The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1892-12-16
ALMOST FINISHED.
How Work Progresses on the ]. c. G.
BIS Electric Power Station.

People riding up and down on the
Grand street and Montgomery street lines
of horsecars often wonder what sort of a
concern is the big brick power station OF
the Jersey City and Bergen Railroad
Company which stands out so boldly and
prominently in the meadows between the
streets. AS far as they could see, it is
nothing more than plain brick building
with tall chimney and of no more inter
esU than the hundreds of other buildings
like it, situated in every part of the city.
But if those people should enter the
building, they would find it one of more
than ordinary in terest. The building has
but one floor and two rooms. The first
you enter from the Grand street side is a
large spacious one. ITO feet long by 65
feet wide. On its floor are six platforms
about two feet high. upon three of which
are curious looking arrangements, which
attract your attention and arouse your
curiosity.
IL you are nothing of an electrical n
each OF these arrangements will look TO
you as though some one had thrown
down huge bale-like coil of thick. black
wires; placed another on top of 1t;
Draced it up on each side with similar
bales; thea thrown promiscuously around
the whole mass lot of copper strips and
spring and rubber handle, and finally
placed over the whole conglomeration a
huge semi-circular frame OF iron.
POWERFUL GENERATORS.
If, on the other hand, you are an cleo
trlc sharp, you will see at once that this
nglomeration is 200 Kilowath genera
tor, ,and you will Immediately enthuse over
It's armatures and the many other points
of interest which it will have for you.
Back of each Of these generators is
250 cross compound condensing engine
which will drive the generator and pro-
duces the electricity which. by the new
year, will whisk the residents of the
Heights up aud down Montgomery
street at speed they never dreamed Of
enjoying in Jersey City.
Against the southern wall are two
large grained boards which look like an
improved bulletin board, but which in
reality are switch-boards, and in lew
days they will be covered with wires and
switches by which the current can be
turned off or on the various routes and
held in check. Underneath the flooring,
where the engines stand. is a mass of
pipes and complicated machinery for con-
denslng purposes.
That is all there Is in this larger por-
tion of the building. A door ia the
northern wall opens into the boiler room
This is forty five feet wide and 11O feet
long and at present contains Two three
hundred horse power boilers.
TO MEET FUTURE NEEDS.
The power station has been erected for
the purpose OF meeting the demands of
the future as we'll as the present. AL
though there are but three generators a
present in the generator room, plat
forms have been built for six and the
other three will ,he placed in position as
soon as they are needed. There is also
room for TWO more boilers in the boiler
room.
The place was scene of industry
yesterday. and men were at work under
the direction of Electrician Crawford
getting the generators and other sections
of the plant ready. Today work will be
begun on the switch board. Mr.. Craw-
ford said that he was pushing things for
ward as rapidly as possible and he felt
confident that the cars would be running
by the new year. Considerable difficulty
has been experienced in obtaining the
machinery for plant of such proportions
as the Jersey City and Bergen's and
1t took great deal of time to set it
up after it reached them Moreover. he
said he was proceeding slowly and
thoroughly, so that when once the COM
pany had started the electric cars, it would
not have to stop for some breakdown or
defect in the machinery.
Then again. as the work progressed
many little details not foreseen at the
commencement of the work constantly
sprang up and IL required time to attend
to them