EL Wiring Query

The New York City TA has a number of substations around their El's    The wiring runs into them and would be very easy to duplicate

As for securing your track to Bridgeboss components you should ask Jim Robinson from Bridge boss for his recommendation.   We have crosspieces on our structure that we were able to drive a screw every two feet   You can also use silicon adhesive under the track at the cross pieces

Someone here posted pictures of some elevated rail that they had added power to by using small tubing up the support structures and made it look like drain pipe like you would see coming from a bridge or something. Seems like they used Plastruct or Evergreen styrene products? I thought it looked pretty good. I am sorry, but I can't remember who posted the pictures?

I've seen what appear to be feeder cables running up the columns. They emerge from a concrete block cast next to the column footing and travel up to the underside of the stringer beams, where they then jog over to rise up to the third rail.

---PCJ

Thanks everyone. 

Ben - I don't get down to the Bronx very often and a Google search didn't pull up any images of the type of wiring in your image.  If you have any other such images or from different angles, could you please post them here?  Thanks. 

Peter

Not Ben, but a Bronx resident here. Go to Google Maps and enter "White Plains Road and 224 Street". Hit up Street View mode and it should plop you right down under the el.

 Have a look at column number 318 for a good example of an elevated feeder. The conduits run up to the underside of the stringer beams and connect to the third rail.

---PCJ

Hah, well I'm very local to that area. I walk past that particular column at least twice a day

---PCJ

Hello Peter

There are two main ways the EL's get their Electrical feeder supply for both 3rd rails and signal and station lights, circuits.

The oldest 4 Manhattan (and Brooklyn) EL's (built in the 1878-1899 steam locomotive hauled train periods prior to electrification) - when electrified, built small substation buildings along side the EL's at various locations,  These buildings were usually brick, stone  or combinations of both,  with a feeder-cables connector bridge between the building façade and the EL structure and tracks.

I modeled one of these on my O Scale NYC EL Layout - here is my EL SUBSTATION PHOTOS ALBUM with my photos of it from all angles; 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/...ts/72157627892803299

THANKS BEN F for posting a photo of the street level underside view of my O-Scale modeled EL Substation and cable bridge a few messages above in this thread !!

Some of the first 1904 opened IRT Subway system EL Line extensions also had substation houses along their EL's, along with the main E.74th Street huge Manhattan Main Power House, along the East River. 

In later years, cables were run underground from remote sub stations to the EL's, (and subway tunnels) and run up the EL columns where required, to the tracks and etc.  Here are some Prototype photos of these EL Structure "cable columns" - including 3 images of a Power Relay Cabinet House built attached along the side of an IRT (West Farms line) EL on Westchester Avenue, Bronx, near the Intervale Ave. Station.  You can clearly see the cables coming from below ground, along the columns, and up to the structure !  I have provided captions to all my photos shown below - place your  cursor over the, each, photo to see the short caption.

So these photos, and my SUBSTATION photo album,  give you ways to attach your feeder power cables to your model EL with realistic prototype applications !

My O-Scale NYC Model EL system also uses tube-pipes along some EL columns to run power feeder cables upward from the below my streets feeder wiring, to my EL tracks above.

BELOW are a few photos from my SUBSTATION ALBUM of my scratchbuilt IRT "Manhattan Railway Co." Power Substation modeled on the real one that powered the 3rd Ave EL I rode regularly back in my upper Manhattan old neighborhood 6 decades ago !

BELOW are some photos of the REAL 3rd Ave EL East 99th Street SUBSTATION that I based my O-Scale model on,  from my photos collection.  Built in 1900-01 for electrification of the 1876-77 built 3rd Ave. EL, the building still stands today !  All other Manhattan Railway Co. substations followed this same look and design.

Hope this info and all the above photos are of interest and use !

Regards - Joe F