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Rotary Converter, IRT Subway Substation 13, NYC, 2017. (fedia.io)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Rotary Converter, IRT Subway Substation 13, NYC, 2017.

600 volts of pixels at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/32992380451

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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] 1 points 1 month ago

@[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.