Niagara Falls Power Company - Second Transmission Line

New Niagara Pole Line.

The second power-transmission line of the Niagara Falls Power company, between Niagara Falls and Buffalo, will soon be ready for operation. A force of men is now stringing the cables between Tonawanda and Buffalo, and it is expected that the line will be finished within a few weeks. This new line follows the old pole line from the central station in Niagara Falls over the old right-of-way to the south boundary line of the village of Tonawanda, where it diverges and runs over a new right-of-way to the terminal station on Niagara street in Buffalo. The point at which the old and new transmission lines separate is just to the west of where the old line crosses the New York Central tracks. From this point on to Ontario street the Niagara Falls Power company has purchased an entirely new right-of-way to Ontario street, Buffalo, the distance being 14,830 feet. Then the new pole line runs along Ontario street for a distance of 7,000 feet to the terminal station above referred to. By the new route a saving of 3.18 miles in distance is accomplished.

On the poles of the old line there are six copper cables, or two three-phase systems. The cables that are being strung on the new line are of aluminum. Their size is 300,000 circular mils and they are each made up of 37 strands, whereas the old copper cables have buy 19 strands each. The diameter of the aluminum cables is larger than that of the copper cables, but both are bare. The lightness of the aluminum cables, as compared with the copper construction, allows the elongation of the spans, which on the copper line are about 75 feet; on the new aluminum line the average is 112 1/2 feet. At present only three aluminum cables are being strung, which form one three-phase system. The insulators on the new line were manufactured by C. S. Knowles of Boston, Mass. The shank of the pin on which they set is 2 1/4 inches, which is a little heavier than the shank of the pin on the old line.

When the Niagara Falls Power company originally projected the Niagara power transmission it arranged for a transmission at either 11,000 or 22,000 volts, and all the transformers and other apparatus in use on the transmission are designed for that service. It has long been intimated that the voltage on the Niagara-Buffalo line was about to be changed, but up to the present time this has not been done. However, it is the intention of the Niagara Falls Power company, as soon as the new aluminum transmission line is completed, to change the voltage on both the copper line and the aluminum line to 22,000 volts. As the aluminum line is nearly completed, it is expected that this change will soon take place.

In the construction of the new transmission line every effort has been made to have it as straight as possible. With this object in view, the new right-of-way from the point where the old and the new lines diverge runs parallel along the practically straight right-of-way of the New York Central, the pole line following along the west side of the tracks. Then from Ontario street down to the terminal station, the line is almost straight. While the new line has been built on these ideas and plans, the Niagara Falls Power company has also been straightening out the old line in the vicinity of North Tonawanda, where it was quite crooked. The construction of the new line on as straight lines as possible and the bringing of the old line to the same condition is occasioned by a realization that there is less liability to interruption of the service where the line is straight. But the Niagara Falls Power company and its Buffalo patrons have no complaint to make owing to interruptions to the service for the company has been extremely fortunate in this respect.

In its general construction, the new line is built very much like the old line. The poles used average 35 feet in length, which allows 22 feet clear of the ground. The aluminum cable was manufactured by the Pittsburg Reduction company. In adopting it for service on this second transmission line, the Niagara Falls Power company displays its confidence in the product of a plant located on its own lands — in fact, in an industry that was the pioneer user of Niagara tunnel power.

New Niagara Pole Line. — New Aluminum Line to the Right, Copper Line on the Left.