NYC subways slowly upgrading from 1930s-era technology

[mahatmakanejeeves]

I think I'll let marmar take a few minutes off.

Hat tip, Trainorders: Nostalgia & History > NY Subway Signal Article

NYC subways slowly upgrading from 1930s-era technology

Dec 21, 2014 by By Verena Dobnik

New York City's subways—the nation's biggest mass transit network—serve more than 6 million daily riders who depend largely on a signal system that dates back to the Great Depression. ... Antiquated electro-mechanics with thousands of moving parts are still critical to operations. Dispatchers still monitor most trains from 24-hour underground "towers," and they still put pencil to paper to track their progress. ... That eight-decade-old system is slowly being replaced by 21st-century digital technology that allows up to twice as many trains to safely travel closer together. But there's a big caveat: It could take at least 20 years for the city's 700 miles of tracks to be fully computerized.
....

"We're at the physical limits of what the original technology can carry," acknowledges Adam Lisberg, spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that runs the New York City Transit's subways. ... But he says safety is not being sacrificed.

This Dec. 16, 2014 photo shows manual levers on a section of the MTA subway interlocking switch and signal control board, in New York. Transit officials are now replacing the 1930s manual signal system with 21st century digital technology that will allow more trains to travel closer together and a growing ridership to move around the city faster. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

"This stuff is old, but it works—it works really well," he says, his voice rising above the roar of a 400-ton train passing through a Greenwich Village station. ... Much of New York's subways continue to operate with the equipment from the 1930s, kept running by a maintenance team that's forced to fabricate replacement parts long out of production.

I bought a book at a yard sale a few years back. It's New York's Forgotten Substations: The Power Behind the Subway. It was published by the Princeton Architectural Press.

Those substations had rooms full of rotary converters. Here's an article by the author:

Disappearing Histories: A Conversation with Christopher Payne



IRT Substation #14, 96th Street, Manhattan (L: Rotary Converter, R: Exterior)
Photos by Christopher Payne

Not enough old stuff yet? Okay, try this:

Relocating the 50th Street Substation

Admittedly, that's a New York Central installation, but the idea is the same.