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ELECTRICAL DEPARTMENT (A picture story) :New Radio System Moving Overhead Lines —Our Substations — Pigeon Trouble!

Cover Story, p. 15

.>>

RADIO DISPATCHERS at Sentous giving in-structions to Supervisors over new transmittingequipment installed in June and July. From leftare Walter E. Lohman, W. H. Morgan, and JackRedding, three of seven regular and four extraDispatchers under Chief Dispatcher C. E. Carlson.All three boards handle the entire MTA system.

•juice

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Special Work Like Installing New Two-Way Radios,Altering Overhead for 7th & Boyle Rail Detour,

Wiring New Construction at South Park Shops,Plus Operation and Maintenance of Power System,Keeps 100 Electrical Department Employees Hopping

ON JUNE 25, Radio StationKMA-454, by authority of theFederal Communications Commis-sion, took to the air from MTA'sdispatching office at Division 20,l2th Place and Sentous Sts., broad-casting on a frequency of 43.78megacycles.

On the same day, at 12:01 p.m.,Radio Station KMF-206, the olddispatching station in the PacificElectric Building, went off the airfor good.

New two-way radios, tuned tothe new frequency, were installed

in 77 MTA automobiles andtrucks.

Completely new transmittingequipment was also installed. Thisincluded three new dispatchers'boards at Sentous, each coveringthe entire system; a new transmitter(KMA-454) o n Mt. Verdugo, Glen-dale, which receives Dispatchers'calls by telephone line and rebroad-casts them to the mobile units; anda new transmitter on Mt. Modjeska,20 miles east of Santa Ana, with thecall letters KMF-206, the same asthe discontinued station. The Mt.

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SUPERVISOR Stanley J. Whitelock relays trafficinformation to Dispatcher over new two-wayradio in his car. "We don't get the interferencefrom other radios we used to get," he says. "Alsothere's less boom because of more treble, lessbass." A total of 77 new radios have been in-• stalled in cars and trucks of various departments.

Modjeska transmitter, to be placedin operation in late July, receivesDispatchers' calls by microwavetransmission at 6,000 megacyclesfrom a beamed transmitter atop theTransit Authority Building at 1060S. Broadway, and rebroadcaststhem at 43.78 megacycles. Dis-patchers' calls reach the Broadwaytower by wire.

The Dispatcher may broadcastfrom either KMA-454 or KMF-906 by the flick of a switch, butiay not use both at the same time.

Broadcasts from mobile units arereceived at both Mt. Verdugo andMt. Modjeska and transmitted tothe Dispatcher by telephone linefrom the, former, or by microwaveto the Broadway tower and thenceby wire from the latter. The Dis-patcher may receive from which-ever station gives the better signals.

Still further to improve recep-tion by the Dispatcher, supple-mentary receivers connected bywire to the Dispatcher's officehave been placed at variouspoints: Palm Loop, Mt. Washing-

ton, Division 20, Division 2, and1060 S. Broadway. They pick upand intensify calls from mobileunits which move into their area.

Thus ended the old, inconven-ient dual system of radio dispatch-ing thanks to MTA's ElectricalDepartment.

At about the same time, prog-ress in the. construction of theGolden State Freeway requiredthat a rail detour be constructedat 7th St. and Boyle Ave. to permitthe construction of a bridge. TheElectrical Department line crewsset new polen, and altered thecourse of both the trolley wire andthe. high line.

A new blacksmith shop, somenew pits, and other alterations atthe South Park Shops requirednew wiring. The Electrical De-partment sent crews.

Then there: was the regularmaintenance and Operation of theelectrical power system, including17 substations, transmission lines,and switching equipment. Thiswork had to go an 24 hours a day

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RADIO INSTALLATION— Old unitbeing removed from car (below); newunit being put in (right). New radiochassis is only about half the sizeof the old. Also replaced were an-tmna, microphone, speaker, wiring.

"JUICE"

to keep the rail cars, trolley coach-es, Shop and office equipment andlights going.

Hear the words of the Superin-tendent of the Electrical Depart-ment, Leland E. Dye:

"The job of the Electrical De-partment is to install and maintainall MTA electrical equipment, in-cluding substations, high-voltagetransmission lines, the power dis-tribution System, trolley wire,poles, two-way radio equipment,electric track switches, the trackSignal system, and electrical equip-ment in shops and car houses. Theonly electrical equipment we donot maintain is that in v ehieles,except for two-way radios."

Pictures on these and followingpages illustrate some of the workcarried on by Mr. Dye and hisforte of 105, including 48 in sub-stations, 43 in overhead lines, 8 inelectrical construction, a RadioTechnician, and a small officeforoe.

TESTING new radio installation atDispatcher's office is D. T. Sullivan(on ladder), Electronics Tech-nician for Electrical Department.

New Two-Way Radios

idlikALVAGE SAVES MONEY—Groundman Geo.W"Boofus") Wessner . cleans up nuts, bolts, and

electrical Parts by wire brushing off dirt andcorrosion, and stacks rejuvenated materialsneatly an shelves at 16th St., for farture use.

Salvage

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SITE of rail detour to beconstructed at 7th & Boylebeing inspected by Supt. ofElectrical Equipment L. E.Dye, right; Supervising LineForeman H. W. McTaggart,left; and a Pakistan visitor atMTA, Q. M. Murtaza, Dep-uty Secretary, Ministry ofIndustries, Government of,Pakistan. Looking west fromBoyle Ave., with 7th St.in left background.

Rail Detour,"JUICE" 7th & Boyle:

Constructing

The Overhead

LINEMAN George Wright climbs pole to drill hole (picture at right) through whichto put an eye to hold guy wire that will support trolley wire. He has tools, rope,and measuring tape fastened to his Belt. Driver-Groundman Lewis Hunter, acting ashelper, holds other end of tape with which they will measure height to put guy wire.

4 tAtiFUF

C)10798

11INSERTING INSULATOR betweensections of guy wire is Linem anLeader Richard jellison. This is doneto protect passersby in rase trolley wireshould break and bit support structure.

ON TOWER TRUCK, Linemen HaroldIones, left, and joe Carter string guywires under 2500 lbs. tension as supportfor trolley wire, which is pulled intocurved shape over detour at 2800 lbs.

TROLLEY WIRE for double-track detour is completed and roadscraper is levelingroadbed for rails to be put in by Way and Structures. Picture at left: looking west fromBoyle Ave. Picture at right: looking northeast from 7th St. Detour is temporary.

AT POWER WINCI -I on truck locatedon 7th St. west of Boyle are HeavyGang Foreman B. C. Hornseth, left,and Lineman Joe Planellas, threadingrope over crossarrns of poles on 7th.

FASTENING CABLE TO ROPE areMessrs. Hornseth and Planellas. Powerwinch on truck located east of Boylewill then pull rope, cable, into place.

"JUICE"

THE GOLDEN STATE FREE-WAY, now under construction, willcross over the Santa Ana Freewayas well as 7th St. near the inter-section of 7th and Boyle. A bridgeis therefore required at or near theintersection. Part of 7th St. mustbe dug up before the bridge maybe built.

A section of MTA's 16,500-volt,3-wire transmission. lines was un-derground in Seventh St. and hadto be moved. Supervising LineForeman H. W. McTaggart andhis line crew put them away outof danger on some poles. This isquite a trick, in case you've neverseen it done. First, you must"thread" the big poles, some 75feet long, through the maze ofoverhead already present at al-most any intersection. Tall cranesand men holding guide ropes areessential, and the man at the cranemust be sharp-eyed and quick tohandle the controls.

Rail Detour,7th & Boyle:

Moving theHigh Line

After the poles are all set, thenext trick is to string three heavy( 72-lb. to the foot) copper cablesas thick as a fat thumb along thetops of the poles. The MTA wayis first to string some light cordwhere the cable is to go, then uskhaul up some heavy rope by mem!'"of the cord, and then to fasten thecable to the rope and pull on therope with Power winches while aLineman atop each pole keepscareful watch.

His hand constantly in motionmeans everything's OK, but if hishand stops, everything stops untilwhatever was wrong is fixed.

Once the cable is pulled intoplace, he fastens it to the insula-tors on the crossarms, makes neces-sary electrical connections, and thejob's done—in a far, far longertime than it takes to say so.

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UP SHE GOES!—Cable being raised.Note Lineman on pole; he signals 'OK'.

HIGH LINE CABLE—bare, strandedcopper wire—being paid out from spoolon truck on 7th St. west of Boyle.Messrs. McTaggart, left, and Hornsethhelp keep proper tension on the cable.

PULLING ROPE with cable attached are Utility Man Paul Maris, left, and Ground-man George Pappas, using power winch of truck on 7th St. east of Boyle ( left-handpicture). SECURING CABLE to insulator on pole is Lineman Al Gibson, standingon frail-looking platform 75 feet in air ( center picture). WAVING HIS ARM upand down regtilarly as cable is pulled into place is Lineman Kenneth Stansbury, stand-ing in the middle of Boyle Ave., which has been partially blocked to traffic. He istaking bis cue from men waving from truck west of Boyle, and is being watched bymen at truck east of Boyle. Linemen on poles are also waving. If anyone's arm stops,all operations are stopped until onc who stoppe(' waving again starts (photo at right).

"JUICE" Substations

TYPICAL SUBSTATION — Slauson"Sub" ( above), at Slauson and TowncAves., with (picture at right) networkof transmission lines and switchescarrying voltages from 16,500 (as webuy it from the Edison Co.) downto 600 (what we use an trolley wires).Network is behind the substation.

RECTIFIER, the heart of the substation,transforms 960 volts of alternating cur-rent to 600 volts of dir ect currentthat reaches trolley wires from feederlines. Principle of the rectifier is thatcurrent will pass in only one directionthrough ionized gas in a high vacuum,says E. A. Ness, Superintendent of Sub-stations ( shown standing hesidc rectifier).

STUDYING BLUEPRINTS of some pos-sible changes at the Central SwitchingStation, 7th and Alameda, are Frank H.Markley, Supervisor of Electrical Facili-ties, and H. H. Copenhaver, Foreman ofSubstations, Southern Division. This di-Vision has seven substations—five automa-tics and two portables—that supply powerto Watts and Long Beach rail lines.

POWER SUPERVISOR M.J. Hudak, shown in the Cen-tral Power Office in the sub-station at 16th & San Pedro,is one of 12 such supervisorswho get all calls for powertroubles; to whom all Substa-tion Operators report by tele-phone every hour on thehour; and who, through asystem of red lights in theiroffices, keep an eye on highlines and rectifiers in eachautomatic substation. Manualsubstation troubles must bereported by the SubstationOperator. The Power Super-visor keeps a daily log.

IN IGEON TROUBLE—Driver-Groundman Lewis C. Hunter, right, shows Power Su-ervisor Russell Peterson how a pigeon came to roost on this 16,500-volt high line

switch insulator and was roasted when he shorted the switch. The force of the voltageshattered the porcelain insulator as shown and also melted a heavy connecting cable( top). The sudden jolt of current in the high line automatically opened an oil switch(see next page), installed for just such emergencies, however, and the line was saved.But lights in the substation at 16th St. went out, and before Substation Operator GlennMcBride could find the trouble he had to get back his lights by switching to anotherline. Checking bis station, he found a teil-tale light on his remote control hoardthat showed the oil switch at Slauson Substation had been kicked open, indicatingtrouble on the connecting high line. This fact he at once reported to the Radio Dis-patcher at Sentous (page 2), and to Power Supervisor Hudak. McBride then wentoutside and immediately found the cause of the trouble—the pigeon in the brokeninsulator. Had he not done so, Hudak would have sent out a patrolman (Lineman) tolocate the trouble. As it was, McBride opened disconnects at the substation, LinemanJames Thagard opened pole-top switches at Vernon and Hooper, and the line was outof service. The facts were reported by Hudak to Mr. McTaggart, whose crew repaireddamage. A regular system of reporting every step taken to all concerned insured safety.

"JUICE"

OIL SWITCH—A device for insuring the safety oflines of extremely high voltage, such as•the high-line described an the previous page, the bigswitch is operated in an oil bath to prevent dam-alte to its parts by the arcing of current. Inemergencies, its action is automatic. Here theswitch has been raised from its oil tank below(see picture at lower left) for cleaning and in-spection. Leader B. G. Allen shows switch inopen position, left, and closed position, right.

Cleaning an Oil Switch

gle

CLEANING and inspect-ing oil switch at SlausonSubstation are B. G. Fox,left, and J. W. Martin. FILTERING OIL from each of the 50-gallon switch tanks

are A. J. Jenks, left, holding pipe through which cleanoil is going into barrel; and J. H. Hall, operating filterpump. Oil must be absolutely clean to be a non-con-ductor. It passes through 140 filter papers (at top ofpump), and about two hours are needed to filter the to-tal of 150 gallons. Dirty oil is pumped from tanks intobarrels, filtered into clean harre], pumped back in tanksOil switches are serviced regularly once a year—moreoften if lightning—or pigeons!—interrupt service.

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"JUICE(Concluded)

er

KEY MAN — Walter Whiteside, ChiefClerk and Joint Pole Field Engineer,Electrical Department, does cost estimat-ing an jobs, handles telephone matterswith the telephone company, arranges forMTA use of poles owned jointly by utilitycompanies, and manages office routines.

SOUTHERN DIVISION TOWER TRUCK — Tightening trolley wire and repairingbroken span at Watts Substation. On tower are A. L. Rust, Leader, at left, and ManuelMontes, Lineman. Circled are Southern Division Line Foreman T. R. ("Dave") Foyle,right, and Driver-Groundman Norse Cfick, getting ins truc ti ons from Mr. Foyle.

LAYING CONDUITS and electric light fix-tures in new pits dug at South Park Shops areF. W. Webb, Leadman, Mt, and A. W. Ennis,Electrician. Conduits must be laid beforeconcrete is poured into forms (seen in photo).In photo at right, P. C. Tupper, Foreman. Elec-trical Construction, right, checks with Mr.Webb measurements for height of pit lights.

CommendationsHonored in June

THE FOLLOWING OPERA-TORS received commendationsduring June for their courtesy andskill:

C. F. Adams, 4; U. V. Adams, 4; F.A. Ayres, 7; A. P. Baker, 9; R. M. Baker,5; H. M. Baldridge, 20; L. H. Bardon,3; Eugene Barnett, 4; S. Benavides, 11;T. F. Benedict, 4; L. S. Bernard, 2;L. F. Bonnett, 20; James Bradley, 4;W. G. Brewer, 4; G. A. Briggs, 6; A. R.Brown, 4; C. C. Brown, 7; H. A. Brown,2; C. H. Bull, 8; Manuel Burgess, 5;C. T. Burris, 4.

B. W. Cantrell, 1; H. R. Castellano, 5;H. N. Chambers, 9; W. H. Chaney, 1;Arthur Conley, 2; W. Copithorne, 5; JohnCorr, 8; D. L. Correll, 12; E. W. Cotter-ly, 5; W. C. Crabe, 6; A. L. Crouch, 10;T. G. Cumberford, 3; B. W. Curtis, 5;Roscoe Dawkins, 4; J. E. Deal, 4; F. J.Diehl, 7; L. S. Dodge, 7; C. F. Ely, 20;Harvey Evans, 4; J. J. Evinger, 11; ErmalFain, 4; Harold Fish, 6; C. C. Fisher, 6;J. L. Foote, 12; R. A. Forsythe, 6.

Frank Gardner, 11; Oscar Gibson, 2;G. 0. Givens, 1; H. A. Goforth, 7; W. R.L. Goodman, 5; J. A. Goyer, 7; LucianGrant, 6; P. B. Greet, 9; D. E. Grimm,4; Michel M. Gross, 7; F. 0. Guental,5; A. V. Hand, 8; G. S. Harrison, 4;G. P. Hayes, 11; P. B. Hill, 20; L. H.Hinkle, 7; R. D. Hindley, 6; R. D. Hurd,11; G. M. Holland, 11; S. D. Holland,2; H. H. Huber, 10.

B. L. Hunter, 9; 1-1. C. 1-Tunten, 11;F. V. Hutchinson, 5; L. D. Jensen, 4;S. L. Jensen, 5; C. E. Johnson, 2; N. M.Jones, 1; W. E. Jones, 4; D. H. Kern, 4;G. E. King, 11; S. A. Knight, 3; R. D.Kornell, 20; M. T. Kretchmer, 9; J. J.LaFond, 4; G. G. Logue, 10; G. H.Lynch, 6; G. S. Mattem, 2; N. 0. Mayer,5; L. P. McAvoy, 4; H. B. McCollum, 9;G. R. McKenzie, 4; P. L. McMillan, 1;W. H. Menges, 7; B. J. Miller, 9; E. F.Morgan, 6; A. W. Moore, 3; R. A. Moore,8; W. D. Moorehead, 4; H. W. Morrow,5.

F. P. Nanny, 6; H. G. Norie, 5; E. A.O'Connor, 12; L. P. Parker, 20; S. 0.Parker, 2; J. C. Pateman, 2; R. J. Patton,5; 0. W. Perdue, 11; F. A. Peters, 10;R. V. Peters, 10; S. K. Pritchard, 1;Venice Pratt, 20; H. R. Quibell, 2; S. W.Rew, 12; F. 0. Rider, 7; Cartrell Robin-son, 4; Seymour Rona, 6; B. N. Rubin, 8;M. B. Ruf, 7; J. R. Rufer, 8; GonsalezSanchez, 2; P. N. Schmidt, 2; Ann G.

Operator of the MonthV. C. ("DICK") PRETTYMAN,

Long Beach Division Operatorwhose name has been for years a

synonym for ,courtesy andgood fellowshipamong his pas-sen ger s, waschosen July Op-erator of themonth by threejudges from tioCulver C .

ChamberCommerce.

V. C. Prettyman But they did-n't know this about Dick. Theyknew only that a passenger hadwritten a letter portraying an out-standing Operator whose namethey did not know because allletters in the monthly tontest areretyped for judging, with all iden-tifying data left blank. They readsuch phrases as: "has a smile anda cheery word for everyone whoboards"—"has the ability to under-stand and appreciate someoneelse's feelings in a given situation"—"I saw him run after a womanwho had left a package on the busand personally return it to her'"lifted a heavy suitcase off the 1gage rack and set it down on thecurb for an elderly lady."

Schulz, 4; C. J. Shaw, 11; S. B. Sowell,2; T. W. Spurgeon, 20; W. Y. Stearns, 4;W. C. Stephens, 11; G. M. Stoute, 4;P. W. Stringer, 7; W. C. Suey, 4; W. C.Swarthout, 11; J. S. Theisen, 4.

E. A. Thoman, 8; F. H. Thompson, 9;W. B. Tibbs, 20; V. M. Torres, 2; E. C.Turner, 20; C. A. Uland, 3; H. A. Walter,5; R. J. Walters, 4; P. J. Wargo, 3;Elodies Watson, 11; G. G. Weaver, 5;R. L. Webster, 6; D. B. White, 4; V. F.White, 4; H. L. Whitley, 8; A. J. Wier,5; B. L. Williams, 4; G. C. Williams, 5;F. D. Wilson, 4; H. J. Winett, 10; H. C.Woodie, 11; Harry Zipper, 4.

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474e Emblem

IN THIS ISSUE

"JUICE" 2-13Glimpses of the Work of the

Electrical Department

New Two-Way Radios 2-4

Salvage Saves Money.. 5

Building Overhead .. .6-7for Rail Detourat 7th & Boyle

Moving a High Line ..8-9

Substations —and Pigeons! . , .10-12

Commendations 14

Published every month tor employees

of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit

Authority and their families, by the

Business Development and Information

Division, Suite 203, Transit Authority

Building, 1060 South Broadway, Los An-

geles 15, California.

Carl P. MillerChairman

Clarence A. WinderVice -Chairman

C. M. (Max) GiilissExecutive D;rector

Mombers: Don Bclding, Fred 5. Dean,Hayden F. Jonos, Russell A. Quisenberry,Arthur J. Will.

James H. Raport, Publisher

W. Warren Silliman, Editor

Vol. 1 July, 1959 No. 12

OUR COVER

Funland Ticket CenterFIRST STEP in a summer pro-

motion to remind tourists as wellas residents of Southern Californiathat all sorts of interesting placesmay be easily and comfortablyreached via MTA buses, trolleycoachen and street cars, was thisdisplay over the ticket and inform-ation counters at the Sixth andMain Station.

Information Clerks visible be-bind the counter at the left are

liae Ruffner, nearest camera, andatharine Haldeman.From the opening day, June 30,

public interest has been stirred bythe promotion and inquiries arecontinuing, at an unusual rate, ac-cording to Betty Wood, Chief PAXand Information Operator. Peopleare especially interested in Dis-neyland, Pacific Ocean Park, Cata-lina, and the homes of motion pic-ture stars, she states.

In Memori amTHE EMBLEM regretfully re-

ports the passing in June of theakillowing :1111/John M. Cook, retired Air Brake

Foreman; June 9; survived by bisdaughter, Mrs. Lavenia Bates; andhis son, Robert H. Cook.

Charles H. Engstrom, retiredSwitchman, Division 1; June 29;survived by his wife, Myra.

Dwight 0. King, Operator, Divi-sion 6; June 3; survived by his wife,Amelia.

Leo D. Merriman, retired CarRepairer; June 21; survived by hiswife, Lela.

Francisco Paramo, Laborer, Wayand Structures; June 24; survivedby his wife, Celia.

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THE MTA EMB1060 S. Broadway, Los Angeles 15, Calif.Form 3547 requested

BULK RATEU. S. POSTAGEPAID

Los Angeles, Calif.Permit No. 2123i

First of Regional eapsShows S.F. Valley Routes

THIS IS THE COVERof MTA's new "Guide forGoing Places in the SanFernando Valley," producedthrough the combined ef-forts of the Advertising andSales Promotion Dept. andthe Schedule Bureau.

First of a projected seriesof regional maps showingMTA routes and points ofinterest in different areas onthe system, the San Fer-nando "Guide" was madeavailable to residents of theValley on july 15.

Opened Hat, the brochuremeasures 14 x 20 inches.One side has the map; theother an illustrated descrip-tion of points of interest andhow to reach them via MTA.

The "Guide" is printed ingreen.