The Pacific Electric Sub-Station No. 14 is a former

traction substation A traction substation, traction current converter plant, rectifier station or traction power substation (TPSS) is an electrical substation that converts electric power from the form provided by the electrical power industry for public utility ...

in Santa Ana,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It was built by the

Pacific Electric Railway The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...

to provide electricity to run the railway's

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...

s in central

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

. The building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1983.

Substation function

Electric trolley and interurban cars required 600

volt The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827). Defin ...

direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or eve ...

(DC) to operate a car's DC

traction motor A traction motor is an electric motor used for propulsion of a vehicle, such as locomotives, electric or hydrogen vehicles, elevators or electric multiple unit. Traction motors are used in electrically powered rail vehicles ( electric multiple ...

s. The function of a "substation" was to convert very high voltage

alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...

(AC) from a

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

, often miles away, for the necessary conversion to a lower voltage DC. High voltage AC entered the substation, was dropped to a lower voltage by a

transformer A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...

, and then fed to a device called a Rotary Converter for the conversion to 600 volts DC. Substations were required on every trolley and

interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 ...

line in the United States and often still are for today's subway and light rail lines. Later the very large and cumbersome rotary converters, as much as in diameter rotating and vibrating and requiring a human round-the-clock operator, were replaced by small package solid state converters with no operator.

History

Pacific Electric Railway's Santa Ana substation #14 was built in 1907 and still stands. It is a single-story, rectangular building made of brick with minimal classical ornamentation in its design. There are hollow pipes at each end for electric wires to enter and exit. Very high voltage

(AC) from the Watts Steam Generating Station ( away) entered at one end of the building and was converted (by rectification by a six foot high massive rotating machine called a rotary converter) to 600 volts

(DC) necessary to power the interurban trains, and the DC wires then exited the building at the opposite end. A

was located inside the building to drop the high voltage (delivered from Watts) to a lower voltage AC for the rotary converter. This substation powered the Watts–Santa Ana Line, the Santa Ana–Orange Line, and the Santa Ana–Huntington Beach Line and was in service from 1907 until the cessation of passenger service in 1950. It is the last former Pacific Electric substation building remaining in Orange County. Substation #14 was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 due to its association with the Pacific Electric Railways extensive operation in Orange County as well as for its architecture. The building was partially restored in 2020, replacing the roof and converting interior spaces.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in California Electrical substations Sub-Station No. 14 Buildings and structures in Santa Ana, California History of Santa Ana, California National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, California Railway buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in California Railway buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in California Transportation buildings and structures in Orange County, California 1907 establishments in California

Substation function

History

See also

References