Old Substations

When I was a kid, I noticed a lot of the substations were built with wood posts and used large wooden beams to hold up the equipment. Over the years, however, many of these have given way to newer substations built out of longer-lasting steel. However, I've come across a few surviving wooden substations, and pictures of these follow.

Bottineau main substation Bottineau, ND main 41.6kV/4.16kV substation (just outside downtown) - This is the larger of two substations in town. There is a smaller one serving the fairgrounds and college on the north side of town.


Sherwood substation Sherwood, ND 33kV/2400V substation (on south side of town) - On the left pole, note the standoffs holding the pipe for the underground service connection away from the pole to make it easier for the lineman to get up the pole with climbers. The circuit in back is the original circuit, and the circuit in the foreground was a later addition.


York substation York, ND 41.6kV/4.16kV substation (across the highway from town) - This is an example of an 'inline' substation typically used to serve small towns.


Little Rock substation Little Rock, IA 34.5kV/12.5kV substation (a couple miles south of town) - This is another example of an 'inline' substation, except that a normal substation transformer has been hoisted up between the two poles.


Heaton substation Heaton, ND 41.6kV/2400V substation (on road south of town) - Here's one of the smallest substations I've seen. This substation only uses 2 legs of the 41.6kV line to supply this one-horse town.


Transformer bank near Michigan, ND 41.6kV/480V transformer bank east of Michigan, ND - It seems there was no convenient 13kV REA line nearby to supply power to this particular missile silo, so the power company simply ran a branch line from a nearby 41.6kV transmission line to the silo.


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