Early Power Substations and Switching Stations
Olive Switching Station (1917)
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The Olive Switching Station was constructed between 1916 and 1917 at the mid-point of the 115 kilovolt (kv) transmission line from San Francisquito Power Plant No. 1 to the central receiving station in the city (now Receiving Station A).** |
Olive View Switching Station (3 views)**
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South Corner View |
Control Panel Room |
Northeast View |
Bureau of Power and Light Station No. 2 (1929)
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| (1929)* - Exterior view of Municipal Power & Light Station No. 2, a substation in Van Nuys. |
Early Switching Stations
Victorville Switching Station
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| (1930s)* - Victorville Switching Station - Electrical equipment - never sleeping sentinels which guard the 266- mile Boulder transmission line are these giant circuit breakers, largest ever built, that are an integral part of the Victorville Switching Station. |
Victorville Switching Station
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(1930s)* Entrance to the Bureau of Power and Light's Victorville Switching Station after a snow storm.
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Silver Lake Switching Station
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| (1930s)* - Bureau of Power and Light Silver Lake Switching Station. |
Silver Lake Switching Station
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| (1930s)* - Control house of the Silver Lake Switching Station - Bureau of Power and Light. |
Station Transformers and Equipment
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| (1935)* - Huge 30 ton crane successfully undergoing test at Main Street Yards. Note the crane operator just visible in control box in upper right corner. Capable of hoisting a dead load of 30 tons, one of two new cranes for the Power Bureau’s transformer warehouse at 1630 North Main Street is now in active service. The crane will be able to handle the larger transformers to be used in The Bureau's new substations. |
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| (1936)* - Moving a 50-ton transformer from 1630 N. Main Street to Receiving Station C in Wilmington. |
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| (1936)* - 186-ton Boulder Canyon transmission line transformer at Receiving Station B. |
LADWP Historic Archive October 1936 – Terminus of the Boulder transmission line is Receiving Station ‘B’ located at 96th Street and Central Ave. As Boulder power enters the six huge 186-ton transformers, shown below, it starts through the first of several voltage “step-downs” before reaching Power Bureau consumers. |
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| (ca. 1936)* - At the time these were the world’s largest transformers. They were installed at Receiving Station B for the Boulder Canyon Transmission Line. |
Historical Notes Six of these 186-ton transformers were required for proper operation of 266-mile transmission line. In 1936, they constituted the largest installation in the world, both from the standpoints of size and capacity. Each occupied a ground space of 11 ½ ft. x 23 ½ ft. and towered 36 ft. into the air. Each transformer and appurtenant equipment weighed approximately 170 tons, consisting in part of seven tons of copper, 47 tons of electrical sheet steel, nine tons of insulating material, 53 tons of coil and 15,000 gallons of transformer oil.* |
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References and Credits
* DWP - LA Public Library Image Archive
**Library of Congress Digital Archive
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