Another whatizzit? puzzle - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2014, 01:45:42 am
content: The building pictured below is rather grandiose and decorative. Can you say where it may be found, and for what purpose it was constructed? (As you may guess, it has something to do with electrons.)

author: TerraHertz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2014, 05:11:02 am
content: Would it be a pumping building, above an underground water reservoir?Either that or a sewage pumping station, though it would probably have tall vents if it was sewage.Little idea which city it might be, though I'd guess London.I notice there are two of the buildings, at each end of that structure.Did you shop out the text on the signs?For people who like guessing locations, tryhttp://www.geoguessr.com/Caution, it's really addictive and time consuming.

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2014, 05:31:15 am
content: No, it's not a pumping station.I did remove the name from the street sign otherwise it would be too easy to Google it. However, the red lettering on the sign says "City of Westminster", which would place it in London.The whole thing is one structure, including the features at each end and the length in the middle. The flat part on the roof with the the steps leading up to it is a public garden, put there to replace the original leafy garden that was on the same site before the building was constructed.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2014, 06:43:37 am
content: Something to do with Marconi?

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2014, 07:42:12 am
content: No, nothing to do with Marconi.The building is in Mayfair, which is a very expensive part of London. The building is there because what it encloses needed to be in close proximity to the surrounding area and not somewhere far away with lower land values.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 20, 2014, 07:48:39 am
content: Duke St electrical substationedit: I only know this because I used to be in a "Whereis?" Flikr group with a bunch of friends, and one decided to muck us all up by including a few pics from his trip to London...

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2014, 08:31:42 am
content: Yes, it is indeed an electricity substation, also known as Brown Hart Gardens. Commissioned by the Metropolitan Electric Supply Company (METESCo) and designed by architect Charles Stanley Peach, it was completed around 1905. It is still in operation today, although one presumes the electrical stuff inside it has been through a few modernization cycles since then.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2014, 08:48:56 am
content: It may not even be in use anymore----there are quite a few "substations" around my home city which arenow used for other purposes,& I imagine London would have had many more.

author: electronics man
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2014, 09:02:25 am
content: In Britain many old utility buildings, such as pumping stations and substations, are beautiful pieces of architecture. The Victorians were really proud of there technology.

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2014, 09:28:37 am
content: Quote from: vk6zgo on April 20, 2014, 08:48:56 amThis one, though, is still fully functional:https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/internet/en/news-and-press/press-releases/5million-upgrade-for-Soho-electricity-network.htmlDemand for electricity only increases, and space to locate infrastructure in a densely populated city is in short supply:http://library.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/library/en/RIIO/Asset_Management_Documents/High_Value_Projects_Justification/UKPN_LPN_LRE_6105_West+End.pdfThe above document indicates that the Duke Street converts 132 kV to 11 kV with a capacity of 134 MVA.Quote

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2014, 02:55:42 pm
content: It could have one of those old mercury rectifiers inside.