By David M. Rosenthal

NYCT Substation 21 on Willow Place in Brooklyn Heights. This is a 1908 substation with seven rotary converters. Rotary converter #8 came from the Manhattan Elevated Railway and dates back to 1902. At the time the photographs were taken on October 22, 1996, rotary converters #2 and #8 (1902 Manhattan Elevated Railway) were placed on-line during the morning and evening rush hours to supplement the load from the adjacent solid state substations. The 1902 rotary converter was one of the two used at this time. Substation #21 is being converted to solid state now and a new local control panel was in place but not in-service when I was there in October of 1996. As of this writing in March 1999, all of the rotary converters at IRT Substation #21 are permanently out-of-service. All of the rotary converters will be removed and it is believed that one will be installed as a display piece for the New York Transit Museum. There are no other 25-cycle rotary converters still in service in the entire New York City Transit System. There are however two substations with 60 cycle rotary converters still in-service on the IND.

Thanks to my good friend Mr. Joe Cunningham for arranging access to IRT Substation #21 and special thanks to Mr. Michael Amoroso of New York City Transit and his Substation Operators for allowing me to photograph and video tape the substation. All photographs by David M. Rosenthal, October 22, 1996.

Photo Gallery

Five Random Images
Image 8312 (91k, 745x499) Photo by: David M. Rosenthal Location: IRT Substation 21	Image 8313 (105k, 739x502) Photo by: David M. Rosenthal Location: IRT Substation 21	Image 8321 (89k, 477x748) Photo by: David M. Rosenthal Location: IRT Substation 21	Image 8322 (127k, 492x745) Photo by: David M. Rosenthal Location: IRT Substation 21	Image 8324 (90k, 493x748) Photo by: David M. Rosenthal Location: IRT Substation 21