solid state or mercury arc?
@[email protected] Solid state. The subway skipped over the mercury arc era - they were using the rotary converts well into the 90’s!
@[email protected] presumeably the electromechanical converters are immune to EMP. Are the solid-state rectifiers? Are there control systems that monitor them that might be vulnerable? Just thinking aloud for reasons to keep the older converters.
