Pacific Electric Railway Company Substation No. 8
About this property
Pacific Electric Railway Company Substation No. 8, also known as the Altadena Substation, is a former traction substation in Altadena, California. It operated under the Pacific Electric Railway and served as the substation for Pasadena area lines. The Pacific Electric traction substation was built in 1905. In addition to providing power to the PE lines, it also powered the Mount Lowe Railway. In 1941, when PE sold its Pasadena area lines to Pasadena City Lines, a subsidiary of National City Lines, the substation was included in the sale. The Substation was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 for its significance as a part of the Pacific Electric Railway. By 1999 it was being used as an office building. In 2016, the Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference opened a thrift store in the building. Electric interurban and trolley cars required 600 volts direct current to operate a car's Direct Current (DC) traction motors. The function of a "substation" was to convert very high voltage alternating current (AC) from a power generating plant (often miles away) for an AC to lower voltage DC conversion. The high voltage AC entered the substation, was dropped in level by a transformer, and the resulting lower voltage AC was then fed to a device called a rotary converter for the conversion to 600 volts DC. Substations existed on every trolley and interurban line in the United States and often still do for today's subway and light rail lines, although the very large and cumbersome rotary converter, as much as 8 feet (2.4 m) in diameter and rotating, has been replaced by solid state converters. Marnell, Harry. "Pacific Electric In Altadena". Retrieved January 7, 2008. - includes maps and images of the Altadena Substation
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Pacific Electric Railway Company Substation No. 8
This page lists Pacific Electric Railway Company Substation No. 8. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Questions about this property
When was Pacific Electric Railway Company Substation No. 8 listed on the National Register?
Pacific Electric Railway Company Substation No. 8 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 9, 1977.
What type of historic resource is Pacific Electric Railway Company Substation No. 8?
Pacific Electric Railway Company Substation No. 8 is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Pacific Electric Railway Company Substation No. 8?
The period of significance for Pacific Electric Railway Company Substation No. 8 is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Pacific Electric Railway Company Substation No. 8?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Pacific Electric Railway Company Substation No. 8 will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
More in Los Angeles County
Historic places, battles, and census history across Los Angeles County.
Explore Los AngelesCounty ›More historic places in California
Browse all historic places in California.
View Californiahistoric sites ›California history
Colonial settlement, territorial period, and statehood narrative.
Californiahistory ›Research the history near this site
An Aubrey US report for an address near Pacific Electric Railway Company Substation No. 8 will include this listing alongside battlefield records and other historical sources within your chosen radius.