Generator Car 00187
Pacific Electric generator car no. 00187 (lettered for United States Maritime Commission) sits parked outside the North Hollywood Vineland substation.
Jack Finn Collection
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Pacific Electric generator car no. 00187 (lettered for United States Maritime Commission) sits parked outside the North Hollywood Vineland substation.
Jack Finn Collection
This should be the North Hollywood substation.
PE 00187 was, more correctly, called a “Portable Substation”.
The “generator” was in fact a rotary converter set, which converted AC from the High Voltage power line to 600V DC for the trolley wire.
Vineland and Riverside drive. Building still there. Doc office. Sep 2011
My practice is in this building and I would appreciate any leads to any more pictures from its days as a substation. Thanks. Bonecruncher1@yahoo.com
This may have been during the great power line frequency changeover in 1946-48. During that period, Southern Calif. Edison changed its system from 50 to 60 Hz so it would be compatible with most other electric systems in the US. The portable sub could support this segment of the San Fernando Valley Line while the N. Hollywood sub was rebuilt. In my area, the Northern District, one of these units would be set up in Arcadia, near the present location of the Chamber of Commerce building, during the Santa Anita racing season.