Christopher Payne said it best in his book about New York Cities Sub-stations and fake buildings:

All over New York City, hidden behind unassuming historic facades, sits the gigantic machinery of the power stations that once moved the subways. For over a century, the 125,000-pound converters and related equipment of the substations remained largely unchanged, but in 1999 the last manually operated substation was shut down and since then they have been systematically dismantled and sold as scrap.

» SOURCES
Christopher Payne - New Yorks Forgotten Substations: The Power Behind the Subway
Library of Congress

Video Chapters:
00:00 - Introducing the Sub-Stations of New York
01:20 - What powers New Yorks subway network?
02:10 - How electricity works (AC / DC)
02:30 - Why were Sub-Stations needed
04:00 - The first electric street car (Richmond, VA)
05:29 - Work dangers in the Sub-Stations
07:54 - Hiding the Sub-stations throughout New York
08:38 - Design of the Sub-Stations
10:07 - The abandonment of the sub-stations
12:05 - The last working Sub-Station
12:41 - What happened to the New York Sub-Stations?
13:17 - What remains of the sub-stations?


» ABOUT US
ITS HISTORY - Weekly tales of American Urban Decay as presented by your host Ryan Socash.

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