by cell » Wed May 20, 2009 7:40 pm
Thanks Ronnie, I’ve had a look at most of those books and gone through the annual reports at the Mitchell but please if you come across anything you think might help expand this topic it would be great to see it. As a city and country we owe a huge debt to JR Hume, it would be interesting to know if he approves of how RCAHMS and SCRAN restrict the use of his images.
Ben, any new pictures would be great.
Raphael, I’ve been after information for that site for a while but no luck so far, I suspect they are but I think the pylons you refer to may be one of the main grid connections to Glasgow and they are there because of where the old Pinkston power station was but I’m open to correction.
Detailed below is an extract from the 1904 Handbook on the Municipal Enterprises publish by the Corporation of the City of Glasgow book which is the best description I’ve come across regarding the early supply of electricity in Glasgow. Apologies for the verbatim reprint but I think it’s worthwhile having the original text up on the net. This book is a fund of fascinating facts detailing everything that the corporation operated.
ELECTRICITY DEPARTMENT
“Comparatively little had been done in the way of general electricity supply in Glasgow before 1880. By the Corporation Gas Bill of 1882 it was proposed to take statutory powers to supply electricity, but the clauses were struck out before the Bill came before any Parliamentary Committee for consideration. The nearest practical attempt towards a general supply was made by the British Electric Company, Limited, who laid down Gramme dynamos to light the Glasgow and South-Western Railway Company’s St Enoch Street Station in 1879, and by the firm of R.E. Crompton & Co., Chelmsford, who laid down plant in 1879-80 to supply the North British Railway Company’s Queen Street Station with electricity at a stated charge; but these attempts did not develop into a general supply, the railway companies ultimately purchasing the plant and lighting the station themselves. The next attempt towards a general supply was made by Messrs. Muir & Mavor, who in 1879-80 laid down temporary plant on the area now covered by the Municipal Buildings, afterwards removing it to the basement of the General Post Office. Later, in 1884, they placed in Miller Street, permanent plant to supply the General Post Office in George Square, the cables from Miller Street being carried over the tops of the intervening buildings. In regard to the last mentioned supply, it is interesting to note that the Glasgow Post Office was the first post office in the kingdom to be lighted by electricity, and it has been stated that it was owing to the attention of the Post Office Authorities being called to the improved health of the Glasgow officials by the use of this system of lighting that electricity was introduced into London and other post offices.
On 6th June, 1988, the company of Muir, Mavor & Coulson, Limited, was incorporated, and purchased from the firm of Muir, Mavor & Coulson the plant in the Miller Street Station belonging to them. The new company also purchased ground in Little Hamilton Street, off John Street (City), and laid down plant for a general supply. The supply from the Miller Street Station was on the low-tension continuous-current system (100 volts), while the Little Hamilton Street supply, which was also conveyed by overhead wires, was on the high-tension alternating-current system (2,400 volts), transformed on the consumers’ premises to 100 volts. The company, in 1890, applied for a Provisional Order to supply Glasgow generally, as also did the Corporation, but the company withdrew their application in favour of the application by the Corporation, and the latter was duly sanctioned by the Board of Trade under the title of “The Glasgow Corporation Electric Lighting Order, 1890,” and the Act of Parliament confirming this Order received the Royal Assent on 14th August, 1890. Subsequently the Corporation agreed to purchase the company’s undertaking for £15,000.
On 1st March, 1892, the Corporation entered upon possession of Messrs. Muir, Mavor & Coulson’s undertaking. The supply on the high-tension overhead system having only been sanctioned by the Board of Trade to continue until August, 1893, the Corporation proceeded forthwith to lay down a central generating station for the low-tension supply. The Corporation, acting under the Gas Acts, having been constituted the undertakers of the new department, the Gas Committee were entrusted with carrying out the scheme, and in 1891 active steps were taken for putting the powers obtained by the Corporation into execution.
The Corporation purchased ground in Waterloo Street for £8,000, and commenced to erect thereon a generating station in the Spring of 1892. They also, on the advice of Lord Kelvin, adopted the low-tension continuous-current three-wire system at 200 volts pressure, to save the cost of altering existing consumers’ installations, which could be connected to the new system without exchanging the lamps.
On 25th February, 1893, the lighting of some of the public streets by arc lamps, supplied from high-tension continuous-current Brush dynamos, to which they were connected by long-series circuits, was publicly inaugurated, and on Saturday the 22nd April following, the general supply for private lighting was switched on. In August, 1893, the John Street high-tension alternating plant was shut down, all the consumers being transferred to the new low-tension underground mains supplied from Waterloo Street.
Owing to the rapid growth of the undertaking, it soon became evident that the space occupied by the special and separate lighting plant in the Waterloo Street Generating Station would be required for extensions of plant to meet the demands of private consumers. The committee then decided to remove the Brush dynamos from Waterloo Street to John Street, and there to utilise them for street lighting purposes in connection with the engines originally put down by Muir, Mavor & Coulson, Limited, the high-tension alternating-current dynamos having in the meantime been disposed of. The John Street Works, when re-opened and utilised for the purpose of street electric lighting, only supplied about 100 h.p. Matters continued in this position until 1897, the plant at Waterloo Street being increased from time to time, until during that year the whole available space was fully occupied with boilers, engines, and dynamos to a total of 3,300 h.p., which at that time provided a small margin of reserve power.
The street lighting being so inconsiderable, it was decided to alter the arrangements so that these lights could be run from the same plant as the private supply in Waterloo Street, with a resultant saving in cost. The John Street plant was thus again shut down, and the whole of the electric lighting, both public and private, was carried on from Waterloo Street Works. The committee soon found the necessity for extensions, and in order to meet these and the increasing dement for the supply of current from so wide an area as was comprised between Glasgow Cross on the one hand and Park Circus on the other, two temporary accumulator sub-stations were erected, one in Tontine Lane, Trongate, and the other in Claremont Street. The object of these sub-stations was partly to avoid transmitting heavy loads through the mains during the longest lighting hours, a matter involving considerable loss at the low pressure of 200 volts, or a very large expenditure in extra heavy copper mains, and partly to relieve the maximum load upon the generating plant. The arrangement of working was to charge up the accumulators when both plant and mains were under easy load, and to discharge them during the two or three hours of the afternoon or evening maximum load, the discharge current, of course going to feed the local districts around each sub-station.
The committee then turned their attention to the question of purchasing sites for entirely new works, one for the north and another for the south side of the river; and during the year 1897 arrangements were made for the purchase of about four and a half acres of ground at Port-Dundas, adjoining the Forth and Clyde Canal at Speirs’ Wharf, and about two acres of ground close o Eglinton Toll, or St Andrews Cross, in Pollokshaws Road.
The works and whole undertaking of the Kelvinside Electricity Company were purchased and taken over by the Corporation in August 1899.
When the electric lighting supply was commenced by the Corporation probably no one had any idea of the magnitude to which the undertaking would so rapidly attain. The following tabulated statement shows at a glance the progress of the undertaking since the date of its inauguration in 1893, and there is no indication of any abatement in the demand for current in the near future. On the contrary, everything points to that demand increasing from year to year, and to the rate at which this increase is taking place being steadily maintained or even augmented. See page 123.
The demand for electric motive power is rapidly growing, and now amounts to over 6,000 h.p in motors of all sizes, which are used for many different purposes.
The new Port-Dundas and Pollokshaws Road Works will be found worthy of a visit. There former contains engines and dynamos of both American and British manufacture, and of both high-speed and low-speed types, and in various sizes from 200 h.p. to 2,400h.p. each unit. The largest engines were built by Messrs. Willans & Robinson, and the dynamos by the Westinghouse Company. The remaining engines are by the Ball and Wood Company, Messrs. Matthew Paul, Messrs. Mirrless & Watson, Messrs. Belliss & Morcom, and Messrs. Willans & Robinson, and the dynamos by the Walker Company, the Schuckert Company, Crompton & Co., and the British Thomson-Houston Company. The condensing plant is all driven by electric motors, the air pumps being of Edwards’ patens design. The switchboards and recording gauges are of considerable interest, being specially designed for the purpose, and containing some departures from ordinary practice. They have been constructed by Kelvin & James White, the Holland House Manufacturing Company, Messrs. Mechan & Sons, and Messrs. Laing, Wharton & Down. They are mostly, therefore of local production.
The total cost of the electricity works of the Corporation, including mains, up to 31st May, 1904, has been approximately £1,150,000. This expenditure does not, of course, include the cost of the Corporation tramways electrical system, which is an entirely separate undertaking.
Large extensions are now in progress at Port-Dundas, where a second third of the whole design for the buildings is being erected. This will complete the northern end of the generating station, and will contain another chimney some 230 feet in height. After the most careful investigation, it has been decided to put in two steam turbines of 3,000 kilowatts capacity each, and orders have accordingly been placed for those turbines with Messrs. Willans & Robinson, of Rugby, while the alternators, which will be of the three-phase type, working at 6,500 volts, and at a periodicity of 25 cycles per second, are being constructed by Messrs. Dick, Kerr & Co. at Preston. The surface-condensing plant, which is a very important matter with steam turbines, will be immediately below them, so as to make the connections as short as possible, and is being constructed by Messrs. W.H. Allen, Son & Co., of Bedford. The switchboard for the control and measurement of high-tension currents is a very extensive affair, as experience has shown the necessity for the utmost care in designing and constructing this part of the electrical equipment. The order for this portion of the work has been placed with Messrs. Witting, Eborall, & Co. The boilers for this extension are to be, like those already in use, if the Babcock Company’s make, but of the largest size yet constructed, having a grate area of 100 square feet and a heating surface of 6,182 square feet each, the working steam pressure being 200 lbs. per square inch, and each boiler being fitted with superheaters to give about 200 degrees of super heat. Space is provided for economisers, which will be put in in due course.
The high-tension current generated by the new turbo alternators will be taken to various sub-stations in the city, but principally at present to the sub-station in Waterloo Street, which is the original generating station, from which, however, all the steam and generating plant has now been removed. Motor generators, which are being supplied by the Electrical Company, will be placed in these sub-stations by means of which the high-tension three-phase current will be converted into continuous 500-volt current on the three-wire system supplied at 250 volts on each side. It is not necessary in the present circumstances of demand to utilise these sub-stations, except in the dark winter months, and then only on the afternoon shifts, to meet the excessive peak load in the city.
As regards St. Andrew’s Cross Electricity Works, there is no need to extend the buildings, as they were practically completed in the first instance, but preparations are now being made to put in a steam turbine of 1,400 kilowatts capacity, which also is being constructed by Messrs. Willans & Robinson. The turbine will drive two continuous-current dynamos, giving a pressure of 500 to 600 volts each, which are being constructed by Messrs. Siemens Brothers & Co. at Stafford. The boilers in this generating station will also be of the Babcock & Wilcox type, exactly like those already installed. They will each have a grate area of 76 square feet and a heating surface of 4,020 square feet, the steam pressure being 200lbs per square inch, and the superheaters being constructed to give 200 degrees of superheat. The new boilers, however, will be erected with the special arrangement of boiler setting designed by Mr H. W. Miller, of the Kensington and Knightsbridge Electric Lighting Company, Limited, in London. One boiler has already been erected with this arrangement of setting, and has proved most satisfactory in economical performance, in output, and in smokeless combustion. This one boiler may be seen at work on paying a visit to this station.
There being no canal or river from which water can be circulated for condensing purposes, it has been necessary to order cooling towers to be placed in the tanks over the boiler house, by means of which the water from the condensers connected with the turbine and the engines will be cooled. The order for one of these towers has been placed with Messrs. Richardsons, Westgarth & Co, of Hartlepool, this being of the Koppel type, and two smaller ones have been ordered from Messrs. Klein & Co, of Manchester.
Up to the present time the supply and distribution of electricity throughout the city has been carried on practically by means of low-tension 500 volt continuous current throughout, with feeders radiating from the two separate stations. Last winter a departure was commenced upon by converting the old Waterloo Street Generating Station into a sub-station, and taking a temporary supply of high-tension current from the surplus plant of the Tramways Department, which is situated at Pinkston. Low-tension feeders are now also run from the Waterloo Street Sub-station, and it is intended before the coming winter to erect a similar sub-station on part of the Dalmarnock Gas-works, which are being superseded by the new gas-works at Provan. Low-tension feeders will also be laid from this sub-station for the supply of lighting and power in the east end of Glasgow.
Fully half the capital expenditure of the undertaking is, as is usually the case, for mains, though these are seldom given the attention which their great importance deserves. All the low-tension mains which have been laid by the Electricity Department in the city for some time past are of the triple-concentric type, some of them with lead sheathing, but all of them during the last two years or so with vulcanised bitumen sheathing. They are laid in wood troughs of ample size, and run in solid with pitch and asphalte oil. Large manholes, measuring some 6 square feet and 6 feet deep, are placed at the feeding points within the city, and from these the distributing cables or mains radiate in all directions, each main being fitted with positive and negative fuses in the manhole. In districts where it can be arranged, section pillars above ground are now being used in place of the underground manholes. The whole arrangement has been most carefully systematised and standardised.
The number of meters at present connected to the mains is 9,324.”