> On Jan 4, 2022, at 7:08 PM, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk
> <cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:
>
>> much of it related to Niagara Falls and other power systems
>> modeled after it.
>
> The IIRC oldest US generating station still in operation (on original
> hardware anyway) is at Mechanicville, NY. It is hydroelectric and originally
> fed 40 Hz AC to Schenectady. They just sped up the alternators when they
> connect it to the 60 Hz grid!
>
> I hear the European equivalent of US 25 Hz traction power is 16.6 Hz.
That's one of the choices. When I was in high school, I saw an ad in a
technical (engineering) magazine for an electric train, a "four system" one
that could run anywhere in western Europe. It could handle 1500 V DC (used in
Holland), 3 kV DC, 15 kV AC I think 50 Hz, and 30 kV AC 16.67 Hz -- or maybe
the frequencies were the other way around. An electric system that can handle
a 20:1 ratio of voltage inputs, and probably several megawatts, in a mobile
device is rather impressive. Especially in the 1960s.
paul
